
The Athlete Development Show
Dr Craig Harrison
Science and stories from the brightest minds across many disciplines to help youth athletes unlock personal performance & develop their sporting potential.
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Top 10 The Athlete Development Show Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Athlete Development Show episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Athlete Development Show for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Athlete Development Show episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

EP 105: Andrew Ellis - Connection Is Key
The Athlete Development Show
05/18/21 • 77 min
Connection is Key
On the show today I chat with former international cricketer, Andrew Ellis. Andrew played first-class cricket for Canterbury from 2003 until 2020 and represented his country in both the One Day and Twenty20 formats of the game.
Andrew is now a dad of two young children and works for High-Performance Sport New Zealand as the manager of the Christchurch region.
In this conversation, Andrew and I discuss age and stage appropriate coaching, finding the courage the take risks, connection and why Andrew believes it is the starting point for everything great, the struggle between a thirst for training volume to get better and doing too much, battling the inner critic, and much more.
This is Andrew's story.
Kia ora,
Craig
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps me keep producing the show. I also love hearing your feedback!
Sign up for Craig's free weekly newsletter by scrolling down. It's full of research-backed, practical ideas for helping youth athletes defend against injury, overtraining and burning out.
Follow Craig:
Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

EP 86: Michael Jennings - Meaningful Movement Opportunities for Young People
The Athlete Development Show
05/20/20 • 75 min
This conversation in with Michael Jennings, Director of Healthy Body at Athlos Education, where he provides virtual and on-site professional development and support for physical educators.
He is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
With a Master’s Degree in both secondary education and exercise physiology, Michael specialises in physical literacy, long term athletic development and the holistic education of all students.
In this conversation, Mike shares his thoughts on what physical education should be for, the value of P.E. in the uncertain times we're living in, his framework for developing students across a wide range of ages, and the big problem we face when we focus our attention on physical fitness.
We also discuss:
- The magic of a holistic learning experience and why we should celebrate the less obvious moments more;
- How our past experiences colour what we believe in today;
- The importance of understanding cognitive development;
- Coaching students with different skills and abilities using the constraints-led approach;
- How Mike thinks about assessing movement;
- Why foundational movement skills are important for more than just organised sport;
- Building quality relationships with kids to increase motivation;
- Barriers to creating trust and why it’s important to walk the talk; and
- Mike’s ultimate vision for P.E. in 5 years time.
You can say hello to Mike on Twitter here.
If you enjoy the show, please subscribe using your favourite podcast app. I’d also encourage you to head over to iTunes and give the show a rating as it helps to share the show with more people.
Kia ora!

EP 92: Anna Frost - Nature, travel, culture, and running 100 miles
The Athlete Development Show
09/19/20 • 59 min
This conversation is with Anna Frost, a mum, a coach, a mentor and a professional mountain, trail and ultra runner, who has raced all over the world.
Since starting out in 2004, Anna has assembled a long list of running achievements, including winning Hardrock, a 100-mile race across the Colorado mountains in the US, two years in a row.
In this conversation, Annas shares her journey from growing up as a small-town girl in Dunedin, New Zealand, to being one of the best ultra-distance runners in the world.
Please say hello to Anna on Instagram here.
If you enjoy the show, please subscribe using your favourite podcast app. I’d also encourage you to head over to iTunes and give the show a rating as it helps to share the show with more people.
Kia ora!

EP 27 – Michaela Sokolich-Beatson – From Netball Hater to Star Performer
The Athlete Development Show
06/23/17 • 32 min
My guest on today’s show is an aspiring star of her game. Her name is Michaela Sokolich-Beatson and she’s a starting defender for the Northern Mystics Netball Team in the ANZ Premiership Competition. Michaela grew up on the Whangaparaoa peninsula, 45 minutes north of Auckland City, where she attended the local College and played representative [...]
The post EP 27 – Michaela Sokolich-Beatson – From Netball Hater to Star Performer appeared first on AUT Millennium News.

EP 20 – Martin Toms – It’s Not About You but Those You Coach
The Athlete Development Show
04/28/17 • 73 min
My guest on the show today believes that the what we experience as a child and the people we hang out the most has a huge effect on what we believe and the people we become as adults, which significantly influences the way we parent and coach. His name is Dr Martin Toms, he’s a [...]
The post EP 20 – Martin Toms – It’s Not About You but Those You Coach appeared first on AUT Millennium News.

EP 85: Dr Paul Read - Injury Risk, Movement Variability and Coaching Youth Athletes
The Athlete Development Show
05/12/20 • 55 min
This conversation in with Dr Paul Read, an accredited strength and conditioning coach and clinical researcher at a specialised Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Qatar.
His expertise lies in the assessment strategies of lower limb neuromuscular control and injury risk factors.
Paul has worked with youth, professional and international athletes in a range of sports including football, athletics, fencing and mixed martial arts.
He's also authored numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed papers and presented at conferences across the globe.
In this conversation, Paul provides great insight into the influence of maturation on injury risk factors in youth, the importance of individualised training for optimal development and why you should consider movement variability in your programme prescription.
We also discuss:
- Why plyometric training pre-puberty is a good idea;
- How to integrate movement screening into training and why a more critical approach is required;
- Paul's advice for coaching movement with young athletes of various maturation;
- Playing Academy level football in the UK;
- Paul's love of movement;
- The long-lasting effects of an injury on the way an athlete moves;
- The difficult questions of measuring movement variability and how Paul is starting to tackle it;
- Chaos versus structure in the training environment;
- The importance of working from a set of principles;
- Significant mentors in Paul's research and coaching journey;
- Why getting rid of the term 'injury prevention' might be a good idea; and
- Using technology to enhance your coaching.
You can say hello to Paul on Twitter here.
If you enjoy the show, please subscribe using your favourite podcast app. I’d also encourage you to head over to iTunes and give the show a rating as it helps to share the show with more people.
Kia ora!

Aaron Webb on the Artistry of People Development
The Athlete Development Show
04/03/24 • 70 min
On the Show today I'm speaking with the man behind the Crusaders Rugby Academy, Aaron Webb. The programme operates in line with the New Zealand Rugby Union's six pillars of development - technical, tactical, physical, nutrition, mental skills and holistic life skills. Aaron shares how he goes about his work with a clear focus on developing young men with the skills to reach their goals in professional rugby and grow into excellent community citizens.
This is a conversation about the artistry of people development.
Enjoy!
Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter
Get Craig to speak at your club or school here.
Connect with Craig:
Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

The Curious Mind #08 - Creating Team Culture, Navigating Tournament Play, Helping Coaches Be Their Best Selves, & more
The Athlete Development Show
09/28/23 • 64 min
Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project, Dave Wright (@davewright07), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind.
We discuss our experiences in youth sport over the past couple of months, including how Dave goes about creating team culture, the pros and cons of tournament play, the essential ingredients in coach development, and much more.
Enjoy!
Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter
Get Craig to speak at your club or school here.
Connect with Craig:
Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

Zane Winslade on Playfulness, Courage, and Developing Mental Toughness
The Athlete Development Show
04/10/23 • 74 min
This week's conversation is with Zane Winslade.
Zane is the owner of Flow Sport Mental Performance Coaching, and works with athletes from youth to the elite level across multiple codes. Zane has a a Bachelor’s degree in Sports and Leisure Studies, a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology from John F Kennedy University.
On the show today , Zane shares how he works with young people to help them manage their mind and perform as their best self. We also discuss the 3 key principles Zane founded his Mental Toughness Journal for young athletes on.
We start the episode talking about how Zane approaches his own mental game at Brazilian Jujitsu.
Enjoy!
Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter
Get Craig to speak at your club or school here.
Connect with Craig:
Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

EP 107: Brooke Neal - Finding Balance
The Athlete Development Show
08/10/21 • 49 min
Brooke Neal - Finding Balance
Brooke was an independent and stubborn kid growing up. She knew what she wanted and was highly driven to go out and get it.
Chasing her dream of elite sporting success, Brooke first made the New Zealand Blacks Sticks as a 19-year-old.
But it wasn't what she expected.
Instead of fame and fortune, it was a massive struggle. She was training harder than ever before and yet her performance was getting worse.
Something had to change.
Over the next 10 years of her life, 176 games, one Olympics and a Commonwealth gold medal, Brooke went on a quest to calm down her 'itch' to be forever chasing things down. To find a sense of calm. To anchor herself to what's important. To find balance.
Now, Brooke is teaching young female athletes to do the same.
In this conversation, Brooke shares her strongly held belief that when you take care of your hauora, your sporting performance will prosper
Brooke and I also talk about:
- Where her motivation comes from;
- The importance of doing less in a busy, outcome-orientated world;
- Why ever young athlete needs a reflective practice;
- FOPO (fear of missing out) disorder;
- The greatest gift her parents ever gave her;
- The information-rich world we're living in and why it's overwhelming our young athletes;
- Setting boundaries on social media;
- Finding her Balance - Brooke's signature course;
- The power of the community; and
- Much, much more.
This is Brooke's story.
Kia ora
Craig
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps me keep producing the show. I also love hearing your feedback!
Sign up for Craig's free weekly newsletter by scrolling down. It's full of research-backed, practical ideas for helping youth athletes defend against injury, overtraining and burning out.
Follow Craig:
Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Athlete Development Show have?
The Athlete Development Show currently has 178 episodes available.
What topics does The Athlete Development Show cover?
The podcast is about Learning, Health & Fitness, Movement, Athlete, Youth, Medicine, Podcasts, Sport, Education, Sports and Coaching.
What is the most popular episode on The Athlete Development Show?
The episode title 'Dr Riki Lindsay on Skill Learning, Fatherhood,The Adaptable Coach, and Much More' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Athlete Development Show?
The average episode length on The Athlete Development Show is 68 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Athlete Development Show released?
Episodes of The Athlete Development Show are typically released every 9 days, 22 hours.
When was the first episode of The Athlete Development Show?
The first episode of The Athlete Development Show was released on Jan 17, 2017.
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