TheJustKickinItPodcast

Dr. Brian Shrum

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Just Kickin’ It Podcast is where coaches sharpen how they think, train, and develop players. Built on years of conversations with top minds in the game, the podcast returns with a renewed focus on connecting theory, science, and real-world coaching. Each episode delivers clear, actionable insight to help you design better sessions, improve decision-making, and create training that transfers to the game.

1d ago

Are Your Training Activities Teaching the Wrong Football Actions? | Ilya Orlov

What if better coaching begins—not with designing another exercise—but with developing a clearer understanding of what football actually requires? In this episode of the Just Kickin’ It Podcast, Dr. Brian Shrum welcomes Ilya Orlov back to examine how coaches can translate football theory into practical decisions during a competitive season. Ilya explains how his team earned a playoff position with three matches remaining while entering the postseason without a non-contact soft-tissue injury. More importantly, he takes us inside the process used to align a young group of players from different coaching backgrounds around clear team and individual intentions. The conversation explores: • Why winning is the objective of football, but not a complete coaching methodology • The difference between a rigid game model and adaptable team intentions • How players learn through experience, video reflection, on-field correction, and repetition • Why individual development must occur within the context of the team • How players with and without the ball contribute to progressing an attack • Why many players instinctively move toward the ball instead of creating space for teammates • How possession games, small spaces, and rondos can unintentionally influence player behavior • Why artificial constraints may restrict decision-making rather than improve it • How coaches can use simple questions to help players recognize better solutions • Why clear football language is essential for transferring information from the coach to the player • When rondos may still serve a useful purpose by preparing the players’ brain state Rather than offering another collection of drills, this discussion challenges coaches to examine the intentions behind their training. Every activity shapes the unconscious behavior of the player—whether the coach recognizes it or not. The central question is not simply, “What exercise should we use?” It is: What are we teaching players to see, decide, and do when the real game begins?
Oct 12

Are You Willing to Challenge Your Coaching? with Spencer Fearn

What does it actually take to evolve as a coach—and are you willing to challenge what you believe you already know? In this episode of the Just Kickin’ It Podcast, Dr. Brian Shrum speaks with coach and coach developer Spencer Fearn about honest feedback, clear football language, player decision-making, and the continual responsibility coaches have to examine their own methods. Spencer explains why effective feedback requires more than praise wrapped around criticism. It requires psychological safety, precise observation, thoughtful questions, and the courage to tell players and coaches what they genuinely need to hear. Rather than immediately supplying answers, coaches can help players identify problems, explain their decisions, and discover solutions for themselves. The conversation also explores: • Why coaches need a logical framework for observing and discussing football • How questioning develops more independent players and coaches • Why scanning without a clear purpose can become an empty action • The difference between coaching players and controlling them from the sideline • How copying rondos and popular practices may distort player development • Why training should maintain the essential context of the game • How periodization, growth monitoring, and communication with parents can reduce avoidable injuries • Why football actions may tell us more about performance than GPS distance alone • How winning can conceal weaknesses within a coach’s methodology • Why genuine development requires coaches to falsify their own thinking Spencer’s journey—from believing that working in professional football meant he understood the game to recognizing how much he still needed to learn—offers an honest example of coaching evolution. The central message is clear: becoming a better coach is not about protecting what you already believe. It is about remaining curious, working relentlessly, testing your assumptions, and continually asking what is best for the player. Who is Spencer Fearn Spencer Fearn is an experienced football coach, coach developer, educator, and author based in England. He works in youth development with the U15 and U16 players at Doncaster Rovers and delivers coach-education courses for the English Football Association. Before moving into coaching, Spencer worked in boardroom positions at professional football clubs in England and Scotland. His coaching journey began when he volunteered to take over his son’s grassroots team—an experience that prompted him to pursue formal coach education and ultimately earn his UEFA A Licence. His development has included extensive study through Football Coach Evolution, the Cruyff Institute’s Master in Coaching program, English FA education, and international courses in football coaching, periodization, match analysis, and player development. Spencer’s work focuses on helping coaches and players understand football through logical frameworks, purposeful questioning, honest feedback, and game-real learning environments. He is particularly interested in player decision-making, coach development, youth periodization, injury reduction, and strengthening communication among coaches, players, parents, and support staff. He is also involved in university education and is the author of The Business of Women’s Football, an academic examination of the developing women’s game.
Sep 21

Why Coaches Should Stop Using Fancy Words

The biggest coaching mistake is not bad tactics. It is using language players do not understand. Dr. Brian Shrum and Hugo Langton break down why football’s obsession with terms like “half space,” “corridor,” and even “drive” can create confusion, hide poor communication, and make teams worse—not better.Hugo, who has spent years refining his own coaching approach, argues that the best coaches simplify, stay contextual, and speak only when they have something useful to say. He explains why “dribbling fast” and “dribbling slow” can be clearer than trendy labels, why coaches who commentate from the sideline often do more harm than good, and how players instantly know when a coach is trying to sound smart instead of helping them play.You’ll discover: Why modern coaching jargon can break down player understandingThe difference between useful, contextual language and empty buzzwordsWhy sideline noise, stress, and over-coaching can wreck decision-makingHow coaches can build a culture where players and staff self-policeWhy feedback, criticism, and honest reflection are essential to coach developmentHugo also shares the moment that changed his career: a Raymond Verheyen course in Cambridge that forced him to confront how much he still had to learn. From that point on, he stopped treating education as a box-ticking exercise and started pursuing objective feedback, mentorship, and constant improvement.That mindset carries into his work off the pitch too. Hugo introduces Football Fresh, his app designed to help coaches monitor player readiness, freshness, fatigue, sleep, soreness, and workload so they can make better decisions before training and match day. He explains how it can help youth clubs, academies, and senior teams keep players available, healthy, and performing at their best.If you care about coaching development, player communication, or building a smarter football environment, this conversation is essential listening. It is a challenge to ego, a case for better education, and a practical reminder that the best coaches do not just know more—they communicate better.
Sep 7

Rethinking Preseason: Fitness Through Football with Raymond Verheijen

If your preseason is designed to exhaust players, don’t be surprised when your best players are unavailable in the postseason. Too many coaches still treat preseason as a fitness test: More running. More sessions. More volume. More fatigue. Then injuries accumulate, the starting lineup constantly changes, and the team never develops the communication needed to perform under pressure. Raymond Verheijen challenges coaches to rethink this approach. In football, the order matters: CommunicationDecision-makingExecutionFootball fitnessFitness is important—but it should be developed through football, not separated from it. A successful preseason should: Progressively prepare players for football actionsDevelop position-specific communicationImprove decision-making within the team’s playing styleBuild fitness without accumulating unnecessary fatigueKeep the strongest players consistently training togetherPrepare the team for the entire season—not merely the opening matchPreseason is not about proving how much your players can tolerate. It is about preparing your strongest team to still be available when the matches matter most. If you arrive at the postseason without your best players, the problem may not have started in October or November. It may have started with what you celebrated in preseason. Listen to our conversation with Raymond Verheijen on the Just Kickin’ It Podcast. #SoccerCoaching #FootballCoaching #Preseason #FootballFitness #InjuryPrevention #CoachDevelopment #SportsPerformance
Aug 29

Stress Immunity: How to Think Clearly Under Pressure with James Smith

What if stress is not something you simply have to manage—but something you can learn to become more resistant to? In this episode of the Just Kickin’ It Podcast, Dr. Brian Shrum speaks with author and performance consultant James Smith, “The Thinker,” about stress immunity and our ability to direct our thinking under pressure. James explains why genetics, environment, and past experiences may influence us without permanently determining how we think or behave. The conversation examines how strong emotions can interfere with memory, judgment, and decision-making—and why remaining calm allows athletes, coaches, and leaders to access the knowledge they already possess. They also explore: • Why predicting a negative outcome can create unnecessary stress • The difference between emotional language and factual description • Why anger may not improve athletic performance • How repeated thought patterns reinforce themselves • Why solution-oriented writing may be more productive than repeatedly documenting problems • How coaches and parents can help young people develop clearer thinking This episode challenges common beliefs about stress, emotion, and performance while offering a practical principle: direct your thinking toward the next useful solution. Learn more and register for James Smith’s live Stress Immunity seminar series, beginning September 5th, at 11 am. You can locate the details by clicking the link below. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stress-immunity-a-live-seminar-series-with-james-smith-tickets-1998112721939?aff=oddtdtcreator
Jun 23

The Coaching Lie We've Been Telling for Decades

In this episode, I sat down with Dr. Steve Smith — academic, author, and former competitive badminton player — to unpack one of the most misunderstood concepts in sport coaching: ecological dynamics. We dive deep into why isolating skills in practice can actually create bad habits, how perception-action coupling shapes real athletic development, and why so many talented athletes never reach their potential because of how they're trained. Dr. Steve also shares the story behind his book Ecological Dynamics in Sport Coaching and why he wrote it to bridge the gap between research and the coaches on the ground who need it most. Key topics we cover: Why "teaching" athletes may be the wrong approach entirelyThe scanning myth — what coaches get wrong about vision in sportRondos, isolated drills, and the perception-action problemWhat great coaching actually looks like (hint: it's not about win/loss)Developing youth athletes without sacrificing exploration and enjoymentNeurodivergence and ecological dynamics — Dr. Steve's next research frontierWhether you're a grassroots youth coach or working at the elite level, this conversation will challenge how you think about skill acquisition and athlete development. 🔗 Find Dr. Steve Smith on LinkedIn📖 Ecological Dynamics in Sport Coaching — available on Amazon and Routledge🌐 Emergent Performance Lab
Jun 7

What Is Coaching? Brett Ledbetter on Questions, Trust, and Removing Interference

What if coaching isn't about giving better answers—but asking better questions? In this episode, Brett Ledbetter challenges conventional thinking around coaching, leadership, and performance. Rather than focusing on instruction, control, or motivation, Brett explores how great coaches help athletes take ownership of their development by thinking for themselves. Together, we discuss why questions often outlast answers, how trust is earned in the present moment, and why standards matter more than expectations. Brett shares insights on helping athletes develop an internal coach, navigate adversity, and perform without becoming trapped by external validation. At its core, this conversation explores a powerful idea: the role of a coach may not be to add more, but to remove the distractions, fears, and limitations that prevent athletes from becoming who they are capable of becoming. If you're a coach, leader, parent, or athlete seeking a deeper understanding of performance and human development, this episode will challenge the way you think about coaching itself. #WhatDrivesWinning
May 30

Performance Is a Side Effect - 3rd Conversation Dr. Kapil Gupta

What if everything you've been told about performance psychology is wrong? In our latest episode of Just Kickin' It, Brian and Josh sit down with Dr. Kapil Gupta — advisor to professional athletes, CEOs, and performing artists — for one of the most thought-provoking conversations we've ever had. Kapil doesn't prescribe. He doesn't hand out frameworks, four-step processes, or the three Cs. He does something far more uncomfortable: he tells the truth. Some of what he shares will challenge everything you think you know about coaching, confidence, and performance: → Why thought is the enemy of elite performance — and what actually replaces it→ Why sports psychology's answer to "thinking problems" is... more thinking (and why that makes everything worse)→ Why prescriptions — even correct ones — destroy performance→ Why meditation as we know it is largely a social performance, not a path to transformation→ Why chasing results (the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the championship) will never fill the hole you're hoping it will This isn't a comfortable listen. It's designed to make you stop, question, and look in the mirror. As Kapil puts it: "Performance is not a goal. It is a side effect." If you've ever had an athlete tell you they lack confidence, or watched every tool in your toolbox fail to move the needle — this episode is for you. Just Kickin' It — built to push ideas forward.

Just Kickin’ It Podcast is where coaches sharpen how they think, train, and develop players. Built on years of conversations with top minds in the game, the podcast returns with a renewed focus on connecting theory, science, and real-world coaching. Each episode delivers clear, actionable insight to help you design better sessions, improve decision-making, and create training that transfers to the game.

Creator

Dr. Brian Shrum
Years Active

2026
Episodes

16
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 Dr. Brian Shrum
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TheJustKickinItPodcast

Sports

Sports

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