Ideally, we’d be able to recognise the need for toughness when we train and play sport and be able to switch it on and off as we please. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case as Clinical Psychologist and author, Amy Izycky, confirms when she talks about how extreme versions of toughness, mental toughness and resilience can be counter-productive. In today's short BITE-SIZED episode taken from episode #065, Amy and I go on to discuss the word “Toughness” where we weigh up the pros and cons of being t...
Oct 20, 2023•16 min•Ep. 195
Footballers - how do you view the coach or manager asking you to play out of position? Negatively as a threat or positively as a challenge? In today’s episode, the 3rd of a 10 part series, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on why some footballers gravitate to the negative side and how they can help themselves, their team-mates, coach and club better. Your perception of your situation is one avenue I explore, alongside judgement, and how you judge yourself or others. Ego is another area as well as how ...
Oct 17, 2023•5 min•Ep. 194
In today’s short bite sized episode, taken from episode #093 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast, I was joined by prominent Sports Psychologist, Dan Abrahams. We discussed why athletes can struggle to repeat their training performances in competitive matches and events. Dan goes on to share his thoughts why this is the case, some tools he uses to help clients and specifically the concept of a game face which arguably every athlete or player should have in their toolkit. Key Learning Poi...
Oct 13, 2023•13 min•Ep. 193
It is common for footballers or soccer players to have different values and ideas about the game than their coaches. On occasions, this can result in relationship challenges, where some players feel like they have been treated unfairly. On the pitch their application and effort in training and in matches, can slowly dwindle, often without them realising. Before they know it, they are only giving 70% of their full capacity. Away from football this can take a toll and negatively impact their day t...
Oct 10, 2023•8 min•Ep. 192
In today’s short bite sized episode, I chat with Dr Jim Afremow, the co-author of The Leaders Mind. Jim shares with you his thoughts about the field of sport psychology to improve your understanding on what we can offer as practitioners. He also touches on the crossover-between supporting people with performance issues as well as mental health concerns, working with youngsters and the fact mental skills, as is the case with mental toughness can be learned with good support and guidance. Key Take...
Oct 06, 2023•11 min•Ep. 191
Many footballers are driven to improve. They strive day in, day out, to get better. They sleep, eat and breathe football. Football is on their brain 24 hours per day. However, noticeably many footballers spend a lot of time thinking about the technical and tactical side of the game. They’ll spend countless hours refining their touch. Improving the passing, shooting or positioning. The gym might also be a place they enjoy going to, pushing and strengthening their body. Yet, their mental game ofte...
Oct 03, 2023•6 min•Ep. 190
Most people at some point experience demotivation, where they lack interest and enthusiasm about something that they have once really enjoyed. This episode #189 is for you if you have reached that point, or if you are experiencing a loss of form or a performance plateau. Today, I share an approach which is connected to goal-setting and performance profiling and often yields positive outcomes, where athletes frequently feel a lot better about their situation and experience being re-energised as a...
Sep 29, 2023•11 min•Ep. 189
In today’s bite sized episode, I was joined by the author of the Modern Soccer coach series Gary Curneen, where he opened up on an expensive mistake he made on his coaching journey. He also talks a lot about humility and the importance of integrating the psychological side of the game better. This episode is for coaches, especially those who are confident in their ability as you’ll note when I share my thoughts at the end and ask you to reflect on your approach. Key Learning Points: At present f...
Sep 22, 2023•17 min•Ep. 188
Are you one of those people who sets goals for yourself, but you get frustrated at not achieving them? Or perhaps you’re a coach or teacher who notices some of your athletes often display a negative, “can’t do” attitude towards things that you ask them to do. In this short solo episode, I discuss the way that we view our ability goes on to underpin two different achievement goal states; task and ego involvement. Task and ego involvement, play a large part in how we view success and whether we ge...
Sep 15, 2023•12 min•Ep. 187
Commitment, a measure of mental toughness is largely about making promises to yourself and then going on to follow through with those promises, without being sidetracked or derailed. As a Sports Psychologist I note that a lot of people are highly driven and could be argued to be goal setters. Regularly setting goals and striving to attain them. Yet, they aren’t shown what are helpful goals and they don’t question whether the goals that they set are going to be beneficial for their performance or...
Sep 08, 2023•17 min•Ep. 186
Commitment, setting goals and delivering on your promises without being derailed, is an important ingredient of Mental Toughness. In this BITESIZED episode leading Performance Coach, Mark Bennett MBE and I go on to discuss the differences in commitment levels between leisure and performance athletes. Mark goes on to share suggestions for coaches so that they can get the best out of their athletes. Key Learning Points: Technical ability, physicality or skill doesn’t define a leisure or performanc...
Sep 01, 2023•12 min•Ep. 185
Rest and recovery is hugely important for us all, especially highly motivated and driven people. In this bitesized episode, I chat with Nick Littlehales, a Sleep Coach to many elite sports performers. Nick and I discuss sleep trackers and the upside to using them. He also talks about orthosomnia, which describes individuals who become overly concerned or obsessed with tracking their sleep, resulting in heightened anxiety towards their sleeping patterns. Key Learning Points: Orthosomnia refers to...
Aug 25, 2023•11 min•Ep. 184
Supportive coaching is shown to be effective in having a positive influence on an athlete’s development, particularly when athletes are unsure of themselves, are less confident and lack mental toughness. Feel free to check out today’s solo episode where I discuss compassion, mental toughness and high performance to help with the development of sports coaches and to improve the experience for athletes. Key Learning Points High performing teams such as The Lionesses recognise showing compassion is...
Aug 18, 2023•11 min•Ep. 183
Today I chat with a leading authority for Mental Toughness, Doug Strycharczyk, where I share a short bite from a conversation that we had about psychological safety and its relationship with Mental Toughness. Doug goes on to introduce psychological safety which is highly relevant for those involved in teams or organisations. Key Learning Points: It’s worth checking out the work of Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson who is an expert on psychological safety. Amy Edmondson describes psychological safe...
Aug 11, 2023•10 min•Ep. 182
“Teamwork makes the dreamwork” – John C Maxwell. This quote is the motivation behind the latest episode of Demystifying Mental Toughness, where I look to challenge your thinking by considering the 3Cs Teamwork Cycle of cooperation, coordination and communication alongside the 4Cs Mental Toughness model created by Professor Peter Clough. After all, successful teamwork, often gives teams, clubs and organisations a lot better chance of performing well, on a consistent basis, as well as maintaining ...
Aug 04, 2023•10 min•Ep. 181
Are team development strategies taken seriously in elite sport when viewed from a psycho-social perspective? This question was the motivation for my solo episode today where I chat about the use of team units and the benefits of working more closely in team units. As I share my thoughts and ideas, I refer to some of the key sub-measures of Mental Toughness from Peter Clough’s 4Cs model. Key Learning Points Purposeful regular team building activities when working with small sub-groups in teams, s...
Jul 28, 2023•9 min•Ep. 180
What makes a great captain in team sports? In this week’s short solo episode I elaborate on this question where I focus on the 8 key sub-measures of Mental Toughness from Peter Clough’s 4Cs model sharing my thoughts and ideas, some case studies and tips to help you, your players or students or your children. Key Learning Points When coaches face selection headaches often they choose the player that they trust more, the one who has some captaincy qualities, when dealing with difficult situations ...
Jul 21, 2023•12 min•Ep. 179
This is a short episode where leadership is the topic that Paula Eddy Wilcox and I discuss, specifically looking at vulnerability in leaders, coaches or managers. From a mental toughness angle this links with a number of the measures from Peter Cloughs 4Cs Model of Mental Toughness. Namely, interpersonal confidence and being comfortable in yourself when you communicate to others, to emotional control where we can choose to or not, express our thoughts and emotions to other people. As well as, ri...
Jul 14, 2023•13 min•Ep. 178
In episode #177 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast, Lisa Avery, a positive psychology practitioner talks to me about how to help young people flourish using a positive psychology approach. In our conversation we focus on a measure of mental toughness, life control, which links to having a “can do” attitude towards life. We discuss identifying and cultivating positive emotions, character strengths, and virtues that contribute towards a feel good factor and overcoming our negativity bias...
Jul 07, 2023•36 min•Ep. 177
In today’s episode, I share a short yet very important extract from episode 122, where Professor Camilla Knight chats to me about the wellbeing of sporting children, communication between children and parents, parental stressors, as well as touching on self-care as a parent. Key Learning Points The sporting environment will naturally shape the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of children. Understanding what your child's typical behaviours are, is really important to be aware of, as you can then...
Jun 30, 2023•8 min•Ep. 176
Episode 175 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness podcast is for athletes, coaches or parents that fall into the trap of spending too much time mind reading others and making faulty assumptions meaning that they struggle to focus on the task in hand and perform to their optimum. Typical behaviours in sport that can be associated with those who look to seek social approach: they often go into their shells, their body language can be poor, they’re communication is often impacted, they don’t like at...
Jun 23, 2023•13 min•Ep. 175
Criticism is everywhere today, where people often share their opinions of other people very easily despite not knowing the person, online using social media. The criticism often goes too far, especially in a sporting context, when so much emotion is evident. Throw in general criticism on the side of a pitch from spectators, and negative feedback from coaches and team-mates. It really can be tough being involved in sport with no hiding place. You’ll find some athletes and coaches brush off critic...
Jun 16, 2023•10 min•Ep. 174
A measure of Mental Toughness is interpersonal confidence, which reflects your ability to deal confidently with challenges from other people. Those with good interpersonal confidence are likely to be better at dealing positively with these situations and with people, tending to be more assertive. They are also more comfortable in social or team settings, especially when mistakes occur or as is often the case, especially in some sports, when criticism is dished out. Today’s short bite taken from ...
Jun 09, 2023•10 min•Ep. 173
In today’s episode we look at working with the subconscious mind to improve self-awareness, overcome self-doubt and reduce your chances of choking when performing. My guest, Mental Performance Coach, Brandon Epstein shares his wisdom and gives you some ideas and strategies to keep moving forwards. Key Learning Points: Our subconscious mind can be programmed to help us win or lose. A lot of people are unconsciously incompetent, they lack self-awareness and don’t live in the present moment. Self-a...
Jun 02, 2023•33 min•Ep. 172
In episode #171 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast, former Professional Australian Rugby League player and now an inspiring speaker and personal trainer, David Lindsay talks to me about ways you can improve your vitality to improve your chances of success. We also touch on Mental Toughness in a Professional Rugby League as well as discussing the psychological side to martial arts. Key Learning Points: When you are smaller than others learning to play to and improve your strengths is im...
May 26, 2023•33 min•Ep. 171
Supporting athletes with perfectionist tendencies is a large part of our work at Inspiring Sporting Excellence. They often display the following characteristics: Difficulties transferring their practice or training to competitive events or matches. Trying too hard. Focusing intensely on results and outcomes. Unable to trust themselves under pressure. High, rigid and often unrealistic expectations of themselves and others. Impatience and a tendency to demonstrate poor body language in the face of...
May 19, 2023•16 min•Ep. 170
One of the hallmarks of Mentally Toughness is the ability to perform well under pressure. Whether you play golf or cricket, or enjoy gymnastics or netball. It’s the same in your job if you have to stand up and deliver presentations at work. So why do many people struggle with this? Why does thriving under pressure separate the great from the good on occasions? Many things can prevent people to be able to perform in the manner they’d like to when the pressure is on for a host of reasons, includin...
May 12, 2023•18 min•Ep. 169
Today’s guest, trainer, coach and author Andrew Simpson and I chat about the youth sport experience today for kids, parents and coaches. We discuss pressures on kids, coaching and parental pressures and stressors. We also look at parents who also coach and the difficulties involved in that role, in particular. Common mindset traps kids fall into are also part of the conversation including the perfectionist kid who has high and unrealistic expectations of themselves and others, social comparisons...
May 05, 2023•43 min•Ep. 168
In today’s episode of Demystifying Mental Toughness we dip back into the archives and take a short bite from episode 13 where leading performance coach Karl Morris and I chat about emotional control an essential ingredient of Mental Toughness. Karl goes on to share a very simple and effective strategy for those people who find it hard to let go of mistakes, stay calm and level headed. Or the golfer or athlete who gets too excited and finds they can think too far ahead when they’re performing wel...
Apr 28, 2023•11 min•Ep. 167
Many athletes and coaches understand that one measure of Mental Toughness, COMMITMENT, showing maximum effort, making promises and keeping them, setting goals and not getting to side-tracked is vitally important. What this can also mean is a lot of athletes and coaches get carried away with simply being busy and trying to improve. This often results in performance plateaus. Why is that? A trap that many people fall into is a failure to learn from mistakes and performances. This challenge is the ...
Apr 21, 2023•34 min•Ep. 166
