In Episode 11 my guest is fellow South Walian Josh Dragone. Josh has had experience at tier 1 football academies in the UK along with teams in the Welsh Premier League, national skiiing programs and now is helping to develop the next generation of tennis players in South Wales.

We talk about his experiences across a range of sports and the similarities and differences when it comes to coaching athletes in these sports. 

Some topics we discuss include the importance of injury prevention, coaching youth athletes, early specialisation and then we focus a little more on tennis and the techniques he uses to get the most out of his athletes.

Josh is developing a game speed model for tennis too so we discuss his ideas for that and how he feels it will help improve the standard of coaching for tennis and how it can also cross over into other sports too.

In Episode 10 I speak to professional lacrosse player Mike Bender who recently signed with the Conneticut Hammerheads in the newly formed MLL (Major League Lacrosse) League.

Mike was a member of the Maryland Lacrosse program, finishing as Division 1 runners-up in 2015 where they lost to a strong Denver University in the final, having beaten their biggest rivals Johns Hopkins 12-11 in a closely fought semi-final 2 days prior. We talk about the preparation for NCAA D1 sports and how they focused on recovery for such a quick turn around to be ready for the most important game of their season.

We talk about his coaching experience from running his own program to coaching with the Hong Kong national team programs along with how his experience of S&C across his career. 

We also talk about mental and physical preparation for high level competition and how he has been preparing for his venture into professional lacrosse.

A great guest and a great listen!

In this episode I speak to an S&C coach with a background in Physical Education across a number of different countries including China, Peru and Greece. We first met at the Asia Pacific Physical Education Conference in 2017 where I was presenting on children using the weight room. We talk about how he got in to S&C coaching and especially his recent work with youth athletes. 

We discuss how he has managed to keep his young athletes engaged during COVID, using zoom and how he's managed with starting a new business during these difficult times.

Learn about his role as a PE teacher and the limitations he encountered and how he's turned those limitations into a passion to create something unique in his hometown back in Greece plus his plans for the future.

A good listen and some great ideas shared in this episode.

In this episode I speak to Jon Redding, Director of Sport and Extra Curricular Activities and Physical Education teacher at South Island School in Hong Kong which is part of the English Schools Foundation (ESF).

We chat about the disruption of the education system in Hong Kong by COVID19, with reference to Physical Education lessons in particular. We discuss how PE deptartments have adapted and been innovative, especially when it comes to the practical aspect of PE that might not be as important in other subjects.

We talk about the long term athletic development approach in schools and if schools are doing best for students when it comes to participation in team sports. Learn about the exposure to resistance training in schools and how this varies between schools and even within schools themselves based on the teacher experience, the facilities and even the culture in the local community.

Another great guest and some awesome insights into the education system in Hong Kong when it comes to Physical Education.

In this episode I speak to someone I had the pleasure of working alongside in 2013-2014 as part of the coaching staff for Hong Kong U20 men's rugby World Junior Trophy squad; Craig Wilson.

We talk about his journey, how he got involved in rugby in the UK and how he ended up in Asia coaching rugby. We talk about coach education, what he feels are some important takeaways for players and his experience of coaching in Asia and North America, discussing the similarities and differences.

We also discuss his new project 'The Contact Coach' which can be found at  https://www.thecontactcoach.com/ and how he's looking to help develop coaches and players alike in his new roles with Yale and USA Rugby. Another great chat with an old friend and someone who's doing great things in their sport. 

This special episode covers a hot topic in sports at the moment - early childhood specialisation.

I talk to Chris Ivany, a teacher in Hong Kong and Karen Lo, sport psychologist and founder of Inner Edge HK. We chat about the pros and cons of children playing only one sport from a young age with focus on the physical, social and psychological effects including injuries, burnout and stress.

We talk about some of the reasons why people think early specialisation is a good thing and which type of athletes/sports might benefit from this sort of approach, also touching upon the benefits of children playing a multitude of sports.

Enjoy the episode and get in touch with any questions or comments!

For all UK ice hockey fans, this is a treat! 

In this episode I talk to Colin Shields, a member of the Great Britain ice hockey team who won promotion to the top tier of IIHF ice hockey last year and current all-time top point scorer in the EIHL with 338 points.

We talk about his start in hockey, how he used Strength & Conditioning to help him stay at the top of his game for his entire career and what it was like to beat France in overtime to secure promotion to the top tier in world ice hockey.

We discuss his background in S&C and how he continued that passion while he was playing and now he has retired, and what his thoughts are on the development of ice hockey in UK going forward.

Another episode you should really listen to!

In this episode I talk to Hiroki Wakabayashi, a netminder specialised coach from Japan but now living in Phoenix, Arizona.

We talk about his journey to the US via Hong Kong and his work with netminders from the AHL, Olympics, NCAA, national teams and NHL drafts. We focus our attention on netminders, their mindset and what specific physical training they need in comparison to skaters.

We discuss how young goalies should specialise in being a goalie and how parents should approach the development of their child if they end up wanting to play in net. I find out about the different S&C practices across Hiroki's different experiences around the world and his current project which involves a lot of statistical research that can help coaches at all levels.

Another topic we talked about was his recent diagnosis of Cancer and how he found out, how he dealt with the news and how he's been fighting it. 

Another episode you should really listen to!

In this episode I talk to head of S&C for the Welsh Rugby Union 7s team about his start in S&C and how he progressed from a player to leading the S&C program at the WRU 7s.

We talk about the different demands on 7s against 15s rugby and how a travel team such as Wales 7s cope with the demand of long distance travel while playing on the international 7s circuit.

We discuss the habit of 'chasing numbers' in the gym and how this crosses over into game play on the field, how he manages training volume and load while ensuring players peak in time for tournaments and dealing with jetlag.

In Episode 3 I talk to Jeremy Hartman from Hartman Performance in Indianapolis, Indiana.

We talk about his start in S&C training to help improve his wrestling performance and how he fell in love with the sport of powerlifting, going on to win 6 US National championships and become a 3 time member of the US World Team. We talk about his 355.5kg raw deadlift in 2008 and how much more he feels humans will lift after Thor's impressive 501kg deadlift recently.

As well as his own career we also talk about his team of athletes which include US female #1 and world #2 Shelby Miles as well as the 9 IPF world records his gym has along with his work with a high school, the Indiana national guard and an ice hockey program in Indianapolis.

We talk about how he built a strong culture of S&C during a time when it was still a relatively new concept in children and how hockey players can improve their performance on the rink by utilising some simple exercises in the gym.