Eighty Percent Mental

Sometimes the transition out of sport can be easy, a natural progression to the next stage of an athlete’s life. Sometimes it can be an intensely difficult and painful experience.  Sometimes, ending an athletic career can be a deliberate choice, other times it’s forced upon an athlete through injury, or changing circumstances. In the final episode of this series, Dr Pete Olusoga explores The Psychology of The End with two very special guests, Psychologist and Director of NBA Mind Health, Dr Kensa Gunter, and Senior VP and Head of NBA Player Development, Jamila Wideman. We discuss Jamila’s own playing career (drafted 3rd overall in the inaugural WNBA draft) and her own transitions in and out of sport, and Dr Gunter offers her insights from a psychological perspective on overcoming the challenges of bringing an athletic career to a close. It’s such an honest and truthful conversation and a wonderful way to bring this series to an end. Enjoy!

• Follow Dr Kensa Gunter on Twitter: @DrKensa

There’s no denying the strategy, the undeniable levels of skill, and the precision involved in American Football, but it’s also a sport, a little like rugby, where a good part of your time is spent picking yourself up off the floor after being knocked on your ass. In this episode of Eighty Percent Mental, Dr Pete Olusoga explores the psychology involved in collision sports. What are the unique mental challenges of taking (or dishing out) massive hit after massive hit? Joining Pete on this episode are special guests, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being at the University of North Carolina, Dwight Hollier, and Performance Consultant and Therapist, Dr Adrian Ferrera.

• Follow Dwight Hollier on Twitter: @Dfin50

Earlier this series (Episode 3.13), Dr Pete Olusoga spoke to  Laura Langton and Kit Windsor, from Team Ace of Blades, just before they set off on their quest to row across the Atlantic. Along with the other two members of the crew, Lizz Watson and Beth Motley, they set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on 13th December, 2023. Forty-seven days later, they rowed their 25ft boat into English Harbour in Antigua having successfully navigated all 3000 miles of the World’s Toughest Row.

In this extra-special episode of EightyPercentMental, Laura, Kit, Lizz, and Beth are all here to talk about their incredible achievement, their magnificent voyage, and of course, about the role that psychology played on their adventure.

• Visit Team Ace of Blades: teamaceofblades.com

Ever fancied strapping yourself to a plank and throwing yourself down a snowy mountain? In this episode of Eighty Percent Mental, Dr Pete Olusoga explores The Psychology of The Slopes with snowboarding legend, Stevie Bell, and the Founder of the Mental Performance Center for Action Sports, Alēc Herbert. Such a great conversation around the mental aspects of action sports, preparation, professionalism, and doing things you immediately regret!

• Follow Stevie on Intagram: @steviebell801

• Check out these incredible organisations:

Experiencing pressure is something we can all identify with. In this episode of the EightyPercentMental podcast Dr Pete Olusoga talks with Sport Psychologist and UK Sport Institute Technical Lead, Dr Mike Stoker about what exactly pressure is, the impacts that it can have on how we think, feel, and perform, and how Pressure Training can help us manage pressure more effectively.

• Follow Dr Mike Stoker on Twitter: @DrMikeStoker

In this episode of Eighty Percent Mental, Dr Pete Olusoga is joined by Dr Mark O’Sullivan for a deeply insightful conversation on youth sport. We talk about the nature and evolution of coach education and the impact on coaching practice in youth sport, and we discuss the very purpose of youth sport itself. Who is it for? What is it for? And how does that impact on the kids who want to play!

• Follow Mark on Twitter: @markstkhlm

After taking a few weeks off Dr Pete Olusoga is back with another episode exploring the psychology of performance. We’ve had actors, singers, dancers, strength athletes, coaches, speed demons, and endurance masters on the podcast this series, but one thing we haven’t really considered yet this series is the psychology of The Team. How do we get a group of individuals to start performing as a high functioning team? Do we need to get along to survive? Is it all about the job at hand? What are the factors that bring people together to work as an efficient unit? Dr Pete explores all this and more with Performance Psychologist, Dr Alex Auerbach, and Coach to the coaches, Cody Royle.

• Follow Alex Auerbach on Twitter: @AlexAuerbachPHD

It’s brutal. It’s violent. It’s two people trying to hit each other until one of them can’t hit back any more… but it's a sport that has always had, and still has, huge appeal.  What is it that makes athletes want to take up boxing in the first place? What kind of mindset does it take to get in the ring? What are the mental skills and strategies that might help prepare an athlete to compete in a sport like this? Which is the best Rocky film? Dr Pete Olusoga explores all of that and more in this episode of the Eighty Percent Mental podcast, alongside pro boxer, Jordan “The Thrill” Gill, and Strength & Conditioning Coach and Co-founder of Boxing Science, Danny Wilson. Two guests who, between them have an absolute ton of experience in the fight game, although in slightly different roles, which made for a fascinating insight into the Psychology of The Fight. 

• Follow Jordan Gill on Instagram: @itsjordangill 

If you’re nervous about flying, imagine the nerve required to fly a 25ft plane through a 30ft window at 250mph. In this episode of EightyPercentMental Dr Pete Olusoga speaks with veteran Red Bull Air Race competitor and champion aerobatics pilot, Mike Goulian, and gets the perspective of veteran Mental Performance Coach, Dr Adam Naylor, on the psychology underpinning some of Mike’s most memorable performances. This really is theory to practice at its best as we discuss precision, focus, acceptance, team culture, golf, and screaming in cars, and how Mike and Adam formed an incredible partnership to achieve excellence in the skies.

• Follow Mike Goulian on Instagram: @mike_goulian

In this episode of EightyPercentMental, Dr Pete Olusoga talks to Kit Windsor and Laura Langton, exactly 50% of Team Ace of Blades, the all-women crew set to row (and definitely not sail) unsupported across the Atlantic in December 2023. Laura and Kit talk about the mental challenges of being on the waves for over a month, the mental preparation that’s going into such a huge undertaking, their hopes and fears, and the very real possibility of a Marlin sticking its nose where it’s not wanted.  

Find out more about the team, the charities they’re supporting, and how you can support them, including contributing to their epic, 3000-track playlist, by going to www.teamaceofblades.com 

• Follow the team on Twitter: @TeamAceOfBlades