I’m delighted to speak with Duff Gibson this week. Duff has spent the better part of three decades in a hotbed of Olympic sport.

As an athlete, Duff was a provincial champion speed skater, a national champion and national team member in bobsleigh, and then a world and Olympic gold medallist in the sport of skeleton. As a coach he led six different athletes to podium finishes at a world level. Competing against, working with, and learning from numerous world-leading athletes and coaches has provided Duff a breadth and depth of experience.

Duff’s belief is that, despite its mischaracterisation in popular culture, the mental side of sport is perhaps the most significant aspect, and what very often makes the difference between success and failure, in particular at the highest level.

In his fantastic book ‘The Tao of Sport’ Duff explores the commonality amongst elite performers relating to purpose, passion, and growth, as a means to achieving high performance, or as a means to an end in itself. The book is an inspiring and informative read for athletes and coaches of any level, as well as parents, teachers, and anyone helping others to become the best version of themselves. Duff is also the founder of TheTaoOfSport.com which offers athletes and coaches courses on the mental side of sport.

I’m delighted to speak with Dr Kimberly Wagner this week. Kimberly is a licensed clinical psychologist and sport/performance psychologist.

With a background as a competitive athlete and a passion for psychology, Kimberly focused on clinical psychology as well as specialising in sport psychology while at graduate school. Her doctoral dissertation research focused on sport psychology, specifically she studied the mental skills and characteristics which enhance performance in Major League Baseball players.

During her research, Kimberly conducted extensive interviews with Major League Baseball players discussing what mental skills and characteristics they utilise to enhance their performance, and what gives them the competitive edge at an elite level of competition.

Kimberly has presented her research at multiple international and national conferences including at the 2013 and 2016 annual American Psychological Association (APA) conference as well as the California Psychological Association (CPA) conference.

Kimberly has experience working with high school and collegiate level athletes as well as junior professional and professional athletes on improving the mental component of their game as a way of facilitating peak performance.

I’m delighted to speak with Ben Ashdown this week. Ben is joined by return guest, Dr Mustafa Sarkar.

Ben is a senior lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. He is part of the Sport Performance Research Group in the Sport, Health and Performance Enhancement (SHAPE) Research Centre and is a PhD researcher focusing on resilience in youth football. Ben’s research interests are observational methods and assessment in sport psychology, resilience behaviours in youth football and resilience development practices.

Before moving into lecturing, Ben was a research associate at The University of Nottingham on the Steps to Active Kids (STAK) project that sought to evaluate the impact of a school-based physical activity programme on outcomes including self-efficacy and obesity risk factors. Ben is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has a Postgraduate diploma in teaching in the lifelong learning sector. After graduating from York St John University on a BA (Honours) degree in Sport Studies and Psychology, Ben completed an MSc in Sport Psychology at the same institution.

Mustafa is Associate Professor of Sport and Performance Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. His main area of research is on individual, team and organisational resilience in elite sport.

Mustafa has a background in teaching and research with most of his research focusing on the psychology of sporting and performance excellence, specifically looking at resilience in high achievers in sport and business. Mustafa also works with coaches and organisations helping them to develop resilience in athletes and teams.

We talk about a brilliant paper led by Ben and co-authored by Mustafa and Dr Chris Saward and Dr Julie Johnston entitled “Exploring the behavioral indicators of resilience in professional academy youth soccer”.

The study offers insight into the observable behaviours characterising resilience in youth soccer. Participants identified 36 resilience behaviours, highlighting the multifaceted nature of the concept in this specific context. The results provide a platform to support practitioners in observing resilience behaviours and structuring practices for resilience assessment and development.

The findings of this study can support youth soccer players in reflecting on their behavioural responses to in-game stressors, and thus better understand how and when they demonstrate resilience.