Trainer's Bullpen

By Raptor Protection Trainer's BullpenEducation

Trainer's Bullpen episodes

August 19, 2023 EP 17 Applying Performance Enhancement Imagery in Policing and Life with Brian Willis
Law enforcement officers know that their mental toughness is of critical importance
on the job. The ability to remain focussed and maintain emotional regulation,
to overcome adversity and conflict, and even injury and pain, in order to
professionally and effectively manage situations is extremely important. But
how do we understand effective ways in which to intentionally and strategically
incorporate mental imagery into the law enforcement training paradigm?
In this interview, the third in our series on the use of mental imagery in training,
Brian Willis from Winning Mind Training will talk about his extensive
experience in over 33 years of law enforcement training, in using performance
enhancement imagery in law enforcement training, as well as in other domains
such has elite level athletic performance, overcoming anxiety, and recovery
from serious injury and illness.
Topics covered in this interview include what imagery is, how it is different from
‘visualization’, the use of imagery to enhance physical performance as well as
mental cognitive skills, the different types of imagery and where and when to
use them, how to use language effectively in imagery, and keys to using imagery to enhance learning
and make it ‘stick. In addition, Brian will discuss lessons learned from years
of using and reforming performance enhancement imagery as a method of effecting
powerful change in officers and athletes performance.
1 hr 10 min
July 28, 2023 EP 16 The Positive Effects of Imagery on Police Officer Shooting Performance with Dr Arne Nieuwenhuys
This is the second episode in our exciting three-part series on the use of performance enhancement imagery to improve officers skill aquisition, decision making and mental resilience.
Dr. Arne Nieuwenhuys is Senior Lecturer in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology. He obtained
his PhD from VU University Amsterdam. Dr Nieuwenhuys and colleagues published the study “Positive Effects of Police Officer Shooting Performance Under Threat in the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology.
In this interview, Dr. Nieuwenhuys explains strategies to consider in order to develop evidence-based interventions that
help law enforcement officers improve their performance in those rapidly unfolding, ambiguous and extremely high-pressure situations where it counts the
most.
Topics reviewed in this podcast are the positive effects of performance enhancement imagery
on police offer shooting capability under stress, and how the research
supported PETTLEP imagery model effectively achieves functional equivalence. In
addition, he discusses the importance of task representativeness in training
and how it correlates with the Constraints Led Approach or CLA training method.
This interview contains practical insights on the importance of law enforcement
trainers using evidence-based interventions such as imagery, PETTLEP model, and
task representativeness, to enhance police officers' performance and shooter
capability under stress, ultimately improving their ability to handle
high-pressure situations on the job.
1 hr 5 min
July 15, 2023 EP 15 - 'The Effective Use of Mental Imagery in Enhancing Performance' with Dr Adam Nicholls
This part 1 of an exciting 3-part series in which we explore the effective use of performance enhancement imagery.
In law enforcement it is generally accepted that officer mental toughness and mental
focus is critical for great decision making and performance. Despite this, very
few trainers utilize any type of formalized mental training program. In
multiple other domains, the use of mental imagery instruction to increase
learning, enhance performance and improve adaptive decision-making has been used
for years with proven positive effects.
In this interview, Dr Adam Nicholls discusses the research findings of the
effectiveness of using mental imagery training in sport. He discusses the
proven benefits of mental imagery, the content of effective mental imagery,
internal vs external perspectives, the imagery ability of the performer and how
it can be enhanced. In addition, Adam discusses the PETTLEP imagery model and
considerations for applying it in your training and coaching.
Dr Adam Nicholls is a professor of psychology at the University of Hull, UK. Adam’s
main focus of research is on psychosocial support to athletes and coaches
ranging from grassroots to elite level. Adam is also an accomplished BJJ
competitor and in 2021 he won silver at the British Open in gi and bronze at
the 2022 no-gi British Open. Dr Nicholls is the author of the textbook
‘Psychology in Sports Coaching’ published by Routledge press. In this important
book, Dr Nicholls devotes an entire chapter to the effective use of mental imagery.
1 hr 3 min
July 03, 2023 EP 14 "Engineering Resilience into Split-Second Shoot / No Shoot Decision Making” with Dr Paul Taylor.
Law enforcement officers are often faced with having to make critical shoot or no shoot decisions in rapidly occurring,
ambiguous and high-consequence environments. The potential consequences of a decision-making error involving the use of lethal force carries serious implications. What rolecan training play in helping to develop more accurate decision making?
In this interview Dr. Taylor explains that his study, ‘Engineering Resilience
into Split-Second Shoot / No Shoot Decision Making’ which was published in
Police Quarterly, was driven by the need to improve decision-making in the
split-second environments that police officers face during potential deadly
force encounters. He discusses how the study examined the impact of muzzle
position on officer response time to legitimate threats and the likelihood of
misdiagnosis shooting errors when no threat was present.
Topics discussed in this podcast include the importance of accurate decision-making skills in law enforcement, the role of
improved judgment and tactical capability among officers, and how does an
officers muzzle position impact the accuracy of decision making
This interview contains practical insights on how engineering resilience into split-second decision-making environments through
factors like muzzle position, officers can improve their decision-making and reduce the likelihood of misdiagnosis shooting errors. Additionally, Paul
discusses how continued research into other factors that may affect officer decision-making in these environments is necessary to improve law enforcement
training.
58 min
June 20, 2023 EP 13 Profiling the Injuries of Law Enforcement Recruits During Academy Training with Dr. Jay Dawes
The prevalence and impact of recruit injuries during academy physical training is a
significant issue. Recruit injuries can cause recruits to fall out of the
training cadence resulting in a failure to successfully complete the academy, back-trooping
and in serious cases, eliminating the recruits law enforcement employment
prospects altogether.
Therefore, the need for evidence-based injury prevention programs in law enforcement academies to
minimize the high incidence of injuries, particularly during physical training
is a critical issue.
Dr. Jay Dawes is an Associate Professor of Applied Exercise Science at Oklahoma
State University. Dawes has worked as a university athletic performance
coordinator, strength/performance coach, personal trainer, and educator for
approximately 25 years. His paper ‘Profiling the Injuries of Law Enforcement Recruits
During Academy Training’ was published in Sports Science, Medicine and
Rehabilitation.
In this interview Jay provides insightful data and knowledge on the influencing
factors of law enforcement injuries during training and how to mitigate those
injuries.
Topics discussed in this podcast are the common law enforcement training conditions
that inflict injury, the most common types of injury, Strategies that should be
considered to 'pre-habilitate' recruits against injuries during training,
Effectiveness of a 'voluntary' pre-academy fitness program, and the relationship
between previous injuries potentially causing future injuries.
This interview contains practical insights on how strategically prioritizing injury
prevention as part of training design is crucial for the safety of recruits and
the effectiveness of law enforcement organizations.
1 hr 11 min
June 10, 2023 EP 12 The Effectiveness of the Evidence-based Oregon State Basic Police Academy Curriculum with Dr. Staci Yutzie
The most important goal of police academy training is the retention and transfer of
knowledge and skills.
In this interview, Dr. Staci Yutzie, training manager at Oregon’s statewide public
safety training academy, Department of Public Safety Training, or DPSST
discusses the evidence-based, adult learning approach that was undertaken at
the Center for Policing Excellence in Oregon to completely overhaul the state academy
training program. Staci explains the rational to move away from the
para-military style stress-based approach and adopt the collegiate approach to
training. Dr. Yutzie also explains the process undertaken by her and colleagues
to redesign the law enforcement curriculum which included the move away from
block or siloed training and adopting a truly interleaved methodology.
Topics covered in this podcast are the building blocks of evidence-based training, the
philosophies used to approach training design and implementation, and the
necessity of retention and transfer analysis.
In this interview, valuable perspectives are shared regarding how law enforcement
trainers, curriculum designers and academy executives ought to approach the
significance of appropriately designing a law enforcement educational syllabus
and instructional pedagogy for their trainees.
Listeners to this podcast can download a copy of the research paper, which was published in
the textbook, Interventions, Training and Technologies for Improved Police Wellbeing and Performance, at Trainersbullpen.com.
1 hr 11 min
May 22, 2023 EP 11 The Safety of the Vascular Neck Restraint in Law Enforcement
The use of the vascular neck restraint by law enforcement officers has been the topic of recent, intense, debate. Special
interest groups have equated the use of the vascular neck restraint with ‘near-death’ experiences and have called for outright bans. Policy makers have been very critical of agencies that train and permit the use of the VNR, and some agencies have been influenced by heavy political pressure to discontinue its
use. All of this debate has taken place in the absence or ignorance of what the research actually says about the safety of the VNR when applied by officers in
the operational setting.
In this interview, Dr. Craig Bennell, professor of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, where he also serves as
Director of Carleton’s Police Research Laboratory, talks about the important findings from research conducted by an incredibly talented cast of
international researchers. The paper is titled ‘Safety of Vascular Neck Restraint Applied by Law Enforcement Officers’ and was published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine.
Topics covered in this interview regarding the VNR research findings include, the significance and frequency of use of force, the
application and consequences of the Vascular Neck Restraint, how many agencies teach the proper use of it, the methodology of the VNR, the effectiveness of its technique, and, of course, the actual empirical safety of the technique.
This interview contains practical insights on how agency administrators and trainers should consider the technical, training and
political implications of the VNR method and its impact on police training and policy. In addition, in this interview, Dr Bennell strongly exhorts police
leaders to use an evidence-based approach to critical decisions that broadly impact officer and public safety.
A copy of the paper can be accessed and downloaded at www.trainersbullpen.com
1 hr 8 min
May 02, 2023 EP 10 Police Training Revisited - Meeting the Demands of Conflict Training in Policing
It is important to recognize the value of highly contextual training to equip law
enforcement officers to be professional and adaptive decision-makers. However,
the majority of current training practices often develop officers who lack the
ability to transfer static skills into the highly dynamic operational demands
that they face.
In this interview, Dr. Mario Staller, professor at the University of Applied Sciences
of Police and Public Administration North-Rhine Westphalia in Aachen, Germany, talks
about the importance of officer adaptability towards the context of
highly realistic use of force scenarios and why it is important to not strip the solution space from the problem in the
training context.
Topics covered in this interview include the definition and application of the
Constraints Led Approach, how best to implement the CLA into a learning
environment while considering appropriate design methodology. In addition, the
critical importance of including aspects of high context relevance from the
criterion environment into the training will be discussed.
This interview contains helpful practical insights on how trainers should design
effective training and communicate with their students for optimal retention
and transfer of skills. This is a call
to action for law enforcement trainers to change curriculum and design into a
CLA oriented training program.
1 hr 7 min
April 14, 2023 EP 9 The Effects of Structured Breathing Practices on Reducing Physiological Arousal with Dr Melis Balban
For many years, law enforcement trainers and tactical professionals have been somewhat
familiar with the importance of how intentional breathing techniques can help
lower physiological arousal. This is a critical concept because physiological
state directly impacts emotional regulation, attention and quality of decision
making.
However, there has been little in the form of evidence-based research as to which types
of breathing techniques are more (or less) effective in quickly reducing
physiological arousal.
In this interview, we talk with Harvard trained neuroscientist, with expertise in
neurobiology of stress and stress interventions, Dr. Melis Yilmaz Balban about incredibly important
research that compared the effectiveness of Cyclic Hyperventilation, Box Breathing
and the Cyclic Sigh. This research study, ‘Brief Structured Respiration
Practices Enhance Mood and Reduce Physiological Arousal’, was published in Cell
Reports Medicine in January 2023. A copy of the paper is attached to the show
notes at www.trainersbullpen.com
In this interview with Dr Balban, we discuss the research finding that the Cyclic Sigh
is a significantly more effective technique to rapidly lower physiological arousal
when compared to the much more commonly taught ‘Box Breathing’ technique. In
addition, the Cyclic Sigh can be conducted extremely quickly (during conflict),
and, importantly, can be automated with practice.
This interview contains helpful practical insights on how trainers should consider
adjusting training methodology to improve officer performance. In addition, Dr
Balban briefly discusses NeuroSmart – exciting new technology that will help
officers learn and automate the Cyclic Sigh during the training process. This
holds incredible promise for advancing law enforcement and military training!
1 hr 8 min
April 06, 2023 EP 8 Building Adaptive Decision Makers with Dr. Joel Suss
All law enforcement instructors would agree that one of the core functions of police
skills training is to develop great adaptive decision-making skills in our
officers. The question that must be asked is, what is the relationship between
instructor / coach feedback methods and the development of independent adaptive
decision-making and, are there proven techniques that work better than others?
In this interview, we talk with decision-making expert Dr. Joel Suss about several
critical components of training that should be understood and implemented in
order to accomplish these important training objectives.
Topics covered in this interview include recognition-primed / naturalistic decision
making, the use of effective probing questions to get ‘inside the students
head’, the effective use of story-telling, and the application of the ‘7
cognitive skills’ to guide the student to understand, assess and correct their
own decision-making and performance.
This interview contains helpful practical insights on how trainers should consider
adjusting training methodology to improve officer performance.
1 hr 14 min