ZEPP FM 008 – The Hardangervidda Project

10/03/18 • 44 min

ZEPP FM | Sport psychology for athletes, coaches & future sport psychologists

This summer I made a short trip to Norway. I crossed the Hardangervidda, Europe’s biggest high alpine plateau, alone – only with my tent, sleeping bag, mattress and enough food for nine days. I did this trip not as a vacation. Instead, I wanted to see if hiking over a couple of days would be a worthy method I could include in my coaching portfolio.

In this episode I’m going to deal with three topics. Firstly, I will talk about why I think long distance hiking makes a great coaching method, and how I think it could be integrated into my coaching portfolio. Secondly, I will briefly discuss some aspects one needs to consider when planning such a hike coaching trip, and thirdly, I’ll talk about five things I personally learned and realized while crossing the Hardangervidda.

To sum my experience up, I can say that the trip was just perfect. The weather was excellent, I enjoyed the silence, the solitude, the sun, the wind, the water, the activity itself and everything that happened in the Hardangervidda. No matter how heavy the backpack was, and how strenuous it was to climb some of the hills and mountains I am absolutely grateful for the experiences I made. If there is one advice I can give at that point it would be the following: Grab whatever equipment you have and go out there. Into the woods, onto the mountains – whatever is possible for you – and enjoy the silence. It will be louder than you imagine.

Previous Episode

ZEPP FM 007 - Playing volleyball with Khmer Rouge soldiers in Cambodia with Senghay Ly

Back in the early days of the Cambodian National Volleyball League – Disabled (CNVLD), Senghay was one of the first players to compete in the only volleyball league for disabled athletes in the world. His effort, his motivation and his determination helped him deal with his disability, social adversities, as well as several other challenges in his life. However, he never quit.

Senghay was a national team member of the Cambodian National Volleyball Team and competed in various international competitions. His effort, his motivation and his experiences helped him improve himself every day a bit more. After playing volleyball and studying Applied Economics in Cambodia, he was awarded the development scholarship at the University of Auckland/NZ, where he received the degree of Master of International Business only recently.

In today’s episode we look at Senghay’s history in playing volleyball, what it meant to him to play volleyball in the CNVLD, and what it felt like to represent Cambodia at World Cups. One topic we also discussed was what it was like to play together with former Khmer Rouge soldiers who arrested, tortured and probably executed Cambodian citizens between 1951 and 1991 – a topic that always interested me since I met Senghay and his fellow team mates in 2007.

After actively working together with the CNVLD between 2007 and 2010 it was a pleasure for me to talk to Senghay and hear about his own development as well as how some of my former athletes do today. He shares many great insights into sports and life as an athlete in a developing country, and what challenges he and his team mates had to face. All of this will probably leave you humble and grateful for the life you’re able to live today – and it will encourage you to look at obstacles and adversities from a different perspective. Thank you Senghay for sharing your experiences with us!

Next Episode

ZEPP FM 009 - Bouncing back from sport injuries with Dr Les Podlog

A dislocated elbow, several shoulder dislocations, a hernia, a fractured hand and three reconstructive knee surgeries in seven years forced Les to give up wrestling after 13 years of training and competition. However, he didn’t start bee keeping or basket weaving as his doctors suggested. Instead, Les started researching why and how some athletes successfully deal with injuries and others don’t, and how athletes can successfully cope with sport injuries.

In today’s episode, Les shares what he found sport psychologists, coaches, athletic trainers and physiotherapists need to consider when working with injured athletes, and how they can support their athletes. One of the most important things Les talks about are the three factors autonomy, competence and relatedness that need to be considered when an athlete experiences an injury. In addition, Les explains in great detail how anyone who tries to support an injured athlete can identify and subsequently address these most important factors for each athlete.

Les is a great colleague of mine who’s researching and lecturing at the University of Utah, introducing his students to the incredible field of sport psychology, and it was a real pleasure to talk to him again about two of the topics, that he’s an absolute expert in: sport injuries and post-traumatic growth. I’ve learned a lot from Les during our interview and I hope that you’ll benefit from his knowledge and his examples, too. So, no matter if you’re an athlete, coach, staff member or simply interested in how athletes could and should deal with injuries – and how they might even benefit from injuries! – this episode is the right one for you!