In this ZoneTalk episode, Bob sits down with Jordan Hintz, a clays coach at Hillsdale College in Michigan, whom he has worked with in the past. Bob asks Jordan for some insights into just what is involved in competing in clays shooting for a college team. What he discovered sounds really exciting.  

Although Hillsdale has limited places each year on their clay target team, they do have spots available. Better yet, Jordan believes that there is a school match across the US for just about any student who wants to pursue the sport of clays shooting while studying for their degree.  

Listen to the podcast for Bob’s entire discussion with Jordan Hintz on his recommendations for what students can do to incorporate their sport into their planning for their college years. 

In this ZoneTalk episode, Bob sits down with Sensei Heather Fidyk, a 7th-degree black belt in Wado Kai Karate and an experienced international competitor, who has been coaching in karate for more than 25 years. She is the co-founder and head instructor of the South Calgary Wado Kai Karate Club in Calgary, Alberta, a non-profit organization that is committed to the improvement of the health, fitness and martial arts understanding for all students.

Sensei Heather is always learning new technical and tactical approaches to teaching, coaching and mentoring her athletes and dedicated black belt instructors. She shares her thoughts on the mentoring process and peer-to-peer mentoring. She works with para-athletes and finds the mentoring process rewarding and exciting, especially when she sees them come out of their shells and win as absolute performers in competition.

Sensei Heather also addresses the lessons that can be learned from losing and the process of making sport a fun and lifelong endeavor.  

In this ZoneTalk episode, Bob speaks with Kenyan coach, and author, Meshack Sang, who has competed internationally, and has been coaching young Kenyan athletes in a career spanning 20 years.

This accomplished coach and author sat down with Bob to freely give of his time and knowledge to inspire coaches and athletes around the globe to overcome financial and equipment limitations, and to achieve greatness.

His concepts utilize modern scientific methodology of Zone (flow) and total focus in ways that his Kenyan athletes understand. His sensitivity to the culture and beliefs of his athletes make him one of the best coach/educators of developmental athletes in Kenya, if not in the world.

Dustin Heise left the corporate world so that he could make a difference in snowboarding, both in Canada and the world. He has been at the helm of Canada Snowboard as CEO for two years and is leading his organization with integrity, vision, and passion.

With a shared vision to be recognized as a world leading snowboard nation, Dustin—along with the Canada Snowboard staff, athletes, partners, and sponsors—is guiding the next generation of young athletes, and bolstering some of the best athletes in the world to create a legacy of snowboarding. And, he is having fun doing it. 

"Just like a company looks to create an edge and find something that differentiates its product or service, an athlete is going to look for that opportunity to separate themselves from the pack as well."

Zach Weissbach

In this ZoneTalk episode, we speak with Zach Weissbach, President of Visionary Sports and Development, and former Vice President of Hudson Athletic Recruiting in Canada. When Zach played junior-level hockey, he saw a real need for athletic advice and assistance, particularly with respect to college scholarship opportunities, which would have been highly valuable for him when he was a young athlete looking at his future.

Now in his current role, he has the opportunity to influence the future of up and coming athletes. With sound, practical advice and comprehensive services for scholarship seekers, parents and coaches, his company aims to maximize the opportunities for pursuing athletic scholarships and financial aid packages to post-secondary institutions in both the US and Canada. This is especially critical at this time of the COVID-19 crisis when many sports have stalled. 

In this week's ZoneTalk podcast episode, I sat down with Matthew Cartisser, a resilient and successful young athlete who is currently prepping for college, with aspirations of being a surgeon.

Matthew is no ordinary athlete. First, he chose to take up trap shooting, a sport that none of his friends participated in. And second, he started his life behind the eight ball, so to speak, with a benign cancerous facial growth at 12 months of age. He fought back with incredible strength during multiple surgeries only to get Lockjaw after facial reconstruction. At that moment, his simple dream was that someday he would be able to chew a gumball – and he successfully climbed that mountain. 

From that day on, Matthew has represented every new goal and challenge in his life as just another "gumball" ...win competitions...make the national All-American all-star team...graduate from college...become a surgeon.

Matthew talks to us about his journey, his challenges and the gumball machine he received from his surgical team.

Regardless of your sport, there are some great take-aways in this podcast that are applicable to athletes and their coaches on aspiring to great success in your sport, school and life. 

“I look for the fire that someone has inside them. When someone has the fire, they're the ones who love to work. They love to go train. Most skills are teachable, but if they lack the fire, they lack that desire of what motivates them to want to succeed. That's the one thing you can't teach.” 

Two-time Olympian, Don Kwasnycia, talks with Bob Palmer about how his experience as an Olympic competitor shaped him for his current role as the head skeet coach for the Canadian Shooting Federation (SFC-FTC), a member of the ISSF. As a coach for the next generation of Canadian Olympians, Don gets his best results when he builds trust with his athletes, where they create a bond to stay in the Zone, both in practice and in competition.

As their coach, he encourages and supports them by being their rock, fanning the flames of the “fire within”, and by taking a “team approach” to supporting all aspects of their game (technical, fitness, nutrition, mental training) in order to help them achieve what they want in their lives. Now that’s coaching!

"Winning is amazing. There is almost no better feeling than realizing that all of your hard work, dedication, tears, sweat-all of that-has finally paid off!"

Staff Sergeant Amanda Elsenboss

In this episode of ZoneTalk, Bob Palmer talks with SSgt Amanda Elsenboss, who spent ten years in the US Military, with notable record-holding performances as part of teams representing the US Army and the US Army Marksmanship Unit.

For the duration of her ten-year army contract, it was Amanda’s job to win in individual events or as a part of her team. She speaks about her strategies for staying in the Zone during competitions and for coaching both soldiers and civilian athletes. 

She is a fierce competitor and jointly holds records with two teams and sets the standard for excellence in competing. SSgt Elsenboss is currently working in the private sector in a test facility and is also a member of the competitive team that represents the National Guard. 

"Let athletes make mistakes and also learn how to figure it out for themselves."

Jessica Zelinka, Two-time Olympian, Track and Field - on her coaching role

Two-time Olympian, Canadian heptathlete, and 100m hurdler, Jessica Zelinka, was a shining light of clean sport at the 2012 London Olympics.

In this episode of Bob Palmer's ZoneTalk, Jessica discusses her Olympic experience, the balancing of her roles as both a high-performance athlete and mother, how competing against talented opponents is the only way to reach one’s potential, and the absolute necessity of the Zone mindset for training, performing and coaching, especially in today’s environment of the Covid-19 crisis.

"Make fear your friend."

Gabi Viteri, Former professional snowboarder turned musician

Snowboarding was coming into its own in the early 2000's, Burton was the key player in the industry, and Gabi Viteri was their girl. She inspired a generation of female and male snowboarders by riding rails, jumping off cliffs and daring to fear. 

In this inaugural edition of ZoneTalk, Gabi talks high performance and how jumping off cliffs has prepared her in her career transition to take on the whole new field of music performance.