Listen on:
Episodes
Wednesday Sep 08, 2021
Wednesday Sep 08, 2021
Martin Yelling is a former international runner, duathlete and ironman athlete and since retiring has, along with his partner Liz Yelling coached 1000s of athletes, and everyday folks to marathon and endurance achievements. Recently, Martin has set about creating a charitable organisation called Stormbreak. They have a purpose to; “... improve children’s mental health through movement, equipping them with sustainable, transferable skills and coping strategies to thrive during the complex demands of growth into adult life.
Martin describes the origins of the idea, the challenge they’re working with and the hopes for what might develop.
If you want to get involved follow Stormbreak
https://twitter.com/hellostormbreak
https://www.stormbreak.org.uk/
Work experience bootcamp - registration closes 10th Sept
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/kps-course/
Starter Courses - Pre-register Now
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/starter-courses-2/
Applied Pro Practitioner Course - Pre-register Now
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/applied-pro-course-preregister/
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes -
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Wednesday Aug 25, 2021
Wednesday Aug 25, 2021
Duff Gibson won the Olympic gold medal in bob skeleton at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. He did so at the age of 39. Duff has an incredible story to tell about trying and trying again, testing himself in several different sports, in the pursuit of finding the one that would suit him and allow him to take a shot at being an olympian.
Duff shares that exploration and with it the clear analysis of why he wasn’t suited to certain sports, ranging from physiology to politics. But this isn’t a tale of a plucky loser, picking himself up from each knock back, failure or disappointment. This is a lesson in valuing the experience along the way, experience above detail, journey above destination.
Duff has such clarity on this philosophy that he has written a book called the Tao of Sport in which he lays his experiences bare and creates a campaign for us to be more cognisant and skilful in how we create the journey for young athletes in the future. Talking to Duff reminded me of the quote from Confucius We all lead two lives, the second one begins when you realise you only have one.
Notes
Early athletic career
Mental strategies - what if I wasn’t able to compete?
The Turin Olympic gold
Intimidation versus competitor support
Creating an environment which support great performance not just winning
It’s about execution - what makes a difference
Links
https://twitter.com/duffgibson
For details of Duff's upcoming book
https://www.darkhorseathletic.ca/
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-tao-of-sport?fbclid=IwAR2wQaSfF-cO4qEeQz6EPAidMW3G_kYaCqesu4sa6mgyJZuyTRhe7jkqKJI
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
Wednesday Aug 11, 2021
Wednesday Aug 11, 2021
Dan Bigham is an athlete of the highest order, principally in the disciplines of individual and team pursuit with multiple national and World cup titles. Recently Dan is taking a pop at Bradley Wiggins’ hour record too. But Dan has achieved this level of performance with a band of brothers who congregated together and plied their collective physical talents with a mindset of simply trying to ‘work performance out’. Dan is an engineer by training and spent numerous years working in motorsports and sports analytics using his big brain and curiosity to ask questions, explore, be willing to go off script in the pursuit of performance. Dan’s recent book Start at the End, tells the story of how he led this team to success using the principles of reverse-engineering. And while you’ll hear Dan get into the technical details of aerodynamics etc, you’ll also hear how this attitude has spilled or you could say has been applied to all aspects of personal and team performance too.
Notes
Early introduction to a range of sports
Cycling interests increase and coincide with business development of Team KGS
Team Derbados!!!!
The closing of systems after initial success
Creating loss, fail at competition or training, questions decisions
Don’t be annoying
Marginal gains and not stretching too thinly
Separating the results from the process
Open conversations and feedback sheets shared with everyone clarity over metrics and selection
Dan’s lesson on team organisation /dynamics: listening, decision making, attitude etc
Links
You can follow Dan on Twitter
https://twitter.com/DanBiggles22
Start at the end book
https://www.shopforwatts.co.uk/products/start-at-the-end-book
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes -
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
On Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent are as successful a sporting duo as you’ll ever meet. Steve has won 5 gold medals at 5 successive games and is a 9 time world champion, Matt has won 4 Olympic golds and 10 world championships.
They were successful before Britain became good at sport, winning before the UK Olympic system grew sophisticated. But not just the occasional win - sustained and dominant winning.
I had the privilege of working with Steve and Matt from 1998, supporting them, along with Tim Foster and James Cracknell to the Sydney Olympics. I can’t tell you how much influence they both had on me as a professional sports scientist and as a person. Their focus, standards, intensity, but also thinking, understanding and at times philosophy was so impressive you couldn’t help but learn from it.
You’ll hear that though in this conversation, which was surprising, fun and at times emotional.
Notes
Tokyo delays how would they have responded?
‘Just what we wanted’ & ‘Control the controllables’
A hairline crack in the rig puts a race in jeopardy
Are you feeling nervous yet? Changing the conversation
The step up from Barcelona to Atlanta the pressure changed hugely
Steve’s infamous quote and the pressure of build up
It wasn’t a long retirement!
The challenges that Steve felt in returning to rowing, both physically & mentally
The way in which Matt & Steve supported each other, the deep level of understanding
What are Matt & Steve’s reflections on pursuing a goal pushing and driving but doing it well?
Links
https://twitter.com/matthewcpinsent
https://twitter.com/SteveRedgrave5
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Wednesday Jul 14, 2021
Wednesday Jul 14, 2021
In this week’s conversation I speak to Martin Buchheitt and George Perry authors of their upcoming book “Egoals” (a blend of Ego and goals), the subtitle being, “Exercising your ego in high-performance environments”. Martin has been a real leader in applied sports science and research particularly in team sports and George is a track coach and writer based in the US. They’ve teamed up to explore the notion of how we manage, utilise and harness our sense of self, identity and achievement in roles which are inherently in support of others achieving. They have done this with a powerful collection of interviews and reflections from support staff from around the world with an accumulated experience level of over 2000 years.
Their writing and reflections resonated deeply with me and yet the conversation challenged me. There is an urge for us to be a little bolder with the experiences and insights we need to find ways not to get ahead of ourselves. There is a balance to be had, a tightrope, almost a dil for which we have to find a better way to manage. Martin and George’s exploration of ego is a valuable contribution to our craft.
Follow Martin on Twitter
https://twitter.com/mart1buch
Take a look at the book
https://egoalsbook.com/
http://instagram.com/egoalsbook
NEW SUPPORTING CHAMPIONS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Wednesday Jun 30, 2021
Wednesday Jun 30, 2021
This week I spoke to Mike Hughes. Mike is a Performance Analyst, having worked with some of the best teams in the world and developed them by providing understanding and insight based on deconstructing and exploring phenomena in training and performance. Mike and I worked alongside each other at the English institute of Sport, though on different teams, Mike worked with British cycling in the years that it went from mediocre to utterly dominant. He’s worked at Insight Analysis where he was assigned to the England Rugby team where you may have seen him alongside the England coaching team where Mike was beavering away crunching numbers on hand to feed directly to the coaches.
Performance Analysis has risen in prominence in the last few decades - nearly every top operation has analysts as a central part of their backroom teams. What is interesting about the discussion with Mike though is that he creates the case that insight is all very well but if you haven’t got the relationship with the coaches and leaders to have that conversation that could necessitate change, (perhaps sometimes against their preferred way of working), then analysis stays as just that - an unused data point.
At the very heart of Performance Analysis is the saying “Why guess, when you could know?” - but as Mike illustrates a deeper question is - “Now you know what needs to be different, but do you know how to make difference?”
Happy listening
Notes
Performance analysis in the blood - Mike Hughes son of Prof Mike Hughes!
The differing eras of PA advancement
Current PA set up for teams
The importance of coaching intuition and marrying with PA
Mike’s example of making a difference via PA
Simulating differing environments, referees and preferences
Red Zone Analysis
Links
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Mandy Hickson on jet fighter pilot performance
This week I spoke to Mandy Hickson. Mandy is a fighter pilot, having joined the Royal Air Force in 1994 and flew the Tornado GR4 on the front line, where she operated in hostile environments, including patrolling the ‘No Fly’ zone over Iraq.
I was fascinated to discuss with Mandy about the physical and mental challenges of training to become a top fighter pilot. I was particularly interested how pilot’s like Mandy improve, what are the stages of progression to go from small craft, to faster and more manoeuvrable craft, and then to train in such a way that you’re ready to operate and perform in a combat zone, where the stakes are as high as they get.
The conversation is so rich with insight, where Mandy unpacks a number of situations, scenarios and seriously pressured circumstances with powerful detail and shares a number of useful frameworks that helped her to manage the fears and doubts but then rise to the top. She shares her insights with a combination of breeziness, fun, care and a level of wisdom that comes from profound experience.
Oh and there’s another detail that’s pretty obvious but in many ways is irrelevant and relevant as you’ll hear in this discussion. She’s a woman who got to the top in a male dominated field. And while that might not matter to some, as a role model to other people aspiring to do something against the odds, she’s an inspiration.
Notes
Types of jets and craft Mandy has flown in the RAF
Training takes time
Grey out, G-Force and the G-suits required to be worn and the pressure of G-Force
Situational awareness and the bigger picture
Notice, understand and think ahead - NUTA
Getting your head out of the detail
Debriefing and best practice
Everyone hates feedback but give me a BOOST - balanced, observed, objective, specific and timely
DODAR Diagnose share with the team, what do you think?, options - what would you do?, option generation leading to the decision by the leader, Assign task and review (or give me a reason not to)
Being a female fighter pilot
Making better quality decisions and creating a solutions based culture, the ‘Just Culture’
Links
Follow Mandy
https://twitter.com/MandyHickson
https://hicksonltd.com/
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
This week I spoke to Steph Houghton.
Steph is the England Football Captain, having played for her country over 120 times. Steph has seen the women’s game evolve from amateur days, to the rise in popularity of the game in Britain and around the world, to the Women’s Super League and now the women’s game selling out stadia. During this time Steph has also had to evolve, adapt & respond to growing pressures of playing for her country, taking on the captaincy, World Cup finals successes and disappointments, becoming a household name and leading others. The conversation with Steph was interesting because she had this quiet resolve, this inner steel, almost stoicism all in service of trying to be the best she can and to take the opportunities in front of her.
I felt there was no facade about Steph - just genuine, values driven commitment to her craft and profession - all while honouring the role and responsibility she recognises she now holds - and that is as a role-model for the people she plays with, the game and a community of people looking up to her.
Notes
Recovery from an achilles injury and learning to take time after experience of multiple injuries
Opportunities for female players now and the changes in the last decade
Hoping to inspire a generation
What are the values Steph holds close
England captain at 26!
Breathing exercises are a no go for Steph but she is seeing the benefits of pilates mentally and physically
Difficult conversations
Managing 20-21 games and the uncertainty for athletes
The Olympics and preparation
The World Cup in 2023
Links
Follow Steph on Twitter and Instagram https://twitter.com/stephhoughton2
https://www.instagram.com/stephhoughton2/
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
This week’s guest is Cody Royle. Cody is the head coach of Australian Football League Team Canada, the men's national program for Australian Rules football. Cody is also an author and I would say fast becoming recognised as a pioneering voice about a topic that previously just hasn’t been communicated - that is the reality of being a head coach. In his recent book, The Tough Stuff, he explores the challenges of coaching in elite sport, but specifically the dynamics and perspectives, the difficulties and the pressures of being a HEAD coach. He ratifies his own feelings, in conversation with a series of top coaches too, such as Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons) and Stuart Lancaster (England Rugby), to name a few.
I can’t stress enough just how important this step change is in communicating the demands on coaches. There is a disproportionate and unwarranted expectation, storm of opinion and lack of support and empathy for the head coach. It is Cody’s petition that we all need to do better.
To give you a flavour of the book chapter titles which we delve into and build the conversation around, Your fiercest rival is yourself, you’re not a coach, Tactics don’t matter, Chapter 1 - everyone thinks you’re an idiot - and that’s where I start this conversation.
If anyone wants to work in or learn from high performance sport - I compel you to listen to what Cody has to say.
WIN A FREE COPY OF CODY'S BOOK
We have two copies of Cody's book, The Tough Stuff to give away. Simply give an honest review of the podcast on iTunes (only new reviews accepted), take a screenshot of the review and email it to enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk, by 31st May at 12 noon. Two reviewers chosen at random will receive a copy in the post. It could be one of the most worthwhile screenshots you take this year!
Enjoy the listen!
Notes on what we discuss
The Tough Stuff - ‘Everyone thinks you’re an idiot’
If we’re all performers why aren’t the coaches seen as performers?
The catalyst of the book
Coaches and the importance of self-care
Get. Some. Sleep!
Translating skills from assistant coach where the pressure’s off to head coach
The brethren of understanding
Support structure for coaches
You’re not a coach - being detached from our real identity
Changing the dialogue for mutual benefit
Follow Cody on Twitter https://twitter.com/codyroyle
The Tough Stuff on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tough-Stuff-Seven-Truths-About/dp/1660114446/
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Wednesday May 05, 2021
David Martin is a leading light in applied sports science. He was senior physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport, where along with a number of brilliant minds, pioneered the application of science to elite performance. During the 1990s, as I was grappling with some fundamentals, David was breaking new ground and frankly doing work that the world hadn’t seen before. Their work was the benchmark of excellence that we looked to.
In this conversation David and I reflect on our parallel universes, how they drove us, how we in the UK system came to catch and overtake them, and in all likelihood, though some would deny it, then served as the benchmark for the Australian system. David then went onto work at the NBA at the Philadelphia 76ers, an experience and a professional set up that is worth comparing to the national systems we both cut our teeth in.
What I truly value when talking to David is piercing insight by that I mean raw intelligence, powerful communication skills, honesty, reflection, all informed by experience of working at the coal face.
Show Notes
The Jane Goodall Lecture
David’s analogies in comparison to Jane Goodall’s experiences
Growing with the team and gathering momentum - the dangers
Learn to step back
Athlete beliefs and scientist beliefs - the interactions
David’s zoology training
The Apex predators and the consequences of extinction
The switch in funding for practitioners
Changing and switching things up after a home games
David’s observations since moving into professional sports
David’s goals going forward
Links
Follow David on Twitter https://twitter.com/davidtmartin
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions