Athlete Wellbeing
Coin theory for a more balanced life
It seems like ages since I used cash in real life – the pandemic has made many of us much more dependent on tapping our debit cards in stores. Mentally though, I use coins (little virtual modules of energy, effort and attention) all the time. I don’t know who...
The benefits of exercise
Today I chatted to Kaye Adams on BBC Radio Scotland about Rod Stewart’s daily SAS style training to get into shape for his tour. We chatted about whether that is good idea for those in their 70s… and I wanted to highlight there are some brilliant benefits to tough...
How to handle a stitch
I work a lot with ultra runners and with new runners and something both groups can experience is getting a stitch. It is really annoying and painful so here are some ways to reduce the risk of one appearing, and suggestions on how to handle it if it does. What is a...
Book review: Perform and Thrive by Sarah Broadhead
When I began looking into Sport Psychology in 2013 there were not many books on it to investigate. Over the last nine years probably hundreds have been published. Is there room for one more? What can yet another one add? In the case of Perform and Thrive from Sarah...
How can elite athletes navigate social media?
This week I had my first ever work experience student. Amelia Casey is just about to begin her third year at Birmingham Uni studying Psychology and she wanted to find out if Sport Psychology is a career she would enjoy. Much of my work as a Sport Psychologist is...
ACT case study: Injured male footballer
A psychological approach called ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) is becoming increasingly popular in sport psychology. It is the approach I use – it can be a little hard to understand what the process is – so I saw this new paper from Laura Swettenham and Amy...
Am I at risk of burnout?
Burnout is horrible. It is described as happening when we experience of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, caused by long-term involvement in situations that are emotionally demanding". You’ll notice it if you are feeling exhausted, distance yourself or feel...
12 ways to recover from Burnout
We have had a very strange two years. While it might feel now all is getting back to normal and we are ‘living’ with Covid the repercussions rumble on. One of these repercussions feels like a large number of people struggling with Burnout. Burnout comes when we have...
Why would I need a sport psychologist?
Psychology is the study of human behaviour. Sport psychology then helps us use our knowledge of behaviour in a sporting environment to reduce unhelpful behaviours, build positive ones and maximise success. That success might be focused on enjoyment, getting healthier,...
22 two minute movements
Years ago when I worked for a big health charity we commissioned some research from the London School of Economics to see how much exercise people were really doing each day. They found the average was 21 minutes a day. That was it. If you are reading this and have...
Latest research: Teenage girls, perfectionism and social media
I regularly work with teenage girls who have high levels of perfectionism (a trait where we have incredibly high standards and harsh self-criticism) and find this has become a double edged sword for them. On the one hand it means they set super high goals, they will...
27 free courses in sport, psychology and wellbeing
Sport Psychology and coaching Exploring sport coaching and psychology Open University This looks at the influence of coaching and psychology through the lens of sports people and teams who have been successful. In it you focus on coaching practices used with young...
Four ways to use social media to boost wellbeing
A new piece of research (Towards a framework for flourishing through social media: a systematic review of 118 research studies) led by Maya Gudka at London Business School has just been published and it includes some really interesting findings as to how our use of...
Great advice from sporting parents – to sporting parents
I asked the parents of young athletes on twitter for their best advice for other parents. There were some brilliant messages summarised as… Let the coach, coach.Be the taxi, the finance, the kit washer, the refueller, the PA & the micro manager.Tell your children...
Mentally rest – perform better
Mental rest is important because it facilitates mental recovery. When we don’t mentally recover our cognitive functioning can become impaired so we make rubbish decisions when performing and long term we risk burnout. It is also important because rest helps in our acquisition of new technical and tactical skills, allowing for the memories of our newly learnt skills to be consolidated in our brain.
Post event blues… what can we learn from Olympians?
The come down after a big sporting event or challenge can be significant. This post looks at a great piece of research with Olympic athletes and highlights four ways you can look after your own wellbeing after a big event to prevent the post-event blues.
What stresses sports parents…
As the mum of a 5-year-old I’ve yet to experience the stresses and worries of seeing my child try to perform well in sport. But I have heard stories – oh so many stories about the nightmare parents who shout abuse at opponents (or even at their own kids), fight the...
8 things I loved about the Tokyo Olympics
Dan Walker and Sam Quek on the BBC Coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics I was one of those who was never quite sure the Olympics would happen this year so hadn’t built up excitement – but now it is over I feel sad that cartoons will be back on our screen over breakfast...
Are more athletes struggling with poor mental health – or are they talking about their mental health more?
One of the best things about being a sport psychologist is that every time you watch sport you can class it as CPD and media interview preparation and feel a little bit smug and a little less guilty (because that to do list is always nagging away). So, hands up I’ve...
The impact of media pressure on Olympic Athletes
The modern media environment makes sport a very different experience for athletes. They don't just perform and maybe chat about it afterwards with a journalist. They have to behave with the media in mind at all times. I researched this a few years ago and interviewed...