This week’s episode is an AASP Special.

Dr. Mustafa Sarkar is Associate Professor of Sport and Performance Psychology at Nottingham Trent University as well as a consultant specialising in individual, team, and organisational resilience across many high performance domains.

The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (or AASP)’s annual conference is coming up this week from the 15th – 18th October in Montreal, where there will be a host of great speakers and content.

Mustafa delivered the opening keynote to last year’s 2024 AASP conference in Las Vegas – titled “Bridging the Research to Practice Gap in Sport and Performance Psychology”. In this episode Mustafa unpacks some of the context behind this keynote, as well as six suggested starting points for how we can bridge this gap as a profession, as an industry and as individuals.

At this week’s AASP conference, we’ll get a complimentary roundtable entitled the “Practice to Research Gap’, chaired by Philadelphia Phillies’ Mental Performance Coordinator Traci Statler - what better time to reflect on Mustafa’s insights, experiences and provocations from 2024.

You can follow Mustafa here:

Social networks:

- LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mustafa-sarkar-b6370256

NYU Website:

- https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/science-technology/mustafa-sarkar

Our previous podcast episode covering ‘Resilience’..

- https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/1-resilience-in-people-and-organisations-dr-mustafa-sarkar/id1506560750?i=1000470629088

Research:

- Mustafa’s Research Gate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mustafa-Sarkar-2?ev=hdr_xprf

- Ben Ashdown’s research on resilience behaviours in academy football: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10413200.2024.2361701

- Richard Keegan’s paper in 2017 on bridging the research-practice gap: https://archives.rpd-online.com/article/view/v26-n6-keegan-cotteril-woolway-etal.html

- Dr Marie Winter’s work on evidence-informed decision making (paper 1): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10413200.2023.2286950

- Dr Marie Winter’s work on evidence-informed decision making (paper 2): https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/tsp/39/3/article-p200.xml

- Myths of Sport Coaching by Dr Amy Whitehead and Jenny Coe: https://www.sequoia-books.com/catalog/whiteheadcoe/

- Myths of Sport Performance by Dr Amy Whitehead and Jenny Coe: https://www.sequoia-books.com/catalog/sport/

Videos:

- Richard Keegan: closing the research to practi

In this second episode of 2025 we have the pleasure of getting to speak to Dr. Martin Turner again - exploring different nuances and themes within REBT, and its growing applicability to systemic and environment challenges.

On the applied side Martin has worked across football, cricket, rugby, cycling, archery, shooting, and equestrian. He also provides performance psychology to business professionals. He’s the Lead Sport Psychologist for England Futsal and his work with athletes has included seasons at Nottingham Forest FC Academy, Nottingham County Cricket Club Academy, Staffordshire County Cricket Club Academy, and Stoke City Football Academy.

You can find out more about Martin, his books and latest papers below:

Social networks:
https://twitter.com/DrMJTurner
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-martin-turner-828b766b/

The Books:
1) The Rational Practitioner (the one with the Dragon) https://www.routledge.com/The-Rational-Practitioner-The-Sport-and-Performance-Psychologists-Guide-To-Practicing-Rational-Emotive-Behaviour-Therapy/Turner/p/book/9781032060408

2) REBT in Sport & Exercise (2020) https://www.waterstones.com/book/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-in-sport-and-exercise/martin-turner/richard-bennett/9780367407803

The REBT & Hero’s Journey Paper:Tales of rationality: the rational emotive behavioral monomyth as a metaphorical alignment of rational emotive behavior therapy and the Hero’s Journey narrative structure - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1572636/full

Recommended book: "Down and Out in London and Paris" (George Orwell): https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/364887/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london-by-orwell-george/9781784878993

Welcome to Slice of PIE episode 32. Stuart Holliday (CPsychol) is a Sport Psychologist for GB Olympic Swimming, and runs his own practice Focused Mind Coaching with clients in sport, music, and business. He has worked in elite sport environments for over 10 years at Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth, and Premiership experience for Archery, Swimming, England Netball, and Liverpool Football Club. His real passion and area of expertise is Endurance sport, which is why he has a subsidiary of Focused Mind Coaching called Endurance Mind Coaching for runners, swimmers, cyclists and triathletes. He has co-written ‘The Psychology of Running’ with Dr Noel Brick, and in the music industry, the ‘Touring Manual’.

In this conversation we really lean into the endurance side of his practice, and I was very fortunate to catch Stuart late at night after we’d put each of our two kids to bed. Despite being two tired Dads I am delighted with the conversation and look forward to hearing what people take from it.

Details about Stuart, his company, his book and other various recommendations from the podcast:

Websites:

Focused mind coaching: https://www.focusedmindcoaching.co.uk/

Endurance mind coaching: https://www.endurancemindcoaching.com/

Stuart’s social presence:

linkedin.com/in/stuartholliday

Focused Mind Coaching:

https://www.instagram.com/focusedmindcoaching/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/focusedmindcoaching/

Podcast:

https://www.focusedmindcoaching.co.uk/podcasts/

Endurance mind courses:

https://www.endurancemindcoaching.com/sport-psychology/online-courses/

Referenced papers:

Integrating sport psychology work:

• McHugh, Mason & Jeffreys (2022) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366988120_Psychosocial_coaching_practices_An_interim_report_on_UKSCA_stakeholders%27_perception
• Ford, Masters & Vosloo (2022) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/17479541221101226 - trying to get it from ResearchGate

A 2022 paper by the R.E.S.I.S.T working group on psychological strategies to employ to resist slowing down: https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/bpssepr/18/1/4

The book ENDURE by Alex Hutchinson, reviewed by chartered sport psychologist Josephine Perry: https://performanceinmind.co.uk/2018/06/09/review-endure-alex-hutchinson/

The Psychology of Running, by Noel Brick and Stuart Holliday

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003204206/psychology-running-noel-brick-stuart-holliday

Other Misc. Recommendations:

• Podcast - Finding Mastery with Des Linden: https://findingmastery.com/podcasts/des-linden/

In the fourth Slice of PIE of 2024, we get the pleasure of speaking to Dr. Will McConn Palfreyman, Head of Psychology at Scottish Golf, and lecturer in Sport Psychology at the University of Sterling. A chartered sport & exercise psychologist through the British Psychological Society – Will has worked with a number of sporting organisations including sportscotland Institute of Sport, Scottish Golf, Scottish Cycling, the Scottish Rugby Union, Racing Welfare, the National Trainers Federation, the Arsenal F.C. Psychology Network and the Scottish Women’s National Volleyball team.

Will is such an affable and engaging guy – someone I’ve always gravitated to at conferences and enjoyed speaking to. I was really looking forward to this conversation, and it didn’t disappoint – as we traversed the topics of learning and mastery, coaching, and golf’s “psychological fingerprint.”

You can follow Will here:

Social networks:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-will-mcconn-palfreyman-18a54433/?originalSubdomain=uk

Twitter/X: https://x.com/WillMcConn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drwillmcconn/

Article in The Psychologist

https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/five-inch-course

Documentaries:

Hoop Dreams (film): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tciknLFw8GE

Jerome Betis, A Football Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lODsFL8BJHs

Referenced papers:

Lubker et al. (2008). https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/sphhs_exer_facpubs/240/

Woolway, Chris Harwood (2020): https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Consultant_characteristics_in_sport_psychology_service_provision_a_critical_review_and_future_research_directions/13233998?file=25491536

In the third Slice of PIE of 2024, we get the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Duncan Simpson.

Duncan joined IMG from Barry University in Miami in 2017 - providing mental conditioning services for tennis, golf, and soccer. Originally from England, he received his Ph.D in Sport Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He’s a Certified Consultant with the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and has been conducting mental skills training with athletes and coaches since 2005 - from a range of sports and varying in talent and ability from beginners to professional and Olympic athletes.

Most recently, Duncan along with co-host Dr. Greg Young have originated the Performers podcast, dissecting the autobiographical accounts of famous athletes, coaches practitioners and performers – including Dan Carter, Andre Agassi and most recently, Bubba Watson. As of this recording Duncan and Greg have produced 18 fantastic episodes, decoding the tips and tricks of high level performers – using their knowledge of sport psychology theory and practice to connect the dots. The link to the podcast is below, and I would highly recommend listening to it.

In this conversation with Duncan we talk about the podcast, as well as his experience leading a team of mental performance consultants at the IMG Academy, a private school based in Florida, as well as his insights and observations of what makes a psychologically informed environment – along with a few good book recommendation (again linked below).

You can follow Duncan here:

Social networks:
https://x.com/sportpsychdunc?lang=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-simpson-ph-d-cmpc-76244b1a


The Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/@PerformersPod?app=desktop

Listen to it on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/56cK91sh2F1FzXXmbx1ECt?si=bba76a5f19584b10

A life without limits - Chrissie Wellington
https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-life-without-limits/chrissie-wellington/9781780338712

In the second Slice of PIE of 2024, we get the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Martin Turner.

Martin is a very experienced academic, researcher and practitioner – with specific interests in challenge and threat states in athletes, and the use of REBT with athletes.

On the applied side Martin has worked across football, cricket, rugby, cycling, archery, shooting, and equestrian. He also provides performance psychology to business professionals. He’s the Lead Sport Psychologist for England Futsal and his work with athletes has included seasons at Nottingham Forest FC Academy, Nottingham County Cricket Club Academy, Staffordshire County Cricket Club Academy, and Stoke City Football Academy.

We talk about one of his latest papers on the use of REBT with sales professionals (link below) and broaden the conversation into wider REBT tenets.

You can follow Martin here:

Social networks:
https://twitter.com/DrMJTurner
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-martin-turner-828b766b/

The Books:
1) The Rational Practitioner (2022, the one with the Dragon) https://www.routledge.com/The-Rational-Practitioner-The-Sport-and-Performance-Psychologists-Guide-To-Practicing-Rational-Emotive-Behaviour-Therapy/Turner/p/book/9781032060408

2) REBT in Sport & Exercise (2020) https://www.waterstones.com/book/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-in-sport-and-exercise/martin-turner/richard-bennett/9780367407803


The REBT & Sales paper:
When not making your sales target is "the end of the world" - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smi.3391

Another year, and another Slice of PIE first.

We get to speak to Niels Feddersen, Associate Professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Science - and we get to speak to him at two points in time ! First in 2020, during his move from Denmark to Norway, and then again in 2023 - where we have a conversation and reflection on the first conversation ! I can't take credit, it was Niels' idea...

We talk about some of his important research studying sporting organisations and their cultures, and slingshot into multiple interesting threads concerning values, societal changes, the tipping point for speaking up, social bubbles and organisational consensus on what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour - among many other topics.

You can follow Niels here:

Social networks:
https://twitter.com/niels_moving
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nielsfeddersen/?originalSubdomain=no

Norweigan School of Sport Sciences:
https://www.nih.no/english/about/employees/nielsbf/

Email address:
nielsbf@nih.no

For all of those interested in the topic of organisational life in sports organisations, see below.

These are the papers underpinning our conversations, but more to come!

Large scale culture changes
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430437.2020.1771306

Power in organisations
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2020-0119

Destructive/Toxic Cultures
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2021-0077
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430437.2019.1680639

Slice of PIE is back with some exciting personal and professional news.

We also get to speak to Dr. Jamie Barker, former chair of the British Psychological Society's (BPS) Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology (DSEP) and 'Pracademic' with over 20 years of experience.

In this episode we dig into his experience working with the British Paralympics team in Rio, and from working in sport to business to the military and many other performance environments.

Jamie is also the author of multiple books including The Psychology of Soccer: More Than Just a Game - which came out in 2020, in partnership with Joe Dixon, Richard Thelwell and Ian Mitchell (see link below).

Jamie is also one of the nicest blokes around, and kindly gave enough time to fill two episodes’ worth of insight and experience. This is 'part two' of our conversation.

You can follow Jamie here:

Social networks:
https://twitter.com/DrJamieBarker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jamie-barker-1154a12b/

Loughborough University Profile:
https://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ssehs/staff/jamie-barker/

Link to work with the RAF:
https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/national-rehabilitation-centre/news/developing-veterans-resilience/

The Psychology of Soccer: More Than Just a Game
https://www.routledge.com/The-Psychology-of-Soccer/Dixon-Barker-Thelwell-Mitchell/p/book/9780367350284

Upcoming book: The Psychology of Golf Performance Under Pressure
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7093506674430197760?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7093506674430197760%29