One Track Mind

On this episode, host Sam Robertson is joined by high-performance coach Neil Craig and skill acquisition expert Professor Damian Farrow in a general discussion covering all things high performance coaching.  Topics include:

- The new skill sets required by the modern coach
- Areas for improvement in training and practice
- Structuring coaching departments around the head coach, and
- Future innovations in coaching and athlete development

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- Twitter: @trackvu

Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

In the blink of an eye, the volume and type of options available to the sports fan has exploded. The digital age has seen not only the battles for hearts and minds, but also eyeballs on screens, extend to other forms of entertainment, from live streaming to online gaming.

The digital age has also meant that it’s a lot easier for sport businesses, broadcasters and organisations to measure what their fans are consuming. But is increased viewership or clicks on websites actually telling us that’s the content that fan’s want? Or are they just simply taking what they’re given? 

On this episode, host Sam Robertson is joined by Newscorp's Leigh Lavery and Western Bulldog's Tom Nickson to discuss some of the best ways to engage the contemporary sports fan.  

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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

None of the latest breakthroughs in science come into mainstream practice without academic publishing - submission of a manuscript based on a study or experiment, which is then peer reviewed to assess its quality. 

Although this might not seem like an issue for sport, much of what goes on in the gymnasiums, playing fields and even front offices of sporting organisations has its roots in something that was once published in a journal somewhere. 

But talk to just about any researcher or journal editor and they’ll tell you that academic publishing is in crisis, and its getting worse. 

On this episode, host Sam Robertson is joined by Journal of Sports Sciences editor Professor Grant Abt and the Executive Chair for the Society for Transparency, Openness, and Replication in Kinesiology, Associate Professor Vanessa Yingling to determine whether academic publishing actually is broken - and if so - how can we fix it? 

For more on open access publishing models, see https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/green-gold-diamond-black-what-does-it-all-mean/ 

For more on the San Francisco Declaration of Research Assessment (DORA) see https://elifesciences.org/articles/58654  

For STORK's webpage, visit https://storkinesiology.org/ 

For information on the 2022 Inaugural STORK Summit see https://sites.google.com/storkinesiology.org/stork-summit-2022/ 

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

It is often said that sport is the great leveller - that once participants enter the track, court or field of play, their background, beliefs and even the fiercest conflicts all become temporarily irrelevant.

But in many aspects, the gap between the conditions and privileges afforded to certain sports and athletes but not others, is as large as it’s ever been.  However, there is an increasingly louder voice coming from those that are keen to change it. 

So how do we achieve this level playing field? And how do we ensure that equal opportunity and diversity become fundamental to the sporting experience in a sustainable way?

Join host Sam Robertson as he is joined by Professor Sophia Nimphius to work through one of sport's biggest current challenges. 

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

Intuition, gut instinct, educated hunch. Whether its contemplating who to select in an upcoming football match or hesitating to travel down that inner city, darkened alleyway, we all use our gut instincts every day. 

But it’s in our workplaces, where we often consider ourselves at our most organised and objective that an over-reliance on intuition has the potential to create problems.

So how do we know when trusting our gut instinct is the right thing to do? What are the potential downsides? And can we use reflection, feedback and refinement to actually improve this form of decision-making?

On this show, the final of a four part series on decision-making, host Sam Robertson is once again joined by special guest David Joyce 

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

Consider some of the big decisions that you make in your job? Whether it’s setting a yearly plan, deciding what technology or infrastructure to invest in, or even hiring and firing staff, chances are there will be a lot to contemplate before settling on the final choice.

Questions like ‘How long do I have to make the decision? How much information do I need to collect? What don’t I know? And who else do I need to involve? are just a few that come immediately to mind.

But with such a long list of potential steps to consider, one could be forgiven for missing a few.

On this show, the third of a four part series on decision-making, host Sam Robertson & special guest David Joyce outline a user’s guide to decision making hygiene in sport, outlining a series of must do process and steps that should be implemented before, during, and after you make that big call – as well as some to address when faced with the same conundrum again. 

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

We all have them and a lot of the time, they’re influence is unavoidable. Biases are quite simply, part of the human condition. But despite considerable exposure in the media, research and even popular culture, much of the discussion has centred on viewing biases as flaws of the human condition. 

In this second episode of our four part series into decision-making, we look at what biases mean for individuals and organisations working in sport. We discuss how heuristics are useful tools that can actually be harnessed in decision-making, how to avoid them turning them into biases, and most importantly of all, we provide some practical tools that we all can implement in our workplaces. To explore this topic, Host Sam Robertson is joined once again by high-performance strategist, David Joyce.

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

Decisions. We all make thousands of them every day. From the once in a lifetime question that we spend weeks, months or years contemplating, to the subconscious choices that we don't even know.

On this episode, we present the first of a four-part deep dive into decision-making in high performance sport, all to be released over the next month in the lead up to the season three return of one track mind on October 26 to begin today, we explore eight characteristics that define what a good decision is. We explain why these characteristics matter and how all of us in our work can benefit practically by utilizing them.

To explore this question, Host Sam Robertson is joined by high-performance strategist, David Joyce. To most David needs no introduction having forged a 20 year career in high-performance management with organizations such as the Chinese Olympic Committee, Galatasary, Blackburn Rovers, the English Institute of Sport and Greater Western Sydney Giants.

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were perhaps two of the most different in recent memory, due largely to the required measures that were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For most athletes, this meant interrupted, and/or heavily modified preparation, as well as some never before seen competition conditions.

For some insights into these experiences, on this week’s mini-episode, host Sam Robertson sits down with some athletes & staff who recently participated in the Games.

Guest 1: Australian marathon athlete, Liam Adams
Guest 2: Australian Judo athlete, Aoife Coughlan
Guest 3: Team GB Para-cycling performance analyst, Stephanie Blair.

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast

Sport scientists face one of the most rapidly changing roles in all of sport. The second half of this two-part episode proposes 5 further 'adaptive tools' -  new types of training, skill sets, operational processes or even mindsets - that sport scientists can call upon to not only help adapt to changing conditions in their workplace, but also to thrive and take advantage of these anticipated changes.

It borrows from concepts introduces in Gerd Gigerenzer's 'Bounded Rationality: The Adaptive Toolbox' as well as a 2020 paper from Sam Robertson in the Journal of Sports Sciences

To help host Sam Robertson work through this topic, Dr Alice Sweeting returns to the show. 

What do you think? Tell us on our socials:
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Subscribe to the Track newsletter for a regular dose of sport's science insights from our team of leading researchers and further reading for every episode topic. Learn more and see full episode transcript at trackvu.com/podcast