Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Lewis’ own words though, he knew he was different but wasn’t willing to be treated that way and, as a result, he continued to compete in sports. Whilst doing so, he would visualise signing a professional cricket contract at his home county Sussex and, in 2010, this became a reality. Having manifested his own ultimate dream, and having had a successful 6 year career at the height of his sport in the UK, it is no surprise that Lewis Hatchett is a firm believer in the power of visualisation as a tool for enhancing elite performance, which he now teaches other athletes.

Alongside visualisation, he’s now helping other athletes, ranging from NFL Running Backs to Olympic Gold Medallists, realise the power of breathwork, meditation and yoga through his business Sport Yogi. In what we feel is an incredibly innovative way of enhancing elite performance, Sport Yogi allows Athletes to get every inch out of their recovery, and ultimately cope with the physical and mental stresses of professional sport.

Lewis’ story is the epitome of making no excuses in order to live up to your dream. If you’d like to hear more of Lewis’ story, and how he now helps other athletes carve out their own journeys, check out his podcast Raising Your Game, by clicking the link in our bio.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unfortunately, the condition forced Taylor’s retirement and robbed him of more success as an England cricketer. However, prior to the diagnosis in 2016, Taylor had already achieved so much in an England shirt. He scored a 98* versus Australia in a World Cup, and later scored a hundred against the same opposition. He was a big game player, and was always confident that he would perform in high-pressured situations due to the hard-work and preparation he put in off-the-field.

Perhaps James’ fondest memory on a cricket pitch was actually the two incredible catches he took in Johannesburg during a historic series win against South Africa. Such is the cruel nature of sport, it was just a matter of weeks after the highs of Jo’burg that James received the devastating news that his playing career was over.

Not only could James no longer play cricket again, the sport that he loved and had spent most of his life playing, but he could no longer play any sport at all, or any activity that could increase his heart rate whatsoever. For someone who loved competing, training, and staying fit - that was an extremely tough blow.

But what’s incredible about James is his sheer positivity, and shortly after the diagnosis, he changed his focus from what he couldn’t do to what he can do. He is still involved in the game, working as a coach, as a commentator and also as a selector for the England team. In his new role as selector, James was able to contribute to England’s World Cup heroics in 2019, and although James is unable to don the England whites any more, it is certain that he will still bring so much positivity to cricket in this country in the years to come. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before being embroiled in scandal, Lou Vincent was a world-class cricketer, famed for his fearless approach to the game and ability to score runs against any opposition. A hundred on Test debut against Australia is just one on a long list of Lou’s cricketing achievements. 

However, his career ended when he was slammed with eleven life bans in 2014, after it transpired that he had been involved in fixing several cricket matches. Never before has Lou gone into so much detail about the sinister world he got entangled in, and over the course of the interview we are given a shocking insight into what exactly he was asked to do by the corrupt fixers, and how they kept him involved through intimidation and fear. 

Lou is now seeking redemption, and is looking to turn that period of his life into a positive by educating young sportspeople about the dangers of corruption and match-fixing and he hopes that his experiences can help to ensure that no one else gets tangled up in the same mess he was. 

You can see the work Lou is doing at the moment for his community in New Zealand by following @windyridgecricketclub.

Follow Giving The Game Away on social media:

Instagram - @givingthegameaway

Twitter - @GTGAMedia

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU_-ZyEHfjr8OImFRWJQD8A

Website - www.givingthegameaway.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy had an incredibly successful 16 year cricket career, in which he went on to receive 10 caps for the England team. However, he is a firm believer though that failure was often his most powerful teacher and when he under-performed in front of 120,000 people against India in a One Day International in 2002, a life lesson was learnt. As he refers to in his podcast, named ‘Inside the Mind of Champions’, it wasn’t the opposition who caused him to fail that day, it was himself. In that moment he realised that for anyone to thrive in their careers, they need to win their own mental battle first and this is where Jeremy’s journey, to becoming one of the most respected and trusted names in sports psychology, ultimately began. ⠀ ⠀ 

In 2005, having qualified with a degree in Sports Psychology, Jeremy was enlisted by the Rajasthan Royals to help Shane Warne’s side win their first IPL Trophy. With Warne having famously said that “the only coach should be the one that takes us to and from the ground”, the hardest part of the job for Snape was opening Warne’s eyes to the benefits he could bring. Once he was able to do so and prove the impact that his methods had on the side’s performance, his services would be in-demand from the world’s top sporting sides for the next 13 years.

Jeremy has since held roles at Crystal Palace, as well as advising England Rugby under Eddie Jones during their record 18 wins in a row. He has taken these learnings, alongside insights from the All Blacks and F1 teams, to help understand how to build the strongest and most agile teams in elite sport. Jeremy is a great inspiration to us, and we're so grateful for the conversation we were able to have with him.

If you enjoyed this episode, check out Jeremy's podcast 'Inside the Mind of Champions' which delves into the mindset of elite performers.

Follow Giving The Game Away on social media:

Instagram - @givingthegameaway

Twitter - @GTGAMedia

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU_-ZyEHfjr8OImFRWJQD8A

Website - www.givingthegameaway.co.uk 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever since Emily took up athletics as a teenager, she has been focussed, dedicated and willing to make sacrifices in order to reach the top. Sprinting is a sport with incredibly fine margins, meaning that immense discipline, determination and motivation is required to ensure every millisecond is gained.

Sprinting is also hugely psychologically demanding, and in this episode, Emily explained in fascinating detail about the mental challenges of the sport and what goes through her mind during a race.

At 29, Emily has already achieved so much – she’s an Olympic bronze medallist, a European gold medallist, a World Championships silver medallist and a British Champion. Emily has started to use her experiences to give motivational talks at schools, inspiring children to participate in sport and pursue their goals, no matter how ambitious they are.

We are grateful to Emily for sharing her journey, and we enjoyed learning about the mental challenges of sprinting and what it really takes to become an Olympian.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ‘yips’ was coined by golfer Tommy Armour in the 1920s to describe his sudden inability to hole short putts, and it has since become one of the most fascinating areas of sport. Psychologists still know little about the cause of the yips, which can come on suddenly and cause an athlete to have a complete mental block – unable to perform a skill they have practised thousands of time before.

Miles’ case meant that he was unable to bowl, and resultantly he was left out of the Gloucestershire side for three years, left questioning whether he had a future in cricket at all. However, Miles demonstrated immense resilience to adapt his game and focus his energy into becoming a batsman instead. He bounced back from the yips and ended up returning to the Gloucestershire team three years later, scoring a hundred on his comeback match. His journey is another example of an athlete reframing a setback into an opportunity.

We’re grateful to Miles for opening up on his experiences and providing his insight into the psychology of cricket – which is probably one of the most mentally demanding games in the world. We learned a lot from this episode, and hopefully those listening will be able to pick up some techniques for dealing with the pressures of sport too.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Son of Dutch football legend, Dean Gorré, Kenji was tipped to stardom from a young-age, when he played for both Manchester City’s and Manchester United’s academies at just 6 years old. This was the perfect footballing education, as he learned from the likes of Giggs, Scholes and Ferdinand on a daily basis on the training ground. During this episode, Kenji talks about the winning culture that was instilled at United, and what he learned from his time there.

Unfortunately, at 18 years old, Kenji received a brutal setback when he was informed by Sir Alex Ferguson that he was being released by United. However, Kenji didn’t give up on his professional football dream and ended up playing for Swansea City in the Premier League – proving that setbacks can become opportunities with the right attitude.

Although, while in Wales, another difficult period ensued, with Kenji battling a gambling addiction. Fortunately, Kenji overcame the addiction and he’s now happier than ever, enjoying his football for Nacional in Portugal and playing for the Curacao national team.

Kenji is using his experiences of dealing with setbacks to help other footballers fine tune their own mentality. He’s recently founded On the Ball - a service where elite footballers can learn more about developing the correct mind-set for elite sport. He also hosts Konversations with Kenji, a podcast discussing the mental side of football.

His positivity and energy is infectious and we really enjoyed hearing his ideas about the mental side of the game. If you liked this episode – go check out Konversations with Kenji for more insightful interviews with elite footballers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At aged 22, Tymal experienced his first injury shock when, during a spell for Essex CCC, he began feeling odd sensations in his legs and lower back. After numerous consultations, and fears that the shocks could have been early signs of Multiple Sclerosis, Tymal faced the decision of whether or not to retire from cricket. Although the severity of the injury meant he had medical grounds to retire, Tymal made the decision to continue his career, but to focus solely on T20 cricket. 

At the time, due to the realisation that he would no longer be able to play Test Cricket for England, this felt like a setback. However, no one could have predicted what was to come. Looking back, as Tymal claims, the injury was “the best thing to have happened”; the subsequent focus on T20 cricket allowed Tymal to become one of the games most famous players and he is now the true epitome of a modern, franchise cricketer. 

Shortly after making his England Debut, Tymal was bought for £1.3m in the 2017 IPL Auction, having been selected to feature in a team alongside Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers. These are opportunities that may not have been available had he focussed on four-day cricket, and it is testament to the fact, in sport, often minor setbacks are part of a much greater end goal. 

Tymal is now using his story to help inspire the next generation of fast bowlers and his book, called ‘the Book of Pace’, can be purchased online @pacejournal or on their website. Tymal's story is one of raw natural talent, combined with immense resilience, and we hope you enjoy it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay spent a couple of years in the lower tiers of English football, before playing Watford in a friendly and impressing so much that he secured a contract with the then-Championship side. During his time at Watford, Jay became captain, scored and won man of the match in the Championship play-off final, before becoming a regular in the Premier League. 

His strong performances in England's top-tier resulted in Jay being called up for his national team, the USA. However, just months before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Jay suffered a horrific eye injury which almost left him blind. Like with most challenges in his career, Jay displayed immense resilience and bounced back, recovering and putting in impressive performances in the World Cup.  

It is a truly incredible story, which Jay has shared at a TED Talk, on podcasts and even as the subject of a documentary film. It was fascinating to hear first-hand and we hope you enjoy and are inspired by this session too. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the session, Alex also talks about starting the social-media-famous ‘Shave, Donate, Nominate’ Campaign, his ambitions for Tokyo 2021, and his advice for young sportspeople on how finding their 'why' can help to keep levels of motivation and resilience high. 

Alex is a central figure in the England Rugby Sevens team, determined to reach Tokyo 2021. To support the team’s goal of reaching next year’s Olympics go to @englandrugbysevens on Instagram & https://www.pledgesports.org/projects/england-rugby-sevens-road-to-tokyo/.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As players like Bellerin become bigger features of the game, it becomes clear just how important image is in modern football and, the ability for clubs to profit off this image, undoubtedly now impacts transfer negotiations. Last summer, for example, Tottenham Hotspur’s attempts to sign Paulo Dybala from Juventus failed due to a complication regarding the image rights of the Argentinian forward. It highlighted the complexity of completing transfers even when the two clubs and the player had reached an agreement, and it is something that many football fans, us included, couldn’t quite get their head around. 

To help explain disputes such as this, we have invited on top football lawyer, Daniel Geey, described by Forbes as “one of the most sought-after advisors for players, agents and clubs”, to help break down many of these secrets of business within the boardrooms of the Premier League. Whether it is the shirt sale myth, the strangest clauses he’s ever seen in premier league contracts, breaking down the true reality of a £35m transfer or a club takeover, Daniel has been at the heart of modern football business for years. Daniel offers a fascinating and accessible insight into the world of football negotiations, some happening over Whatsapp late at night, and helps to break down many of football’s myths.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone else who is attempting to change this same narrative is Luke Amos, former Spurs and current QPR footballer, whom we recently invited on for a session. During a media storm about young footballers inviting girls back to their hotels during quarantine and others getting into trouble with police while abroad, Luke Amos (with full A’s and A*s at GCSE) is helping to break the mould and show off footballers in a more positive light. As he says in our session, when quizzed about why footballers are some of the most scrutinised people in society, “of course it's a lot of money for just kicking a ball around, but footballers are only working class people who have made something of themselves... so I always find it hard to understand why people scrutinise us so much.”

Key evidence of his intelligence and awareness is Luke’s understanding about what football can give him. Too often the perception is that footballers only motivation for playing is fame, money and social media notoriety, but Luke explains how football can give him the opportunity, alongside many others from working class backgrounds, to inspire change in poorer communities. In a similar way to Hector Bellerin, who in a recent Forbes article, explained “football gives me so much, it puts me in a position that I can help more than most”, Luke details his ultimate ambition to play in the Premier League which will enable him to be financially stable for his family and one day enable him to go back to Nigeria and help out in the communities there.

The importance of preparing early for the time when he can no longer play as a professional would have become all too apparent when, 6 weeks after stepping out for Tottenham in front of 65,000 people against Barcelona at 21, Luke ruptured his ACL and was out injured for what he describes as the toughest year of his life. Psychologically, he turned to The Chimp Paradox, one of the seminal books for anyone on a journey to understanding their brain.  As he says, “when you go to sleep at night, it's just you and your thoughts, so you've got to mentally stay strong." He’s incredibly open about the doubts and stresses he experienced at this time and it was a pleasure to chat to him.

Now, having signed for QPR at 23, Amos is ready to return to the Premier League and fulfil his career goal. We chatted to him on a Tuesday night after a double training session, yet he was more than happy to chat about anything from BLM to Messi, and from income inequality to Maguire.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For most athletes, competing at the Olympic Games is the pinnacle of their career. For Alicia Blagg, involvement in the Games was achieved at just 15 years old when she competed at London 2012 in the diving. Success came even earlier for Alicia, when at 13 she became England’s youngest ever double national champion. 

Competing on the big stage and being thrust into the limelight at such a young age is a difficult challenge, and while Alicia successfully dealt with the intense pressure at the time, on reflection she admits it took its toll mentally. So too did horrific injuries to her wrist and shoulder which ultimately forced Alicia into retirement earlier this month at just 23.

The nature of diving contributed to her mental struggles too; it is is a psychologically demanding sport, with such fine margins for error. Tom Daley is another diver who has spoken openly about his mental health after suffering from PTSD following the 2012 Olympic Games. 

It’s not just diving though and there is a huge mental health problem throughout sport. However, it is rare to find athletes willing to discuss their mental health, and so we are grateful to Alicia for being so open about her experiences in session #8, and we hope that the discussion will help other athletes who may be struggling.

Link in bio.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sport psychology is a developing field and it has come a long way since Marc began his career. Initially, Marc was met by scepticism; players and managers were reluctant to speak with a psychologist, but nowadays, more emphasis is placed on the mental side of sport and people like Marc are hired by elite professional sports teams across the world.

One of Marc’s most notable clients was Sven-Göran Eriksson, who enlisted Marc’s help in improving the mental state of his players at Manchester City, Leicester City and the England national team. In 2006, Marc received a call from Sven who asked him to advise his team on taking penalties at the World Cup in Germany. Marc was given just 48 hours to help the team psychologically prepare for a quarter-final against Portugal and ultimately, England lost the match in a shoot-out. Marc believes that, given more time, he could have improved the mental strength of that England team, and improve their chances of being successful at penalties.

In this session, Marc delves into other psychological obstacles in sport, and how he works with players to overcome them. He explains how the resumption of football, behind-closed-doors, provides several interesting psychological challenges for players and tells us what can be done to create the optimal mental state for an athlete.

We believe that the mental side of sport is incredibly important, and it doesn’t receive as much attention and coverage as it deserves, so we enjoyed speaking to someone with such expertise in this field, in session 7.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Too often, not enough attention is paid to the themes that ran beneath Maradona’s genius talent, contributing to his off-field demise. For our giveaway session, we invited on Jon Smith, Maradona's agent during his time in Naples, to divulge how the relationship between Maradona's genius-level talent and the Neapolitan Camorra, grew to become horribly dysfunctional. As Jon says, the answer may lie in the fact that there were two people: “there was Diego and there was Maradona.”⠀ ⠀ 

Jon’s powerful influence in helping to create the Premier League is something that is felt by football fans today and over the past two decades, having worked with Sky and Rupert Murdoch, Jon helped to enable the first true revolution of football. Jon's current view is that the most powerful man in football is now Mark Zuckerberg and in our giveaway with Jon, we are therefore able to chat to the man who played a part in football’s first revolution, about the next frontier to be pushed – the involvement of tech companies like Amazon and Google in football.⠀ ⠀ 

Jon's resume boasts a 25 year career that has seen him meet Donald Trump, deal with Vladimir Putin, and act on behalf of clients ranging from Ian Botham to Andrey Arshavin. Not surprisingly, it is a career that we’re incredibly happy to delve into in our most recent giveaway session.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In session #5,  Angus explains how football media has changed since he started, and what further innovations will be brought in as a result of the pandemic. Throughout his career, Angus has interviewed some of the sport’s biggest names, and more recently, on his BeIN Sport’s football show, Arsenal Wenger and Jose Mourinho are regular guests.  

Based in Qatar, BeIN Sports are one of the rising players in the football broadcast landscape. With a FIFA World Cup to be held in the country in just two years time, Qatar, and the Middle-East, has shown an increasing interest in sport in recent years, and Angus has been at the centre, presenting it all. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At 18, Kane found himself released from the Spurs academy and, like many in the game, it may have been all too easy to fall through the net and not go on to achieve the heights he has so far. A recent article in the Athletic highlighted the severity and impact that an academy release can have upon the lives of young footballers. Devonte Redmond for example, spent 13 years at Manchester United’s academy all to be notified by a tweet that he would no longer be a part of the club. As Redmond says, he was cast astray “with no real support network.”  

Luckily for Kane, the presence of a strong support network has always been there and in our giveaway session, he credits his family for always giving him incredible support. Along with his family, a key member of that network is good mate Harry Winks, the England and Tottenham Midfielder.  After a four year spell at Colchester United, Kane now finds himself at Ipswich Town, where the challenge of playing in front of big crowds and for a club with such an esteemed history is something he’s relishing. 

Before the pandemic, his formed earned him League One player of the Month in his first month, earning the respect of former players and fans alike. Kane has been using the time provided by lockdown to call local season ticket holders like 73-year-old John Hassey. Its Hassey’s analysis of Kane, describing him as “so grounded”, that adds further evidence against the argument that modern footballers are becoming increasingly disengaged from their clubs’ fans. Kane is therefore a sportsman in touch with so many more aspects of life aside from the sport and as a socially conscious footballer, with an interest in reading and music, and an ability to talk openly about mental health, he is deserving of all success.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few years however, we have seen athletes like Patrick Mahomes pay testament to an opposite type of sports upbringing – that of a ‘generalist.’ The theory is that playing multiple sports at a young age allows generalist athletes to discover what they do best and provides perfect preparation for specialisation later. ⠀

To help strengthen the debate, we invited on Fred Owsley who, by refusing to specialise early on, has gone on to achieve vast sporting success. Having represented Great Britain Athletics as one the fastest boys in Europe at u20 age group level, as well as playing hockey, football and decathlon to a representative level, Fred is a true generalist in a modern world that is so focused on achieving marginal gains through specialisation. Rugby has always been Fred’s true passion though and when the opportunity to focus solely on rugby and join his hometown club, Bristol Bears, arrived, he was never going to turn it down. We do understand Fred’s talent is so unique that it often defies external application, but there are undoubtedly useful conclusions that can be drawn from his sporting upbringing, as we explore in our giveaway with him. ⠀ 

We also discuss how important the influence of a sibling can be to achieve high-level performance. Fred’s sister, Lily Owsley, is one of the most talented athletes in the world, having reached national representative level in Football, Athletics and Hockey by the age of 16. It was hockey that she eventually chose to specialise in and 159 caps, a commonwealth silver and an Olympic gold medal later, it is clear that she’s another athlete that has reached elite performance through generalising early and specialising later.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The resultant collaboration, described by Nike Founder Phil Knight as “the perfect combination of quality product, marketing, and athlete endorsement”, set the blueprint for modern sports marketing – paving the way for the likes of Tiger Woods and David Beckham to sign endorsement deals in a way that had never been done before Michael Jordan.⠀ 

The Air Jordan Brand has gone on to change popular culture forever, all around the world. In the UK, admiration for the Jordan Brand is widely reflected in mainstream culture yet the actual sport of basketball, that the shoe stemms from, is not.   ⠀ 

To find out what can be done to capitalise on the UK's growing appetite for basketball, we spoke to Raphell Thomas-Edwards, who has represented Great Britain and England, as well as being an integral member of the Bristol Flyers, in the top-flight of British basketball.⠀ 

Raphell's performances for the GB age-group teams won him a scholarship to college in New York, where he played in NCAA Division One, competing at the same standard that Jordan would have done in his early days, an experience that he believes developed him into the player he is today. During the session, Raphell explains why the US college system is so effective at producing top level talent, and what he thinks the UK could learn from it, in order to tap into our own domestic talent pool.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cricket is as much psychological as it is physical, and to succeed in the sport you need to be mentally strong. James' mindset has received plaudits from players, fans and media all across the sport, and his coach, Richard Dawson, now England bowling coach, has been extremely praiseful of his mental strength. In particular, his ambition, and the self-belief to back it, are two qualities James clearly possesses. In our giveaway sessions, we’re trying to portray the mental side of the sport and so to talk to James about the sacrifices he’s made along the way, and how he remains able to work so hard, was a real pleasure. Ambition and self-belief are two of the most desirable qualities for a young sportsman to have and so to speak to a cricketer with these qualities in abundance, was a real pleasure.  

As proud Bristolians, we're pleased to see someone fly the flag for the city on an international stage. James is a proud Bristol boy and any suggestions that success may lead him to stray from his roots cannot be true – on the same day as the T20 Blast quarter-finals last year, James was at the Rovers' ground watching his team against Accrington Stanley. Being lined up as a potential candidate for an international side is a great honour and one that is thoroughly deserved. Like James, we’re very much looking forward to what these next couple of months bring. If a debut does not come this summer, it surely cannot be that far away.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We aim to get to the bottom of these important sporting issues and for each podcast we’ll enlist the help of a range of people, from athletes and agents, to broadcasters and psychologists, who will give their opinions and insight.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.