When it comes to successful sports start ups, we’ve probably all got our favourite example or story. But for each one of these successes, there are many more examples of companies not thriving or even surviving. So what is it about a start up that signals this potential reward is high enough to warrant the significant risk? Is it the idea, the founding team, the stage of the company or all of the above? On this Part 2 of our series into sports entrepreneurship, we take a look at the specific cha...
Aug 03, 2022•43 min•Season 4Ep. 39
It’s an understatement to say that entrepreneurship in sport is exploding. Franchises across the globe are making considerable investments, the start up scene is burgeoning, university courses have emerged to train the next generation, and even some professional athletes have turned part-time entrepreneur. Of course none of the success of entrepreneurs can be achieved without the support of sports themselves. The first episode of this two part series on entrepreneurship in sport focuses on the e...
Jul 05, 2022•37 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Some of the many issues with injury prediction modelling have been discussed on multiple occasions on One Track Mind. But what if we could reach this 'Holy Grail'? How far away would we be from this scenario eventuating? What would need to happen in order to get there? And is it even a world that athletes want? On Part 2 of this series on injury prediction, host Sam Robertson talks about some of the practical considerations around this area including what developments are needed in Data, Analysi...
Jun 13, 2022•29 min•Season 4Ep. 37
Some of the many issues with injury prediction modelling have been discussed on multiple occasions on One Track Mind. But what if we could reach this 'Holy Grail'? How far away would we be from this scenario eventuating? What would need to happen in order to get there? And is it even a world that athletes want? On this first of a two-part episode, host Sam Robertson talks about some of the philosophical and overarching questions facing practitioners and organisations in the space, before moving ...
May 23, 2022•26 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Genetic testing in sport has emerged as a cost-effective and accessible tool to identify an individual's potential for sporting performance, trainability, optimal exercise selection, recovery strategies and injury risks. But just how strong is the evidence behind this practice? What are the risks and rewards? And to what extent is this growing industry being regulated - if at all? On this episode, host Sam Robertson is joined by Professor Nir Eynon and Dr Shanie Landen to discuss the merits and ...
Apr 26, 2022•47 min•Season 4Ep. 35
Wearable technology is proliferating at a rate of knots - from smart watches to heart rate monitors, posture-correcting sensors and even our mobile phones, almost anyone you talk to is using some personal health data from at least one of these devices. But despite the obvious performance benefits, are we creating an over-reliance on the information we gather from wearable tech? Do we really have the time to assess the quality of each device, when a new offering becomes available just about every...
Apr 05, 2022•46 min•Season 4Ep. 34
Skill is the defining feature of a successful athlete in many of the sports we play and love. Yet, it remains one of the most controversial areas of high performance methodology. How much practice is optimal? How variable do we need to make it? How hard should it be? And how do we know when what is learnt in practice has actually transferred to competition? On this episode, host Sam Robertson is joined by Professor Rob Gray to discuss skill acquisition's place as one of sports largely untapped p...
Mar 15, 2022•46 min•Season 4Ep. 33
Baseball is often viewed as one of the more traditional team sports. However, it’s recently been at the forefront of the analytics revolution in sport and is one of the most data rich, technology adoptive sports out there. This week’s episode has something for everyone – whether they're a baseball fan or not. Host Sam Robertson is joined by New York Yankees Director of Performance Science, David Whiteside and Kansas City Royals Senior Director of Performance Science, Austin Driggers . Amongst ot...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 32
We’re all familiar with examples of child sporting prodigies - social media posts of a four year old footballer masterfully dribbling past opponents or videos of a young Tiger Woods come readily to mind. But the reality is, these examples are anomalies - far from the norm and the pathway to getting there perhaps not desirable even if it was attainable for more children. The enhancement of talent identification and the ensuing development programs is understandably pursued by most organised sport...
Feb 15, 2022•58 min•Season 4Ep. 31
On the last episode of One Track Mind for 2021, host Sam Robertson is joined by New Zealand strength and conditioning legend Professor John Cronin (JC) The topic? Wearable resistance training. Lightweight wearable resistance training involves external micro-loads, sometimes as little as 0.5% of the users body mass, being applied to different segments of the body - such as the legs or arms. These loads are worn during sport specific movement training and allow for technique to remain relatively u...
Dec 21, 2021•46 min•Season 3Ep. 19
On this episode, host Sam Robertson is joined by high-performance coach Neil Craig and skill acquisition expert Professor Damian Farrow in a general discussion covering all things high performance coaching. Topics include: - The new skill sets required by the modern coach - Areas for improvement in training and practice - Structuring coaching departments around the head coach, and - Future innovations in coaching and athlete development What do you think? Tell us on our socials: - Instagram: @tr...
Dec 08, 2021•47 min•Season 3Ep. 18
In the blink of an eye, the volume and type of options available to the sports fan has exploded. The digital age has seen not only the battles for hearts and minds, but also eyeballs on screens, extend to other forms of entertainment, from live streaming to online gaming. The digital age has also meant that it’s a lot easier for sport businesses, broadcasters and organisations to measure what their fans are consuming. But is increased viewership or clicks on websites actually telling us that’s t...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 17
None of the latest breakthroughs in science come into mainstream practice without academic publishing - submission of a manuscript based on a study or experiment, which is then peer reviewed to assess its quality. Although this might not seem like an issue for sport, much of what goes on in the gymnasiums, playing fields and even front offices of sporting organisations has its roots in something that was once published in a journal somewhere. But talk to just about any researcher or journal edit...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 16
It is often said that sport is the great leveller - that once participants enter the track, court or field of play, their background, beliefs and even the fiercest conflicts all become temporarily irrelevant. But in many aspects, the gap between the conditions and privileges afforded to certain sports and athletes but not others, is as large as it’s ever been. However, there is an increasingly louder voice coming from those that are keen to change it. So how do we achieve this level playing fiel...
Oct 27, 2021•53 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Intuition, gut instinct, educated hunch. Whether its contemplating who to select in an upcoming football match or hesitating to travel down that inner city, darkened alleyway, we all use our gut instincts every day. But it’s in our workplaces, where we often consider ourselves at our most organised and objective that an over-reliance on intuition has the potential to create problems. So how do we know when trusting our gut instinct is the right thing to do? What are the potential downsides? And ...
Oct 20, 2021•41 min
Consider some of the big decisions that you make in your job? Whether it’s setting a yearly plan, deciding what technology or infrastructure to invest in, or even hiring and firing staff, chances are there will be a lot to contemplate before settling on the final choice. Questions like ‘How long do I have to make the decision? How much information do I need to collect? What don’t I know? And who else do I need to involve? are just a few that come immediately to mind. But with such a long list of...
Oct 13, 2021•49 min
We all have them and a lot of the time, they’re influence is unavoidable. Biases are quite simply, part of the human condition. But despite considerable exposure in the media, research and even popular culture, much of the discussion has centred on viewing biases as flaws of the human condition. In this second episode of our four part series into decision-making, we look at what biases mean for individuals and organisations working in sport. We discuss how heuristics are useful tools that can ac...
Oct 04, 2021•47 min
Decisions. We all make thousands of them every day. From the once in a lifetime question that we spend weeks, months or years contemplating, to the subconscious choices that we don't even know. On this episode, we present the first of a four-part deep dive into decision-making in high performance sport, all to be released over the next month in the lead up to the season three return of one track mind on October 26 to begin today, we explore eight characteristics that define what a good decision ...
Sep 27, 2021•53 min
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were perhaps two of the most different in recent memory, due largely to the required measures that were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For most athletes, this meant interrupted, and/or heavily modified preparation, as well as some never before seen competition conditions. For some insights into these experiences, on this week’s mini-episode, host Sam Robertson sits down with some athletes & staff who recently participated in the...
Sep 09, 2021•29 min
Sport scientists face one of the most rapidly changing roles in all of sport. The second half of this two-part episode proposes 5 further 'adaptive tools' - new types of training, skill sets, operational processes or even mindsets - that sport scientists can call upon to not only help adapt to changing conditions in their workplace, but also to thrive and take advantage of these anticipated changes. It borrows from concepts introduces in Gerd Gigerenzer's 'Bounded Rationality: The Adaptive Toolb...
Sep 02, 2021•39 min
Sport scientists face one of the most rapidly changing roles in all of sport. This episode proposes 10 adaptive tools - new types of training, skill sets, operational processes or even mindsets - that sport scientists can call upon to not only help adapt to changing conditions in their workplace, but also to thrive and take advantage of these anticipated changes. It borrows from concepts introduces in Gerd Gigerenzer's 'Bounded Rationality: The Adaptive Toolbox' as well as a 2020 paper from Sam ...
Aug 26, 2021•41 min
All good things must come to an end. For athletes, that end can be sudden and far sooner than hoped. After years of intense dedication and sacrifice, the average career of a high performance athlete lasts no more than a few years. So what comes next? And how can we help them prepare for the emotional, physical and financial toll that comes with that final whistle call? Today, host Professor Sam Robertson speaks to Bianca Chatfield and Matti Clements . Hitting us with the athlete perspective, Bia...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 14
What does a good video game have to do with improving athlete performance? On the face of it , perhaps not much. But if we dig a little deeper into the science and design behind video games, we can see the incredible power that modern games have in facilitating learning, through engaging the participant in a manner that is enjoyable and interactive. On this mini episode, host Professor Sam Robertson welcomes back Dr Carl Woods to unpack some of the key principles that sports coaches can adapt fr...
Aug 11, 2021•34 min
Just like the economy, the weather, or traffic, sport is deeply complex. And we don't just mean that it has lots of elements or that it's difficult to understand, we're talking specifically about what's called a complex system – have a listen to our mini episode on this topic for a bit of a primer! When you're dealing with a complex system, you've got a whole lotta moving parts, interacting with each other and their environments in unpredictable ways, and there isn't a clear and simple relations...
Aug 04, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 13
We’ve had a lot of fantastic guests on the show thus far and now’s your chance to get to know some of them better through a segment we call ‘5 in 5’. In this mini episode, we ask guests to answer five questions about themselves, their career and of course the future of sport - all in less than 5 minutes. Join host Professor Sam Robertson as he speaks with FIFA's Nicolas Evans , San Antonio Spurs' Xavi Schelling , Victoria University's Carl Woods and the English Institute of Sport's Steve McCaig ...
Jul 29, 2021•15 min
Analytics is arguably one of sport's fastest growing and most exciting fields. It's something people in sport never seem to stop talking about, but do we all agree on what it actually means? To help sift through the mud and understand what we should really be asking of our sports analysts, host Professor Sam Robertson speaks to two industry legends to figure out where sports analytics can have the most impact and what's in the future for this evolving area. First up is expert Sarah Rudd , who un...
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Complexity is a topic that is growing in popularity across sport. Before we get into making a case for complexity’s importance to sport on our upcoming main episode on this topic, we’re taking the opportunity on this mini episode to actually define the term. Luckily, recent work from a UK group, the Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus has already done a lot of the heavy lifting. Developed in conjunction with leading experts, the Centre has distilled complexity down to its 16...
Jul 14, 2021•34 min
Behind every high performance athlete is a sprawling network of support staff. Physios, coaches, performance analysts, sports scientists, the list goes on and on. So what does the dream staff team look like? How can we find the right spread across disciplines, the perfect number of people, the ideal hierarchy and structure, and get everyone working together well to give the athletes the best chance of success? On today's episode, host Professor Sam Robertson has got two expert guests with a tonn...
Jul 07, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 11
For modern day professional athletes, the idea of your every waking (and sleeping) moment being tracked and measured isn't so far-fetched. On today's episode, we dig into when, why and how athlete tracking can be done effectively, and when it's taken too far. This week's expert guests are Stuart Morgan , the Lead of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Innovation at the Australian Institute of Sport ; and Steve McCaig , the Athlete Health Consultant at the English Institute of Spor...
Jun 30, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Innovation is certainly one of sport's favourite buzzwords, but what does innovation in the high performance sporting world actually look like? On this episode, host Sam Robertson looks into how we can actually make innovation happen and what sort of innovation should we be looking for. Our first guest is Albert Mundet – Director of the Barça Innovation Hub and Head of Knowledge at FC Barcelona . A former physicist, Albert is a Fullbright Fellow with a multidisciplinary background in research an...
Jun 23, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 9
