#217 Prof Joe Baker - How Talent Compels and Limits Athletic Achievement

12/05/22 • 65 min

This week I’m delighted to speak to Prof Joe Baker. Joe is the Head of the Lifespan Performance Laboratory in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, at York University, Canada. Previously Joe has held visiting researcher/professor positions in the Carnegie Research Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University UK, Victoria University, Australia, the Australian Institute of Sport and the Institute of Sport Science at Westflische Wilhelms-Universitat Münster in Germany. Joe’s research focuses on optimal human development, largely to understand how someone gets to, and stays at, the highest levels of performance. His previous research in this area has considered various psychosocial and environmental factors influencing athletic skill development across a range of sports.

Joe is the Past President of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology and the author/editor of 5 journal special issues and more than 300 peer reviewed articles, commentaries, position statements and 14 books. And it’s his latest book ‘The Tyranny of Talent: How it compels and limits athletic achievement... and why you should ignore it’ that is the topic of this podcast.

The book explores the elements that affect people's likelihood of success, starting with a thorough discussion of what 'talent' is, why both nature and nurture are critical factors, and why this distinction no longer matters. For many coaches, parents, and athletes, misunderstandings about ‘talent’ continue to constrain how they think about their long-term development and achievement.

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#216 Dr Nicky Keay - Hormones, Health and Human Performance

This week I’m delighted to speak to Dr Nicky Keay. Nicky is an Exercise Endocrinologist and an Honorary Clinical Lecturer in Medicine at University College London. Previously, Nicky was a Research Fellow in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University.

Nicky is a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine and she conducts clinical research in sports/dance endocrinology which has resulted in a range of research publications and awards.

Nicky’s aim is to redefine optimal health and fitness for the individual helping them to: improve general health and fitness or athletic performance, prevent injury, or rehabilitate after injury or illness. Nicky helps individuals achieve their goals by bringing together her areas of expertise.

We discuss Nicky’s fascinating new book “Hormones, Health and Human Potential: A guide to understanding your hormones to optimise your health and performance”.

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#218 Blaine McKenna - Coaching People from Different Cultures and Backgrounds

I speak with Blaine McKenna in this episode. Blaine is a UEFA A soccer coach, former academy director and author. Having completed his Masters is Sport Psychology, Blaine started to incorporate mental skills into his coaching curriculum and has taken his brand of coaching all over the globe from Kuwait to Thailand.

Taken from his experiences coaching abroad, Blaine has written a fascinating new book “Coaching Abroad” which gives brilliant insight into the ins and outs of coaching abroad. We particularly focus on coaching people from different cultures and backgrounds and Blaine shares some fantastic tips he's picked up from his many years of coaching abroad.