University of Staffordshire's Performing Under Pressure Podcast

In our final episode of series 1, we had the pleasure of chatting to Chris Shambrook. It was double delight as we welcomed Dr Martin Turner back into the studio as co-host for this episode, too.

Chris is an inspiring guy with an amazing amount of experience as a psychology practitioner across a range of contexts. Chris has worked at 5 Olympic games supporting one of Team GB’s most enduringly successful sports, combined with his 25 years of supporting leaders and performers in occupational settings.There’s lots of gold in this episode – be sure to check it out and let us know your thoughts.

Pressure is part and parcel of being ambitious and Chris shares how can we best make psychology impactful. How can we connect our offer to the needs of teams and individuals? How can we be curious about performance under pressure? We also discuss how we can be critical with our thinking and translate this into simple and powerful tools with performers to make a real difference. 

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Professor Tracey Devonport from the Univeristy of Wolverhampton joined Dr Paul Mansell in the studio to discuss her knowledge and experiences of performance under pressure.

Tracey is a HCPC registered sport psychologist and has had an extensive research career with over 100 publications to her name. In this episode, there is a focus on the role of mentoring in facilitating performance under pressure, and Tracey outlines the key characteristics of effective mentoring.

She also discusses the nature of coping and whist reflecting on her previous research as well as her current work, we discuss the need to prepare athletes for key transitions they are likely to encounter in their sporting career.

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Ryan Cockbill is a Paralympic shooter and has taken part in four Paralympic Games dating back to London 2012. In 2022, he won a silver medal the European Championships and a bronze at the World Championships.

In this episode, he describes to Dr Paul Mansell and Dr Katie Sparks about how he focuses to perform well in a sport that demands precision and control. This includes the need for automaticity from his training, attention towards the process rather than the outcome, and the need to reflect on performance in an adaptive way.

Ryan describes the purpose of planning in terms of your energy levels in and around the time of a Paralympic Games and how to deal with the challenges of moving on from the Games once they are over.

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Luther James-Wildin is a defender for League One Stevenage and has made over 250 appearances in his career. He joined Dr Paul Mansell and ex-Plymouth Argyle striker Jake Jervis in the studio to discuss several topics that relate to performance under pressure. Luther is also the Founder and CEO of Wildin Ventures Ltd and the Players Property Partners, and an important topic of conversation was the need to cultivate an identity beyond being a footballer. Luther speaks about the role of confidence and pre-match preparation in determining performance, and how you don't always need to be confident to perform well. The trio also speak about leadership, and Luther shares his views on effective leadership and the need for togetherness within a football club.

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Azeem Amir is a footballer for the England men's blind team. In this episode, he tells Dr Paul Mansell and Dr Joe Dixon about his journey into football, his business ventures that seek to help others learn more about disabilities, and his pride in representing his country at the European and World Championships.

Azeem utilises many strategies to facilitate performance under pressure such as choosing a helpful mindset, focusing on the process rather than the outcome, and dealing with mistakes through recognising that there is no pause or rewind button. He explains of the need to switch between 'drone view' and 'Go Pro view' to help him when he is out on the pitch.

For more information on Azeem's business, check out: https://www.learnwithess.com/. 

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Josh Gordon is a forward for Walsall and has had a really interesting journey to becoming a professional footballer. Whilst completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Staffordshire, Josh was playing non-league football for clubs such as Stafford Rangers and Nantwich Town when current Premier League Champions Leicester City came calling.

He has since represented Barrow and Burton Albion, and in this episode, he reflects on numerous topics related to performing under pressure with host Dr Paul Mansell and special guest co-host Jamille Matt.

Jamille is Josh's teammate at Walsall and the two footballers discuss how confidence is formulated and maintained as a striker, the need for identity beyond being a footballer, and how togetherness can be enhanced within a football club.

Josh describes how he likes to be led, such as making individuals feel valued as part of the group, and describes his rational perspective towards taking penalties. 

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Joe Ford is a former Premiership rugby player and has represented clubs such as Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers.

He is now the head coach of Doncaster Knights, and in this episode, he tells Dr Paul Mansell and co-host Jason Wright about his approach to leadership in great detail. Joe really values the contribution that psychology makes to individual and collective performance, and he gives us some great insights into how to create an adaptive culture for performance and to how a senior leadership team can be utilised among the players.

He also describes how he used techniques such as imagery and breath work in his career as an elite rugby player, and how he continues to use breath work as one of strategies to support his wellbeing on a daily basis.

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Emma Biggin is a trainee sport psychologist, University of Staffordshire MSc graduate, and owner of the ‘Bigs’ Sport Psych psychology consultancy. In this episode with Dr Paul Mansell and Professor Matt Slater, Emma speaks about what it means to be a sport psychologist as well as gives an insight into the strategies and techniques she has used so far when working with athletes and their coaching staff.

In particular, Emma delves into the ways in which she aims to make sport psychology accessible, meaningful, and effective for the people with which she works. We discuss strategies that may be used pre- and post-performance, as well as those during, to help athletes to be successful.

Emma presents her approach to practice, explaining how she aims to translate psychology into the language of the recipient through designing games and drills with psychological underpinnings to not only help convey a message, but with the aim of having fun in the process.

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Paul McVeigh is a former Premier League and international footballer, and in this episode, he joins Dr Paul Mansell and Dr Andrew Wilkinson in the studio.

Paul began his career at Tottenham Hotspur, made over 200 appearances for Norwich City and also represented Burnley and Luton Town. Paul won 20 caps for Northern Ireland before turning his attention to the psychology of performing under pressure.

Combining the experiences from playing alongside and against some Premier League legends such as Jurgen Klinsmann, Gianfranco Zola and Thierry Henry, with a MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of Staffordshire, Paul now works with multinational companies to enhance performance, wellbeing and leadership. In this episode, Paul reflects on the approaches he used in his career to aid his performance as well as detailing the strategies he finds effective when working with businesses now.

Paul has also written 'The Stupid Footballer is Dead' and has a website that showcases his applied work: https://paulmcveigh.com/. 

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Lizzie Lewandowski is our guest in the studio in episode 40. A Sargent of the West Midlands Police Football Unit, Lizzie has had an extensive career in dealing with situations of high pressure. Lizzie has worked at the World Cup, the Euros, the Europa League and the Premier League and has a high level of responsibility on a match-day. 

In this episode, we discuss how leadership styles change to match the demands of the context, such as how Lizzie dealt with the disturbances at the Black Country Derby between West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

We discuss the importance of planning and reviewing performance to facilitate subsequent performance and how Lizzie is able to get the best out of her team. Importantly, Lizzie explains the prevalence of misogyny in football and how she is able to deal with situations that are particularly unpleasant.

Finally, Lizzie reflects on the need to develop positive mental health in what can be considered sometimes as a 'macho' culture.

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