The Mind Room

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Volatile. Tough to coach. Always in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Just three of the tags numerous nuerodiverse athletes have had (erroneously) placed around their necks by everyone from managers to the media.

Their treatment raises some important questions. How can clubs correct the way some of their most talented players are perceived and suppor…

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What’s there to learn from ten years of psychologically supporting some of English football’s brightest prospects? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

In this episode of The Mind Room podcast, I speak to Jack Hicks-Flynn, who’s spent the last decade working for teams from Luton Town and Portsmouth, to West Ham and Crystal Palace, where he currently heads up t…

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It’s an easy dream to fall for. You join a prestigious university. You split your days between teaching eager students and conducting cutting-edge research. There’s even time to put your sport psychology skills into practice, working with athletes and teams affiliated to your institution.

But let’s wake up. Over the last decade, that dream has been slowl…

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How the hell do you land a job with a Premier League club (and actually make a success of it when you’ve got your foot through the door)? With some experts suggesting that over 300 applicants will be fighting for a single role - and others highlighting the herculean challenge facing recruits tasked with supporting 200-plus person academies - it’s a ques…

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In the final episode of The World Cup Psychology Show, Professor Geir Jordet and Tim Harkness, Chelsea’s former head of Sport Science & Psychology, join the show to discuss how World Cup trends - from in-game breaks to squandered ‘stutter kicks’ - might influence domestic and international football over the next 12 months.

We dissect the fallout from Eng…

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How do you actually take sport psychology from the confines of the classroom to the pressure cooker of being pitchside? For some, the subject is still something shrouded in mystery (or treated as a purely office-based practice, to the point where one recent job ad was promoted with a picture of an empty desk and chair).

But we’ve seen how concepts from …

In the latest episode of The World Cup Psychology Show, Tim Harkness, Chelsea’s former head of Sport Science & Psychology, who worked with Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge, and David Wheeler, one of the only former pro footballers turned psychologists working in the game, join me to look back at England’s win against Norway - and preview the semi-final against Argentina.

We explain why Thomas Tuchel’s post-match comments are perhaps a sign of the ‘psychologically safe’ environment England seem to have created, how to turn Leo Messi’s threat into an opportunity that can be exploited and what confidence actually gives elite athletes on the field of play.

Questions?

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Previous articles

As a Mind Room Member, you can access all of the website stories - covering everything from AC Milan’s neuroscience lab to the way English rugby teams are embracing ‘shared mental models’ - via the four sections below:

* Theory

* Practice

* Strategy

* Features

Thanks again for reading The Mind Room!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themindroom.substack.com/subscribe

In the latest episode of The World Cup Psychology Show, Tim Harkness, Chelsea’s former head of Sport Science & Psychology, who worked with Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge, and David Wheeler, one of the only former pro footballers turned psychologists working in the game, join me to look back at England’s win against Mexico.

We examine the unerring focus Tuchel’s displayed in the Azteca couldron, why Jordan Pickford’s on-pitch personality was tailor-made for this type of match and why defending for your lives might actually be one of the tactical setups most conducive to creating a collective flow state.

Questions?

If you have any queries about the newsletter, get in touch by emailing [email protected].

Previous articles

As a Mind Room Member, you can access all of the website stories - covering everything from AC Milan’s neuroscience lab to the way English rugby teams are embracing ‘shared mental models’ - via the four sections below:

* Theory

* Practice

* Strategy

* Features

Thanks again for reading The Mind Room!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themindroom.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.com

Four billion tigers. That’s the metaphorical audience some of Italy greatest players described facing in the final of the last World Cup on American soil.

In 1994, it was too much for the likes of Roberto Baggio, Franco Baresi and Roberto Donadoni. Baggio’s skied shootout penalty, which ended Italy’s hopes of winning the tournament, was arguably as much …

In the latest episode of The World Cup Psychology Show, Tim Harkness, Chelsea’s former head of Sport Science & Psychology, who worked with Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge, and David Wheeler, one of the only former pro footballers turned psychologists working in the game, join me to look back at England’s win against DR Congo.

We delve into how England dealt with the shock of conceeding an early goal, why recognising the difference between fear and danger is so cruical to playing under pressure and how Tuchel’s side might adapt their approach to deal with the physiological and psychological challenges of playing a last-16 match 7,200ft above sea level.

Questions?

If you have any queries about the newsletter, get in touch by emailing [email protected].

Previous articles

As a Mind Room Member, you can access all of the website stories - covering everything from AC Milan’s neuroscience lab to the way English rugby teams are embracing ‘shared mental models’ - via the four sections below:

* Theory

* Practice

* Strategy

* Features

Thanks again for reading The Mind Room!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themindroom.substack.com/subscribe