Supporting Champions

Lucy Balfour is a leading dancer at the world renowned contemporary dance company Ballet Rambert. Lucy trained at the International Ballet Academy in Christchurch, then spent ten years with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, before joining Rambert. In this episode, Lucy talks about the competitiveness of becoming a ballerina, the singular focus on realising her dream, with no back up plan. She talks about the pressure of selection and performing, maintaining self-identity throughout balanced by the privilege of being a dancer. Lucy is pregnant and gives an insight how Rambert have been supporting her to continue to rehearse and perform (Lucy performed on stage with Rambert up to 5 months pregnant) and now looks ahead with the question of whether she'll return to dance once she becomes a mum.   Show notes Lucy's journey into dance Decision ballet school or high school? First ballet contract with The Royal New Zealand ballet company Focus, rejection, perseverance and belief: developing resilience No plan B Dealing w

In this episode I interview Professor Liz Stokoe, while we were both speaking at Cheltenham Science Festival. Liz is a Professor of Social Interaction at Loughborough University, specialising in conversational analysis. Liz shares her insights into the dynamics of conversation, some of the aggressive moves people make and how to manage these situations and what we can learn from delicate exchanges such as marriage guidance mediators and suicide negotiators. I really enjoyed this interview and found it utterly fascinating to hear Liz's insights and advice.   Show notes The future of human communication The forensic examination of conversational encounters  'Mis-greeters' and 'recalibrating' initial greetings Liz's route to conversational analysis Liz's PhD - an analysis of university tutorials. Students reluctant to show they worked hard, cool to not prepare but actually working very hard Myth busting - Gender and interaction. Zero evidence that women and men talk differently in systematic ways Identity catego

In this episode I talk to Jo Meek, aka the "Running Squirrel". Jo is one of the world's leading ultra-endurance runners. In 2013 Jo was 2nd woman across the line in the Marathon de Sables. In 2014 Jo was first in the Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica (a 225km run which she completed in 29h 17mins, 19s; 5th in Comrades marathon; 4th in the World 100km Champs. Jo has a 10km time of 34:36; a marathon time of 2:46; and a 100km time of 7hr 43mins. Jo offers a unique insight into managing training, discomfort of training and how she reframes challenge into a positive. Show notes   The origins of the nickname "Running Squirrel" Unconventional entrance to sport. Sport as a key to join in and be cool! Road running and now running on Dartmoor English cross-country champion, road racing and marathon and then ultra-marathon Mental resolve, persistence and hard work. Mental resolve is innate for Jo Sport Science top tips Make running your routine The pros and cons of becoming a full-time athlete What moderates Jo's training

In this episode I talk to long standing colleague, coach and friend Toni Minichiello, coach to one of the World's greatest athletes Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill. I've worked with Toni since 2001 and while we've talked about everything and anything over the years, it was fascinating to capture his thoughts about the key area of communication, his thoughts, ideas, techniques and how they have evolved over the years;   Show notes Communication and conveying knowledge and ideas for maximum impact Gleaning information from the athletes of different ages/abilities/experience Athletes critiquing themselves negatively Toni Minichiello's coaching style Communication assumptions! High performers and communication Finding a mutual vocabulary/language Motivational styles and mindsets Succinct information at critical points…deliver two points Motivation, confidence…pushing the positive The coach has to make the decision based on your knowledge and experience of the athlete…coach what you see Working/communicating with a coach…

009 Yann Le Meur This week's episode features an interview with Dr Yann Le Meur, physiologist and creator of the infographic phenomenon. Yann Le Meur - training strategies - tennis/triathlon, improving fitness, sport science & Rodger Federer Studying Sport Science, PE teacher, exercise physiology/ Heat altitude training, recovery nutrition provided a breadth and grounding in sport. Synchronised swimming, modern pentathlon - working with national team and high level athletes Act as a chameleon! Adaptation Infographics - a way of explanation, communication and interaction Teaching to make information - infographics Elite sports teams in France Consultancy and performance improvement Applied sports career top tips, fairness, relationships & hard work Create a network, work hard and challenge yourself create opportunities to create a good reputation Opportunities in sport Infographic stats: first began August 2014, 200 per year, 70,000 Twitter followers No-one was reading my paper!! A simplification of th

Episode 008 In this episode I am joined once again by Rosie Mayes, and Jamie Pringle to talk culture in high performance sport and in the wider world of business and education. Show notes Why are we talking about culture? Could you put culture on a dashboard of metrics? How quickly can you pick up on a culture? Whose responsibility is culture? Process review Culture as a determinant of performance Early experiences, environment culturing achievement If culture is poor how does it manifest in people? Getting the balance right between under or over investment in peak performance and stress The responsibility and potential for those in charge in leadership Rosie as a benchwarmer - but served a key role in team dynamics Coach decisions and responses on a day to day basis that define culture Projecting and ownership of pressures Sensitive moments in performance, such as selection and de-selection Can you get more and do it well? Purpose, autonomy and mastery High performance habits for all How does sport influence

Jenny Rogers: Coaching Episode 007 Show notes   Where it all started? Jenny’s teaching career and her ‘development itch!' Where did it all start? The BBC & finding Delia Smith! Where did the development of others start? Becoming commissioning editor for The Open College, Jenny’s introduction to consulting and organisational behaviour The beginnings of one to one work and executive coaching 20:00 Becoming a coach full-time and leaving the BBC What is the coaching that Jenny provides? “The slippery-ness of the human approach to change’ The power of coaching - examples Jenny’s top tips for people new to coaching This isn’t working - working in the moment and developing a different kind of conversation Stepping outside of the conversation, navigating the difficult childhoods. Treading dangerous waters. Super-champions, high performing executives and their emotional lies  Supporting sporting systems and what executive coaching can offer sport Coaching sessions…holding a space, nudging, challenging and laughter

Supporting Champions Podcast 006 David Fletcher In this episode I talk to David Fletcher about his career as a swimmer, researcher and expert in the area of adversity. Show notes; Early aspirations as a swimmer, but experiencing near misses as an athlete and academically Transfer of desire from swim background to early success in studies Father as a science role-model, searching and sharing academic papers Importance of internship in sporting environment Importance of breadth of experience beyond own area of specialism Interest in the stresses that athletes experiences Stresses changing based on growth of high performance system Uncovering poor organisational behaviours that adversely influenced sporting performance Seeking legal advice due to controversial nature of athlete interviews - sticking to your guns about unearthing and communicating stresses Identifying stresses and how some used stressful experiences as fuel for determination Organisational stresses - leadership styles, not being listened to, over

005: Emilie Thienot on mindfulness Go out there, meet people, do something! Overtime if I want something I don’t give up because I know it will happen. If I work hard and smartly I will see results. Back to the UK, the UK system and the British Sailing team. The psychology of sailing, how do you support them? Freeing the mind to make good decisions. Unlocking potential - removing psychological barriers. Communication as a team - who do they want to be as a team, underpinning values and translating to behaviours. Trust and honesty at the foundation. The skill of resetting and the ability to adapt in the moment. Mindfulness - what is it? The ability to be aware of what is going on in the moment, in a non judgemental way. What does mindfulness do? What's the performance advantage? Accepting of negative thoughts and being able to notice the difficult feelings coming in, taking a helicopter view, diffuse and choose something else to refocus on, rather than fighting with the negative thoughts. Step 1, Step 2 &

004 Vern Gambetta on a career in coaching   Guru or legend?! How Vern got into sport Role models Be a generalist not a specialist It’s still the human body, what are the differences and similarities between the different sports? Maintaining an open-mindedness. Don’t make assumptions! Generations of young people with negligible physical literacy Training sessions - how do we get more out of what we do? How do you design somebody’s journey from youth to senior athlete? Avoiding early specialisation - the conflict between art and science We need to educate the coaches to be better managers the resources they have.  Early specialisation and generalising - what’s required? I am a student of history, continually asking where did this technique/coach come from? 3 Passionate about getting better at getting better   Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram

Steve Ingham, Jamie Pringle, Rosie Mayes, discuss the rise of UK High Performance System that has gone from 36th on the medal table in 1996 Olympics to 2nd at the Rio Olympics in 2016, becoming a global sporting superpower. This episode discusses what are the common trends in successful high performing systems and looks forward as to how performance can be sustained. What are the determining factors of a successful system? What are the things from other performance environments you would find which are similar to the British system irrespective of context and culture? Jamie plays devil’s advocate - if we had unlimited resources what would we do with that money? Where might we want to see future investment for competitive advantage if we had unlimited resources? If we travelled forward 100 years, what would we want to see long term residing in high performance sport system that is successful? If we travelled back 100 years, to 1917, what would have astounded our contemporaries?   Supporting Champions on Twitte

Episode #2 Panel Discussion (Part 2 of 3)   Steve Ingham, Jamie Pringle, Rosie Mayes, discuss the rise of Uk High Performance System that has gone from 36th on the medal table in 1996 Olympics to 2nd at the Rio Olympics in 2016, becoming a global sporting superpower.   This episode charts the necessary focus that came with the award of the home games, what challenges it brought and how the roles change under mounting pressure and resource. Show notes 4:01 July 6th 2005 London was awarded the Olympic Games Suddenly the bar has gone higher…we need more! Know what your role is. The fundamental difference between sport science in the academic sense and thinking about the performer and their performance The athletes don’t care who supplies the support, they want the support. The coach’s role is the distiller of language that the athlete can understand. 10:31 How has the education of the coaches developed and how has science been able to inform the coach? The athlete centred, coach managed network. How do you expla

Episode 001 Panel Discussion (Part 1 of 3) Steve Ingham, Jamie Pringle, Rosie Mayes, discuss the rise of Uk High Performance System that has gone from 36th on the medal table in 1996 Olympics to 2nd at the Rio Olympics in 2016, becoming a global sporting superpower. This episode charts the early origins of the UK beginning to find pockets of excellence, how the system emerged from losing and grew to develop its own identity, method and network. Show notes  UK High performance achievements  Where did it all start?  Capturing nuggets from early achievers (Boardman/Keen) Searching for early specialists Creating and innovating from nothing Protecting competitive advantage Losing acting as an accelerator for funding and system change Professional (funding allow athletes, coaches and staff to train/work full-time) but lacking focus Support services in their infancy - the baby begins to develop The baby learns to speak and say no for the first time Into the next episode - the acceleration provided by being awarded t