University of Staffordshire's Performing Under Pressure Podcast

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James Maurice is the Lead Academy Sport Psychologist at Portsmouth FC. He has previously worked in the academies at West Ham United, Sunderland, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. In this episode, James shares his experiences of working in this domain, as well as working for GB Archery at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

James describes the concept of 'pressure menus' to help prepare athletes for competition. We discuss the role of mentoring and the findings from James's PhD which examined the parent engagement in academy football.

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Former professional footballer Sam Winnall has completed a fascinating research project as part of his MSc, and in this bonus episode, he explains his findings to Dr Paul Mansell.

Conducted with a sample of current elite strikers, including an international player, Sam investigated the role of competition for places between teammates in football. With most teams playing with only one 'number 9', how do footballers navigate the scenario of being a team-mate, a friend, and a rival for a place in the team?

Sam outlines the results of his interviews, which include healthy and unhealthy competition, what is meant by a 'Goldilocks' level of competition, and the social factors that can influence this dynamic. He also shares some useful implications based on his research.

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Nathan Magill's job is to oversee the development of thousands of referees in England. His previous experience includes being Head of Referees at Football Australia and he is also a Board Member on the Premier League's Elite Referee Development Plan. He explains to hosts Dr Paul Mansell and Stuart Carrington the importance of a person-first approach to his role.

This episode naturally features conversations about the learning and development of referees, but more so, the development and leadership of individuals. Nathan shares the one question that underpins his leadership, how the FA support referees in dealing with abuse, and why he has no non-negotiables when it comes to referees.

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Helen Davis is a Sport Psychologist who has extensive experience working across a broad spectrum of sports, collaborating with accomplished athletes at various levels. Her clientele includes elite professional teams and individuals, amateurs, Olympic and Paralympic medallists, as well as Commonwealth, European and World Champions.

Through completing her postgraduate degree at the University of Staffordshire, Helen explains her transition from teaching into sport psychology. With host Dr Paul Mansell, we explore Helen's experiences of working at Wimbledon, and Helen outlines how a lightbulb moment helped her to see pressure in a different way as a competitive swimmer herself. We also discuss supervision of trainee sport psychologists, and Helen reveals what she thinks sport psychology will look like as a discipline in the future.

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In this episode, Maisie Brown shares her experiences of what life is like as the romantic partner of a high performance athlete. Married to Jacob Brown, a forward for Luton Town and Scotland, Maisie shares her thoughts on what it is like to navigate the transfer window, dealing with Jacob's injuries, experiencing abuse, and the scheduling issues that are part of football.

This interview builds on Dr Sofie Kent's work which explores the experiences of romantic partners in elite sport. Often the bedrock of an athletes' support system, there is often a lack of focus on supporting romantic partners. Maisie offers some suggestions as to how this might be improved, as well as her advice as to how younger romantic partners can best deal with life in this domain.

We also hear from Jacob about the level of support he feels that he receives from Maisie, while he also shares some of his experiences as part of being a married couple in elite sport.

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Jack Cuthbertson is a personal trainer and business owner. Having worked in the industry for over a decade, he explains how he uses psychology as an integral part of his daily work. For example, he outlines how he uses goal setting, his approach to motivating his clients, and how he went about taking a calculated risk to set up his own business. This episode really highlights the role that psychology plays in both work and life, and regardless of your occupation, there are some useful takeaways that can help individuals reflect on their own use of psychology.

Jack describes to hosts Dr Paul Mansell and Dr Andrew Wilkinson how he protects his mental health and shares a useful analogy that our listeners may benefit from. We also debate the success of Hyrox, and Jack explains how he uses psychology himself as a regular Hyrox competitor.

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Nathan is a Digital Sports Editor, Presenter, Sports Writer, and Podcast Host for Wolverhampton’s Express and Star newspaper. He has covered Wolves for nearly a decade, and earlier this year, he was named Sports Journalist of the Year at the Regional Press Awards.

In this episode, we explore performance under pressure in the domains of journalism and broadcasting. To what extent are deadlines a stressor in journalism? What are the nuances of managing relationships between football clubs and the press? What is like working in the chaos of the transfer window? How important is integrity in broadcasting? And who is the best sports journalist in the world, in Nathan's opinion?

From a Wolves perspective, Nathan shares what it was like working with Nuno Espirito Santo and how challenging it can be to be the bearer of bad news. We also discuss life as a podcast host and how to prepare for speaking live in front of hundreds of people.

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Stuart Carrington is a Lecturer at St Mary's University in Twickenham, London. He is currently completing his PhD which centres around officials' performance under pressure, and he is the author of 'Blowing the Whistle: The Psychology of Football Refereeing'.

In the episode, Stuart discusses the strategies that officials typically find to be helpful before, during, and after a performance. With a focus on Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, Stuart explains which irrational beliefs are particularly prominent and unhelpful in officials. We also discuss how organisations can facilitate performance under pressure for officials, such as through mentoring schemes.

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Dr Katie Sparks is a Lecturer of Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Staffordshire and a Performance Lifestyle Advisor for British Rowing. She completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham in 2022 and has published several peer-reviewed articles relating to performing under pressure.

In this episode, she tells Dr Paul Mansell and co-host Brent Horleston about the importance of mindfulness and how it can facilitate performance. Although not an easy skill to develop, mindfulness can be learned by anyone and can reduce rumination and anxiety. We also discuss self-compassion and how parents can learn these skills to better support their child. The role of mentoring in academy football is explored, as well as how we might reduce the likelihood of choking under pressure.

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