Entries by drcraigharrison

EP #145

Mark Upton and Ken Willner on Promoting Freedom, Creativity, Collaboration and Competition



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My conversation this week is with Mark Upton and Ken Willner.

Mark is passionate about supporting people’s WayFinding endeavours by facilitating the emergence of new connections, new capacities, and meaningful stories and refections as we journey together. He has a particular interest in helping people find their way in sport. You can find Mark’s work @ myfastestmile.com

Ken Willner is a sports photographer passionate about keeping children in sport. Through collaboration with international and local professionals, Ken provides a fresh approach to helping young people flourish in sports. You can find Ken’s work @ yellowforyelling.com

On the show today, Mark and Ken share their Game Hubs idea. Game Hubs are local community spaces that promote freedom, creativity, collaboration and competition through games. They embrace the voices and choices of young people, are low cost, and rather than coaching, call for adults to just facilitate play. 

We start our conversation hearing from Ken and his thoughts on the intensity of emotion parents bring to sport.

Enjoy!

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rch findings have had a huge impact on the way I think about environments for developing skilled, creative and resilient athletes and so, heading into the winter season, I thought I’d share our conversation again.

Sam now works as a coach developer in the talent pathway for the AFL. We pick the conversation up hearing Sam talk about how experiencing some of the darker side of sport drives the work that he loves today.

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

Host Craig to speak at your club or school here. 

Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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May 2, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #144

Samuel McKenzie - The 1st XV Rugby Experience in New Zealand (Repost)



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This week I’m winding the clock back to May 2020 when I sat down with my good friend Samuel McKenzie.

In 2019, Sam completed his Master’s degree at AUT University focusing on 1st XV rugby players’ perceptions of their coaching environment. Sam’s research findings have had a huge impact on the way I think about environments for developing skilled, creative and resilient athletes and so, heading into the winter season, I thought I’d share our conversation again.

Sam now works as a coach developer in the talent pathway for the AFL. We pick the conversation up hearing Sam talk about how experiencing some of the darker side of sport drives the work that he loves today.

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

Host Craig to speak at your club or school here. 

Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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April 17, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #143

Zane Winslade on Playfulness, Courage, and Developing Mental Toughness



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This week’s conversation is with Zane Winslade.

Zane is the owner of Flow Sport Mental Performance Coaching, and works with athletes from youth to the elite level across multiple codes. Zane has a a Bachelor’s degree in Sports and Leisure Studies, a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology from John F Kennedy University.

On the show today , Zane shares how he works with young people to help them manage their mind and perform as their best self. We also discuss the 3 key principles Zane founded his Mental Toughness Journal for young athletes on.

We start the episode talking about how Zane approaches his own mental game at Brazilian Jujitsu. 

Enjoy!

 

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

Get Craig to speak at your club or school here. 

Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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April 11, 2023 /0 Comments/by

How much is too much? How to balance stress with recovery

How much is too much? How to balance stress with recovery

Training induces stress on the body. For instance, an elevated heart rate during a small-sided game or an accumulation of lactate in the body after a hill running session. Despite discomfort, physiological stress is what elicits adaptation. It creates fatigue, which signals a repair response in the body and the start of the recovery process.
 
However, there’s a pervasive belief in our culture that more is better. That more time, hard work, and effort leads to better outcomes. It’s a belief cultivated by a focus on competition, social status, and winning. And it’s not just about physiological stress. Emotional stress, such as that often associated with a busy schedule, making a team, the expectation and pressure of a big game or event, and thinking “what might happen if I lose”, has ramped up significantly in the lives of young people.
 
The science clearly shows that while stress is a necessary ingredient for development, too much of it can hold an athlete’s progression back, lead to injury, or burn a young athlete out. Stress is cumulative, meaning all stress, regardless of where it comes from, has an impact. For this reason, balancing stress and recovery is critical for an athlete’s healthy development.
 
To help get your head around this idea, consider the following equation:

Health = Stress X Recovery

Remember, stress per see is not a bad thing. As I have already discussed, it in fact drives adaptation. However, a stress-recovery relationship out of balance for too long can cause problems. For instance, following a tournament week when an athlete is physically and mentally exhausted and needs a disparate amount of time to recover. You also see issues during times of accelerated growth, and when environments are designed for performance outcomes at the expense of joy.
 
So let’s check out the different parts of the equation:

Stress

  1. Physical load – this is the total amount of physical activity an athlete is doing per week (measured in hours) and the intensity at which it takes place.
  2. Academic load – this is the amount of academic work an athlete is doing per week (measured in hours) and the intensity at which it is taking place. Presence of internal assessments, assignments, exams and other intra-curricular activities tend to increase the intensity of academic load.
  3. Environmental structure – this is the degree to which the developmental environment is strictly controlled by adults versus set-up for exploration and discovery. Science shows how spending time in playful environments helps a young person manage stress and learn the skills to self-regulate.
  4. Quality of relationships – conflict increases stress. A relationship that is psychologically safe and founded on trust reduces necessary stress.
  5. Stage of development – a critical aspect of youth sport often neglected is the adolescent growth spurt. This is the stage of development between ~11-15 years of age when an athlete is changing rapidly, both physically and mentally. The changes associated with this phase of natural development increase stress. 

Recovery

  1. Sleep – the importance of sleep is undeniable. To borrow from a computer analogy, sleep is the time during which an athlete ‘upgrades their hardware and software”. Insufficient sleep quantity and quality has significant implications for stress tolerance.
  2. Nutrition and hydration – the right nutrients and minerals are essential for healthy growth.
  3. Movement vitamins – I have talked about the importance of movement skill before. But certain types of movement also provide value in recovery.
  4. Social play – play is not only for young children. Social play, which happens when athletes of any age ‘hang out’ with friends away from any organised sport or learning, aids in recovery.

Keep the bucket full

The goal is not to reach a definitive answer here. Development is complex and linear thinking can be dangerous. Instead, the purpose of the equation is to help you support an athlete to “keep their bucket full”. More specifically, in an effort to balance stress with recovery and keep an athlete healthy and playing the sports that they love, it is important be aware of the components of stress that deplete an athlete’s bucket as well as the important recovery mechanisms that fill in back up.



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April 6, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #142

The Curious Mind #06 - How Much is Too Much?



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Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project, Dave Wright (@davewright07), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind.

How much is too much? In this conversation, we dig into training load. We discuss what load is, where it comes from, how it changes across developmental stages, the danger of doing too much, and how to start thinking about managing it.

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

Get Craig to speak at your club or school here. 

Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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April 3, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #141

Reed Maltbie on Emotional Fitness, Living a Life in Balance, and the Spartan Mindset



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Living a life in balance is about finding flow. It’s about capitalising on all of the things that make you a better person without one of them taking over the flow.

My guest on today’s show is Reed Maltbie, and he’s a master at helping athletes find flow.

With a Master’s degree in sports psychology and early childhood development and 30 years of professional coaching experience, Reed has dedicated his life to creating the very best environments for athletes of all ages to achieve peak performance, on and off the sports field.

Reed has worked with a variety of sports organisations including the Gaelic Games Association, England Sevens, Soccer Shots, Sport New Zealand, Player Development Project, US Sailing, Soccer Canada, and PGA of Canada.

His latest book, The Spartan Mindset, due out in April 2023, Reed focuses on the impact of language on performance. It is a must-read for anyone who strives to be a more effective and supportive communicator in the classroom, on the sports field, at the office, and beyond.

We begin this conversation talking about the power of emotional fitness and how Reed goes about developing it.

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

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Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
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Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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March 27, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #140

Invitations to Move | Changing Young People's Lives with Celia Fleck and Dr Dan Cooke



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When we value how movement helps us grow, we see invitations to move everywhere we look.

In this conversation, I’m bringing two very special people together to share their efforts to change the movement culture inside primary schools in New Zealand.

The first is Celia Fleck. For the past 3 and a half years, Celia has been working on a joint government initiative between Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Education, and Sport NZ called Healthy Active Learning. The goal of the initiative is to improve wellbeing outcomes for tamariki with a strong focus on using physical activity, and healthy food and drink as the vehicles to achieve it. Celia leads the recruitment and professional development of a workforce of over 100 people who are carrying out this mahi. Prior to working in the Sport Sector, Celia was a Secondary Health and PE teacher for 19 years, and a Health and PE Curriculum facilitator for 4 years. She has a Bachelor of Physical Education from Otago University.

Joining Celia on the show today is Daniel Cooke. Dan and I have become very good friend over the past 5 years and he found he way through his PhD in movement skill learning inside a primary school in Auckland. Dan is an A-Licence football coach and has worked with players and coaches across three continents in grassroots and professional settings. He is now working with FIFA as a Talent Coach with a mission to give every talent a chance.

We start the conversation discussing why Celia and Dan are so passionate about movement and children.

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

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Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
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Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

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March 20, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #139

Dr James Vaughan on Culture, Praise Addiction, and Developing Skilled Performers



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There are two types of people in the world – managers, and leaders. Managers work hard to maintain the status quo that their jobs and reputations were built on. They seek comfort in the certainty of the way things have always been done. Leaders, on the other hand, seek change. They imagine a better world, and are driven to create it.

My guest on today’s show is, without doubt, a leader. His name is Dr James Vaughan and he is an UEFA A licensed football coach and coach developer. James’ work, which challenges old ways of skill development, calls for cultural change on and off the football pitch. Practically speaking, Jame views football as an emergent feature of the sociocultural ecology, with sociocultural constraints influencing playing style and creative development.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Jame shares his journey from getting cut at age 16 from a football centre of excellence in the UK, to moving with his family to the other side of the world, to earning a PhD in Sports Coaching from the University of Queensland, to now, living and coaching in Sweden.

We pick the story up talking about how James thinks about  making important change.

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

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Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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March 13, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #138

James Leath on Improv Comedy, Mr Rogers, & Being More Childlike



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James Leath (@jamesleath) has been coaching student-athletes for over 20 years. He has a master’s degree in performance psychology and has worked with companies like IMG Academy, MINDBODY INC, and Under Armour. He currently works with EXOS Human Performance in the US.

James has a new book out, entitled “Team Building Activities for Athletes: How to master the art of building a successful team culture through intentional activities.” I love the book and wanted to bring James on the pod to tell us all about it.

Click HERE to grab some of James’ awesome activities for free!

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

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Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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March 6, 2023 /0 Comments/by

EP #137

Professor Arne Güllich on Developing Talent, Learning & the Paradox of Competitive Sport (Repost)



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On the show today, I’m winding the clock back to December 2021 to when I sat down with Professor Arne Güllich.

Arne is a sports scientist and researcher at Technical University of Kaiserslautern, in Germany. He’s published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, including his latest paper “What Makes a Champion? Early Multidisciplinary Practice, Not Early Specialization, Predicts World-Class Performance”, and has coached across multiple levels in sport for number of years.

In this conversation, Arne and I discuss his research findings on talent development, coaching, how to develop motivated, self-determined young people, and much more.

Enjoy!

Sign up for Craig’s newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter

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Connect with Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.

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March 3, 2023 /0 Comments/by