The River Tiger Podcast Marianne Davies
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- Sports
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Our mission is to bring evidence based research and theory to life in a way that is engaging, fun and practical. Join us as we engage in curious unscripted conversations with practitioners and researchers in the fields of learning, skill acquisition, movement sciences, ethics, and philosophy in sport and equestrian.
In our fast-paced lives, both humans and horses often find themselves in limiting and impoverished movement environments. But fear not! Our mission is to bring evidence-based research and theory to life in an engaging, practical, and fun way. Our goal is to bridge the gap between theory and reality, transforming your approach to movement skill development.
Join our passionate community, cultivate skills, build relationships, and champion ethics. Get ready for an exhilarating adventure into the world of becoming skilful!
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Evolving Trends in Equestrian Journalism. A conversation with Sara Bref and Dr Petra Andersson.
I reached out to Sara Bref after reading a translation of one of her articles for the Swedish equestrian magazine Hippson. After a brief exchange of emails, I invited Sara to be a guest and Sara asked if she could bring Petra with her.
I know I always say that my guests are awesome (they are), but this was a very special and rich conversation that also left me feeling more hopeful and thoughtful about the future of equestrianism and equestrian sports. I hope that you enjoy listening to the conversation and please do follow my guests and their wonderful journalism (mot of it is in Swedish so google-translate might be a good companion and well worth the effort to translate).
Sara wrote an article about my concept paper 'Can’t jump, won’t jump: Affordances of the horse-rider dyad underpin skill adaptation in showjumping using a constraints-led approach. (Davies, M., Stone, J. A., Davids, K., Williams, J., & O’Sullivan, M. (2023). Can’t jump, won’t jump: Affordances of the horse-rider dyad underpin skill adaptation in showjumping using a constraints-led approach. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 18(4), 1313-1319).
Research article -
https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541221107379
Hippson article -
https://www.hippson.se/artikelarkivet/forskning/forskare-belyser-var-syn-pa-hasten.htm?fbclid=IwAR2wse5e49Wj0TyqADTsRq_wH7QwzqHQBev9VPteV5yokoT4Dtc7JiliafM
My guests on this episode were:
Sara Bref
Sara has a degree in Animal Science and is also a journalist. Sara currently works at the Swedish Farmers Association, before that she worked with science communication at a Swedish university. Sara has also been writing popular science for horse magazines (mostly hippson.se) for 15 years.
Sara can be reached on her LinkedIn, though she only posts in Swedish: Sara Bref | LinkedIn
Petra Andersson
Petra has a PhD in practical philosophy and has a position as a researcher and teacher in practical philosophy at The University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Most of Petra's teaching is in environmental ethics and animal ethics. Most of her research is about horse welfare.
Petra is on Facebook and can be contacted through her university email at petra.andersson@filosofi.gu.se -
If movement behaviour is a problem-solving activity, what does that mean for correct biomechanics? A conversation with skill acquisition specialist, Tyler Yearby.
In this episode I caught up with my good friend Tyler Yearby from Emergence and US Ski and Snowboard to discuss his work in strength and conditioning, movement technique, biomechanics, and coaching.
I hope that you enjoy this episode. Please get in touch with your reflections and feedback.
Research Papers(Re)conceptualizing movement behavior in sport as a problem-solving activity - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1130131/full
ReserachGate Proflie
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tyler-Yearby
ContactingTyler
X - @TylerYearby
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-yearby-59b89b5a/ -
Welfare, safety, and training. Exploring a systems view of equestrianism with PhD candidate Karen Luke.
I came across Karen's research while reading up for the discussion section of one of my PhD study papers. In this conversation we explore systems thinking, how it applies to horses and equestrianism, welfare, training and lots more. I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
My guest on this episode is PhD candidate, Karen Luke.
Karen Luke researches rider motivation and safety as well as horse welfare and welfare assessment at Central Queensland University. Her work includes developing a new approach to horse welfare based on systems thinking and a new ridden horse welfare assessment tool that she used to show a connection between horse welfare and rider safety. She has also investigated equestrians’ understanding of horse welfare and most recently, why equestrians make the choices they do when it comes to horse keeping and training. Karen lives in Melbourne, Australia and when not researching, enjoys riding and training her own horses.
Recommended books:
The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi.
Ways of Being. James Bridle.
Karen's ReserachGate profile:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen-Luke-2
Twitter/ X
@K_L_Luke
Just Equestrian Solutions Website:
https://justequestriansolutions.com/index.html
The research on rats, motivation, welfare, and learning (lego cars and fruit loops):
https://urnow.richmond.edu/video/article/-/19727/rats-who-ride-see-the-latest-from-urs-motoring-rodents-.html?utm_source=www&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=video-story -
Are instructions always good? Exploring the importance of how and why coaches guide 'Focus of Attention' with Dr Vicky Gottwald and Dr Robin Owen.
In this episode we revisit the importance of considering where an athlete or learner is focusing their attention and why focus of attention is so important for skill acquisition, retention, and transfer.
My guests bring the topic to life with an overview of the research literature to date. We also discuss some of the challenges of research, application to practice and why this area is so important for coaches to be aware of.
Findings in the 'focus of attention' literature for the benefits of an 'external focus' has been one of the most replicated phenomena in sports science. But, is it that simple? More recent research is challenging the simple internal vs external focus dichotomy and looking at what perceptual information might be most important for the performer to be attuning to.
We also discuss the importance of researchers learning from practitioners.
My guests on this episode are Dr Vicky Gottwald and Dr Robin Owen.
Vicky Gottwald
X @GottwaldVicky
University profile
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/staff/spss/vicky-gottwald-016917/en
Robin Owen
X @RobinOwenPsych
University profile
https://www.hope.ac.uk/si/dr-robin-owen.html
Useful Links
Gottwald et al, (2023). Every story has two sides: evaluating information processing and ecological dynamics perspectives of focus of attention in skill acquisition
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1176635/full
Harnessing the power of attention: Exploring 'focus of attention' theories, practice, and myths. In book: Myths of Sport Performance (Due in Spring 2024). Publisher: Sequoia.
Draft version: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377416924_Harnessing_the_power_of_attention_Exploring_'focus_of_attention'_theories_practice_and_myths -
Understanding coaching eco-systems: Challenges and opportunities for developing a more nonlinear coaching practice. A conversation with Dr Mark O'Sullivan.
My guest Mark O'Sullivan is an associate professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and an 'A' Licence Football Coach. Mark is also a co-author on my concept paper, 'Can't jump, won't jump.'
In this conversation we explore why Mark chose to go back into academia and follow a PhD researching coaching and skill acquisition from an ecological dynamics perspective.
The conversation follows our curiosity and wanders through a variety of topics starting with Mark's motivation to 'fall into a PhD' at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK with James Rumbold and Keith Davids alongside his full time job as Head of Development for 8–12 years olds at AIK FC in Stockholm.
The conversation centres on the challenges and opportunities of trying to move from a more linear to nonlinear pedagogy in sports coaching practice. Mark challenges many of our current coaching practices, myths, coach education, and the pervasiveness of socio-cultural influences.
For those of you who are paying attention, Mark is also one of my co-authors on the paper 'Can't jump, won't jump: Affordances of the horse-rider dyad underpin skill adaptation in showjumping using a constraints-led approach.' Davies at al, 2022.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17479541221107379
Here are some of Mark's open access academic papers:
The Learning in Development Research Framework for sports organizations, O'sullivan et al, 2021. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13573322.2021.1966618
Not just to know more, but to also know better: How data analysis-synthesis can be woven into sport science practiced as an art of inquiry, O'sullivan et al, 2023.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13573322.2023.2261970
Researchgate (if you are not familiar with this site, it's a great place to search for academic researchers and often has copies of papers available as open access): https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark-O-Sullivan-Phd
Twitter (X): @markstkhlm
Mark's Blog: https://footblogball.wordpress.com/ -
Fuelling your coaching journey: Event rider and coach Alex van Randwyck shares her insights on how to develop and nurture your own coaching skills.
On this episode I am joined by event rider and equestrian coach, Alex van Randwyck. I met Alex through mutual coach development work and found her insightful, humble and with the ability to connect with others and communicate with refreshing clarity. So of course, I asked her if she would consider being a guest on my podcast!
I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Alex shares so many insights and examples about how we can all be proactive in our own development and learning as coaches. Especially in learning from, and supporting each other.
As always, although we are focussed on equestrian sports, this podcast is as relevant for any sport or activity.
Getting in touch with Alex.
Alex's social media is packed with great advice, ideas and loads of fun facts.
https://www.alexvanrandwyck.com/
https://www.instagram.com/avanrandwyckcoaching/
https://www.facebook.com/avanrandwyckcoaching/
About my guest.
"In 2013 I went to the University of Leicester to study Geology and I became involved with student riding. I qualified for nationals in 2015 and was awarded a Sport Scholarship in my final year. In the autumn of 2015 I competed in my first Student Riding Nations Cup representing the Netherlands where we won team silver. Through these competitions I was able to compete all over Europe in places like Poland, Ireland, Germany and Switzerland and in 2016 I was selected to be part of the team for the World University Equestrian Championships.
In 2017 I went to work for Nick Gauntlett. I spent 2 years there and it was a great experience to be part of a larger set up. I had the opportunity to groom at overseas events, ride lovely young horses and work with the stallions and youngstock. It was also really helpful to have someone so experienced on hand to go to for advice and training. Working here allowed me to gain experience with lots of different horses and helped me to pass my A Test in 2019.
In the autumn of 2019 I set up on my own and even though we were in the middle of a global pandemic my business has grown quickly. I teach regularly for the Wokingham and Garth South pony club branches in addition to training the area 13 AH Test candidates. I really enjoy teaching as it’s so lovely to watch partnerships grow and be involved in their journey. I particularly enjoy teaching younger children and riders who lack confidence as I am good at breaking down concepts and making sure the rider has all the skills they need to progress and work on their own."
Customer Reviews
Great exploration of Eco Dynamics
This podcast is a fantastic exploration of complex topics within the ecological dynamics framework. She makes these topics easy to grasp and apply. I cannot recommend this podcast highly enough.