The podcast features Aaron Walsh, a mental skills performance expert, discussing the importance and integration of mental skills in sports performance. Aaron, with a background in sports and a passion for understanding performance, delves into the mental aspects that differentiate successful athletes from others. His journey, which includes experiences in the US and New Zealand, highlights the significance of mental skills in sports, particularly in high-pressure situations.
Walsh emphasizes that while physical and technical skills are crucial, the mental aspect often becomes the differentiating factor at the highest levels of sport. He categorizes sports into those where athletes initiate movement and those where they respond to it, noting that sports requiring initiation of movement, like golf or penalty kicks in football, have a higher mental demand. Walsh argues that mental skills should be treated like any other skill, with a focus on knowledge, tools, and support for development.
He also touches on the role of mental skills in team environments, stressing the importance of integrating mental skills into coaching, recruitment, and training decisions. Walsh criticizes the common approach of only addressing mental skills when athletes underperform, advocating instead for a proactive and integrated approach.
If you're someone who wants to develop a rounded programme that involves more than just sets and reps, this episode is for you.
Main talking points:
#Bitesize - Using Frans Bosch’s methods with Australia Rugby with John Pryor
Using military pre season camps for the right reasons. Answering the critics with Simon Thomas
#Bitesize - How to implement eccentric focused training with your athletes with Angus Ross
Understanding and implementing isometric testing and training with athletes with Paul Comfort
#Bitesize - Developing players through the pathway in an elite football academy with Matt Allen
Agility training: Creating drills that transfer to on-field performance with Warren Young
#Bitesize - Microdosing; how it differs to other methods of periodisation with Derek Hansen
Preventing and rehabilitating hip and groin injuries in athletes with James Moore
#Bitesize - Why change of direction and agility testing doesn’t provide valuable information with Ian Jeffreys
Developing the ”how” as well as the ”what” of coaching, self reflection and expanding deep knowledge with Jonas Dodoo and Jamie Taylor
#Bitesize - The beliefs and practices of the Arsenal Academy performance department with Paudie Roche
Change of direction ability; testing, developing physical qualities and maximising on-field transfer with Tom Dos’Santos and Alistair McBurnie
#Bitesize - Why is the Nordic hamstring exercise so controversial with Kristian Thorborg
The deceleration vaccine, and understanding and improving deceleration ability with Tom Dos’Santos and Alistair McBurnie
#Bitesize - What is the anaerobic speed reserve and how can we use it with Gareth Sandford
The future of sports science and the sports scientist in professional sport with Jose Fernandez (Mahd Academy)
#Bitesize - The power of social media in getting (or not getting) a job in elite sport with Dave Slemen
Understanding and evaluating the return on investment from any sports technology with Sam Robertson (Professor at Victoria University)
#Bitesize - Using fixed resistance machines in-season with Cory Schlesinger
Agility training, problems with change of direction testing & game speed with Ian Jeffreys (Coach Educator & Academic Director, Setanta College)
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