The Sport Psych Show Dan Abrahams

In this episode I’m delighted to welcome back Prof Mark Williams and Prof Nicola Hodges to speak about skill acquisition in sport.
Mark Williams is a Senior Research Scientist at The Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)- a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System and is affiliated with several Florida universities. Mark was previously at the University of Utah, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation. Mark has held various senior leadership positions Liverpool John Moores University, University of Sydney and Brunel University, London.
Mark’s research interests focus on the neural and psychological mechanisms underpinning the acquisition and development of expertise. He has published almost 300 journal articles in peer-reviewed outlets in numerous fields including exercise and sports science
Nikki is a Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver in the School of Kinesiology. It is at UBC that Nikki runs the Motor Skills Laboratory where she studies the mechanisms of motor skill learning. Her research focuses on processes involved in watching, learning and predicting from others and how practice should be best structured to bring about long-term enhancement of motor skills and high-level performance (particularly in sport). She has been involved in sport-consulting and she has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters.

I’m delighted to speak with Dr Daniel Fortin-Guichard this week. Daniel works as a Postdoc fellow at the University of Toronto where he specialises in talent identification research through psychological characteristics.
Daniel received his PhD from Université Laval in psychology with a specialty in perceptual-cognitive skills in sports. In parallel with his thesis, Daniel worked with the Quebec Remparts hockey team as an advisor to the scouting staff. Each year, Daniel travelled the Province of Quebec and the Maritimes with the scouts to measure the players' psychological and perceptual-cognitive skills.
In this episode we discuss a paper that Daniel led which looked at the identification of “sleeping” talent using psychological characteristics.

In this episode I’m joined by Dr Keith McShan and Dr Whitney Moore. We talk about coach-athlete relationships.
Keith is Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at Missouri State University. Before joining MSU, Keith was an active high school basketball and football coach in Canada. Keith has worked for organisations such as Football Canada, Duke University Men’s Basketball Camp, and the Corporation of the City of Windsor.
Keith is an active member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) and The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). Keith is the current faculty advisor for the Kinesiology Research and Career (KRC) Club. 
Whitney is Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at East Carolina University. Prior to this, Whitney was an Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas and an Associate Professor at Wayne State University.
Whitney previously owned and was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for MOORE Training. Her company focused on providing high-quality training for youth and adults.
In this episode we discuss a fascinating paper Keith and Whitney edited entitled “A systematic Review of the Coach-Athlete Relationship From the Coaches’ Perspective”.

I’m excited to speak with Dr Mark Aoyagi this week. Mark is the Co-Director of the Master’s programme in Sport and Performance Psychology and Professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. He is also the founder of the Center for Performance Excellence.
Mark’s areas of expertise include performance excellence, team effectiveness, and achieving meaning, satisfaction and fulfilment through sport, work, and life. He is a recognised sport psychology consultant and has worked with several professional and Olympic teams and athletes as well as NCAA athletic departments and developmental athletes. Mark is active in several professional organizations including the International Society for Sport Psychology, American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).
In this episode Mark and I speak about theories of performance excellence.

In this episode I’m joined by Dr Alison Maitland and Jenna Ashford to talk about their new book “Drop the Struggle: A Transformative Approach to Achieving Your Potential in Sport and Life”.
Alison is a widely recognised and experienced HCPC registered and BASES accredited Sport Psychologist. She has a PhD in elite sport and uses her expertise in human performance in a wide range of settings in sport and businesses around the world. Alison has helped elite athletes achieve World Championship titles and Olympic success.
Jenna is a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and Performance Consultant, working with top athletes, CEO's at global companies and within sectors including education and healthcare. Jenna is also a passionate sportswoman and represented England Hockey and played in premier league teams all over the world.
Their book, “Drop the Struggle” is based on scientifically proven techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and takes a radically new look at the mental side of reaching your potential in sport. It has been written for athletes, coaches and anyone wanting to achieve more and provides a practical kitbag of ways to succeed. It will teach you a sustainable way of dealing with difficult thoughts, managing your emotions and harnessing them to help you perform to the best of your ability.

In this episode I’m joined by Dr James Munnik and Prof Leon Van Niekerk.
James is a Counselling Psychology Lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. James has worked with a number of athletes in his own private practice as a high performance mental coach in psychotherapy and counselling. He has special interests in sport/exercise psychology research and Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) theory and practice.
Leon is a Professor of Psychology at University of Fort Hare in South Africa. He is a registered Counselling Psychologist and has his own psychology consultancy practice where he focuses on the provision of sport psychological services to individual athletes and teams.
Leon’s research interests are in the psychological well-being of athletes. This includes topics such as the development of mental toughness, sport identity and life roles, burnout, stress and anxiety among athletes, the effectiveness of mindfulness during competition, mental health in sport and the psychological health benefits of exercise.
In this episode we discuss a paper entitled “Recommendations for Integrating Psychological Skills Training (PST) into Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)” which was led by James and co-written by Dr Martin Turner and Leon.