University of Staffordshire's Performing Under Pressure Podcast

Our guest in the studio for episode 22 is Morgan Milne. Morgan is completing a PhD at the University of Birmingham and is undertaking research in the field of dance and sport psychology to contribute towards improving dancers' and athletes' mental health. Hosts Dr Paul Mansell and Laura Jackson were keen to explore Morgan's perceptions of performing under pressure as a dancer herself and how her experiences might be shaping her research to help other dancers who are inevitably training and performing under pressure.

In this episode, the trio discussed the importance of reappraisal of stress responses to facilitate performance under pressure. Self-talk and social support were highlighted by Morgan as essential as part of the reappraisal process, and using an REBT-informed approach was cited as a useful method to promote flexible thinking. The role of attribution was also considered and Morgan provided useful insights how we can best support individuals who are training and performing in dance and sport.

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Episode 21 features an in-depth interview with one of our own - Professor Matt Slater. Matt is an expert on group dynamics and leadership and is the author of the book 'Togetherness'. The idea of togetherness features heavily in this episode and Matt outlines the importance of being a connoisseur of your team to understand how to get the best out of them. We discuss the idea of leading to facilitate performance under pressure and how connection and trust can play a key role in this. Matt also reflects on performing under pressure as an individual and describes the importance of the Theory of Challenge and Threat States in athletes in his work. We conclude by asking what advice he would give to his younger self...

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Cognitive neuroscientist Dr Mark Williams joined Professor Matt Slater and Dr Paul Mansell in discussing how the brain can influence wellbeing and performance. Author of the acclaimed book 'The Connected Species', Mark has over 25 years experience of research in this area and has worked at universities in Australia and the USA. In this episode, the trio discussed the role of the brain in skill learning and how we might use knowledge of neuroscience to aid performance under pressure. 

The conversation then moved onto new topics that have yet to be explored on the podcast, such as the formation and maintenance of habits and the role of social media in wellbeing and performance. The role of technology in the workplace was debated and Mark provides some useful applied suggestions in this area.

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Joining us ahead of her appearance in the Women's Challenge Cup Final, Faye Gaskin joined Professor Matt Slater and Dr Paul Mansell for a conversation about performing under pressure. In addition to playing rugby league, Faye is a lecturer and a CrossFit coach. Faye spoke about the challenging circumstances in her career such as her mindset in returning from a career-threatening injury to represent St Helens at Wembley. 

Faye went into a lot of detail as to how she is able to perform well and how she helps others to perform. She spoke about generating evidence to increase confidence through working hard, and the need for accountability and honesty. Faye uses the phrase of 'pressure as a privilege' and sees nerves as a sign of readiness to perform. The trio discuss the importance of routine in preparation and recovery, and Faye provides practical advice as to how to support an athlete with a serious injury.

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Recently retired professional footballer Jake Jervis joined Dr Karla Drew and Dr Paul Mansell in the studio to discuss his experiences of performing under pressure in his career as a footballer whilst also discussing key transitions into and out of the game. Making over 300 appearances in his career, Jake played for Plymouth, Birmingham City, Portsmouth and Luton among others in the UK and also spent time playing in Turkey and Finland. 

Jake described making his debut as a young player for Birmingham City at Goodison Park and what he learned from playing abroad. We discussed the importance of player care and how Jake's firm belief in the importance of this has been a motivating factor in him now training to be a counsellor. Key messages that Jake conveyed included controlling the controllables, the need to do the basics well even when nobody is watching and how being able to switch off from football and be present with family leads to a greater feeling of balance.

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Former Portsmouth, Cambridge and Luton winger Courtney Pitt dropped into the studio to chat about performing under pressure with Dr Paul Mansell and Jack Bullock. Courtney is an ex-Staffordshire University student and then went on to become Head of Academy Coaching at Burton Albion. More recently, Courtney has moved to Wolves where he is the Lead U11/12 Phase Coach.

In this episode, Courtney describes how he reacted to interest from Barcelona as a young player. His approach to pressure was to embrace it, and as a player, he loved playing in the big games. Since retiring, he has committed his career to helping others perform under pressure, and describes how he creates situations of pressure for young players in training. He outlines the role of psychology provision at the club for young footballers and how this is important as a life skill.

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Dr Paul Mansell and Professor Matt Slater are joined by Staffordshire University alumni, Edgar Kazibwe, a Sport Psychologist in-training for the Uganda Cricket Men and Women’s Senior and U19 National Team.

This episode has been recorded ahead of Edgar's work in preparing the Uganda Men's team for their forthcoming T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA. In this episode, Edgar talks about techniques he uses with the cricketers to get them mentally ready for big matches and tournaments, such as introducing personal-disclosure mutual-sharing (PDMS) through 'Story Mondays', where every week he sits the players down as a group and asks them to narrate a unique story of their experience over the weekend.

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Rugby Borough Women's forward Angelina Nixon joined Dr Paul Mansell in the studio to discuss her experiences of performing under pressure in football. Angelina has previously played for Cambridge United, MK Dons, Leicester City, Birmingham City and has been involved with the England youth setup. She describes her background of growing up playing football against boys and her perceptions of being a female footballer. 

Angelina described some of the strategies that she uses to allow her to perform well. Gratitude is highlighted as a strategy to keep her focus on the present, religion is very important to her, and she explains how she uses visualisation as a psychological skill to help her to prepare for big games. Angelina's approach to seeing everything as an opportunity to learn and develop is a clear part of her approach to being an elite athlete, indeed, she sees her psychological work as being akin to working on her fitness in the gym. We also discuss the importance of being a good team-mate and how this can facilitate performance.

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Renowned sport psychologist Dan Abrahams is this week's guest on the podcast. Dan has worked with athletes across many different sports but with a particular focus on football and golf. An ex-professional golfer himself, Dan is also the founder and host of the hugely popular Sport Psych Show podcast. 

In this episode, Dr Katie Sparks and Dr Paul Mansell tap into Dan's vast experience in the domain of sport and performance psychology. Dan describes what he understands by performing under pressure. Dan offers some practical techniques that he applies with athletes, such as the idea of adopting a 'Game Face'.

Dan describes his thoughts on helping athletes to deal with mistakes and how emotion might be managed in the moment. Useful advice for practice is also shared on how to prepare for an important event, and how ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) might play a role in this. Dan is also a prolific writer and his books can be accessed via this link: https://danabrahams.com/books/

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MMA fighter Ashley 'The Beast' Reece joined Dr Paul Mansell and Dr Andrew Wilkinson ahead of his Welterweight Title fight in Arizona. Based in Staffordshire, Ashley is our first guest from a combat sport and therefore provided a unique insight into the demands of performing under pressure. Ashley is also a coach of young athletes and shares his advice on how he helps them to perform under pressure.

Other topics are also discussed by the trio, such as the need to channel anger, the need to 'bank' criticism to use at a later date rather than persistently dwelling on it, and the good and bad side of self-talk. Ashley shares his 'hunter mentality' and how that helps him in the specific domain of his sport. Training to perform under pressure is also addressed, and Ashley describes the need to make training sufficiently challenging so that when the event comes, he feels relaxed and ready. Finally, he shares the importance of bouncing back after a defeat by using the near miss as fuel towards the next one.

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