Archive | 2015

Wee Chat with Brian “Iron Ed” Hiner – retired Lieutenant Commander Navy SEAL

In this Wee Chat retired Lieutenant Commander Navy SEAL, Brian “Iron Ed” Hiner, talks about his life as a Navy SEAL, as a leader of SEAL basic and advanced training and how the principles he learned in this environment helped him be resilient and a leader. He is passionate about helping others and now offers up this vast experience base as a coach and consultant specializing in leadership, team building, mental toughness, resiliency and personal conflict resolution. His book First, Fast, Fearless: How to Lead Like a Navy SEAL is currently on the LA Times bestseller and describes not only what Navy SEALs go through in training, and during deployment, it also goes through how we can learn from these experiences for resilience and leadership. Enjoy this Wee Chat with this inspiring man.

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Wee Chat with J.J. Hanrahan – young elite rugby player

For those of you who are interested in elite rugby and/or learning more about pre-performance routines, in this Wee Chat J.J. Hanrahan describes in great detail what he uses for his kicking routine and how mental preparation and working with a sport psychologist has worked for him. J.J. has played successfully for Munster in Ireland for several years and in 2015 was signed to play for the top English club, Northampton Saints. Check out this Wee Chat and his great Irish accent while we drink tea in Limerick University in Ireland.

(For the interview click on the picture or visit http://weechats.com/brilliant-people/j-j-hanrahan-young-elite-rugby-player )

Wee Chat with Brad Gilbert – elite tennis coach, analyst and commentator

In this Wee Chat, I ask top tennis coach and analyst Brad Gilbert about the mental aspects of tennis, he also talks about how his ‘Winning Ugly’ book came about, what he thinks about preparation for big events and matches and how he has got players like Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray ready to face “every other day” at a grand slam event. He even talks about one of his pet peeves which is the attitude of the English to sports and he gives his thoughts on English football (soccer)! He finishes with a nod to his beloved Golden State Warriors who recently won the NBA title.
This was one of the most fun interviews to do, not just because of my love of tennis but also because of the antics of his dogs having much fun in the background!

(For the interview click on the picture or visit http://weechats.com/brilliant-people/brad-gilbert-elite-tennis-coach-analyst-and-commentator )

Wee Chat with Dick Gould – Stanford tennis coaching legend – Part 2

In part 2 of this Wee Chat, Dick Gould talks about how working with the players at Stanford was interesting because they were so different to each other. He talks about how he perceives the difference with those players who went on to be some of the best in the world, like John McEnroe and the Bryan brothers. As a Brit myself, I also asked him what he thinks about Andy Murray’s game!

(For the interview click on the picture or visit http://weechats.com/brilliant-people/dick-gould-stanford-tennis-coaching-legend/ )

Wee Chat with Dick Gould – Stanford tennis coaching legend – Part 1

In part 1 of this Wee Chat, Dick Gould (the Stanford University tennis coaching legend) talks about his background in tennis coaching, how he learned to be a great coach and how sport psychology can help tennis players and business people.

(For the interview click on the picture or visit http://weechats.com/brilliant-people/dick-gould-stanford-tennis-coaching-legend/ )

Wee Chat with Paul Goldstein, Stanford coach-former pro tennis player

In this Wee Chat, Paul describes what mental preparation is to him, the mental training strategies he used as a player and what he wishes he used more as a player. He describes how he has now adapted to the intense world of being Head Coach of a top college tennis team after life on the pro tour and working in the corporate world. He gives advice for budding coaches.

http://weechats.com/brilliant-people/wee-chat-with-paul-goldstein

Wee Chat with Tess Henley, singer-songwriter

In this Wee Chat, the fabulous Tess Henley, singer-songwriter, describes her vibe, how much of her performances are mental games and how she mentally prepares for concerts; how she deals with nerves, how she focuses, plus the importance of social support in her life, and what soul really means to her.

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Soul singer-songwriter Tess Henley began Suzuki piano training at age three, and by age five was dissecting harmonies that even her mother – a singer by trade – found difficult. Multi-Grammy winning producer Don Was (Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Bonnie Raitt) recently selected Henley from over 10,000 performers as the winner of Guitar Center’s National Artist Discovery Program.

“She’s unlike any artist that’s out there now, a world class singer with a true gift” says Was. Billboard describes her music as a classy brand of soulful R&B that could hold up in any era of Was’ storied career.

Was produced Henley’s latest EP, “Wonderland”, tracked at Hollywood’s Henson Recording Studios (birthplace of celebrated projects like Carole King’s Tapestry and Joni Mitchell’s Blue). Acclaimed musicians included drummer James Gadson (Beck, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers), James Hutchinson on bass (Bonnie Raitt, BB King), guitarist Mark Goldenberg (Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt), Mike Finnigan on Hammond Organ (Jimi Hendrix, Michael McDonald), percussionist Michito Sanchez (Train, Aretha Franklin), string arranger Davide Rossi (Ed Sheeran, Coldplay) and Henley on keyboards, vocals and background vocals.

As Was describes the project, “Sometimes magic just happens, you can’t really legislate that. There’s no producer in the world who can make that happen. All you can do is try to set up a situation where if lightning strikes the room, you’ve got the tape rolling. And lightning struck. It was a really charmed session, and Tess was amazing, didn’t miss a note all day.”

Henley honed her live performance by opening for folks like Jill Scott and Anthony Hamilton, while continuing to build her profile as a songwriter. She got to display those skills during her first national television performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in February where she performed a pair of songs from her EP, “Wonderland.” Henley’s songs have won over $100,000 in awards and honors over the last few years.* Henley recently wrapped an 18-city US/Canadian tour and will kick off her summer tour with Eric Hutchinson on July 22nd. (For tour information visit www.tesshenley.com).

To follow Tess on social media, go to www.facebook.com/tesshenleymusic and https://twitter.com/tesshenley

*Independent Music Awards (Best R&B Song for Boy In The Window, Best Pop Song for Daydreaming), the John Lennon International Songwriting Competition, Show Me The Music Songwriting Contest (Grand Prize for Who Are You), and Guitar Center’s Singer-Songwriter III Grand Prize Winner for GoingBack.

Wee Chat with Wayne Ferreira – Tennis legend

Wayne Ferreira was ranked in the ATP’s top 15 tennis players of the world for over ten years with a highest ranking of six. He has multiple wins over Roger Federer (one of few players with a positive record against Roger), Pete Sampras, and John McEnroe; 26 career single titles; and a silver medal for South Africa from the Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Ferreira is second (to Roger Federer’s record) for the most consecutive Grand Slam tournament appearances in men’s tennis. He participated in 56 consecutive Grand Slams between the 1991 Australian Open and the 2004 US Open. Ferreira’s best Grand Slam results came at the Australian Open – where he reached the semi-finals twice in 1992 and 2003.

During his career, Ferreira won 15 top-level singles titles and 11 doubles titles. His career-high rankings were world no. 6 in singles (in May 1995) and world no. 9 in doubles (in March 2001).

Ferreira retired from the professional tour in 2005, and still plays on the Outback Champions Series senior tour. Ferreira is currently president and CEO of EcoloBlue, Life and Energy, an environmental and renewable resources corporation based in Miami, Florida and Lafayette, California.

He is also enjoying commentating on the events at Wimbledon for @LiveatWimbledon radio.

For the interview click on the picture or visit http://weechats.com/brilliant-people/wayne-ferreira-tennis-legend/

#tennis #Wimbledon #weechats #mentalskills #sportpsychology #LiveatWimbledon

Wee Chat with Adonal Foyle, NBA veteran, author and activist

Photo of Adonal Foyle

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Adonal Foyle is a retired NBA veteran player with a total of 13 NBA seasons under his belt. Foyle played three seasons with the Orlando Magic (2007-2010), and before that, spent a decade with the newly crowned 2015 NBA champions Golden State Warriors, where he began his career as the NBA’s eighth overall draft pick. Adonal now works as a Community Ambassador for the Golden State Warriors. Foyle holds the Warriors’ all-time record in blocked shots (1,140) and is fifth on their all-time list for offensive rebounds and sixth for defensive rebounds. After retiring in 2010, he served the Orlando Magic as the Director of Player Development for two NBA seasons. He is the Founder and President of two youth-related nonprofit organizations (Democracy Matters and Kerosene Lamp Foundation). Foyle has a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology from JFK University and works as a Mental Training Consultant in Pick & Foyle Consulting. In addition, Adonal is an author, having written children’s books (Too Tall Foyle) and his new book “Winning the Money Game: Lessons Learned from the Financial Fouls of Pro Athletes” is out June 23 2015.

Adonal Foyle was born and raised in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Eastern Caribbean. He only began playing basketball at the age of 15, and his raw talent captured the attention of two college professors who helped him to use his basketball skills to get an education. At the age of 16 Foyle left his island home to attend high school in the USA. After a brief stint at Cardinal O’Hara high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Adonal went on to live in Hamilton, New York with the two professors, Jay and Joan Mandle, whom he grew to love as his own family. He attended Hamilton Central High School where he led the basketball team to win their first state championship. There he received such honors as McDonald’s High School All-America and third team USA Today All-America.

Despite being recruited by all the top basketball colleges, Adonal Foyle made the unorthodox decision to attend Colgate University, a small liberal arts college in upstate New York. In his statement to the press, he explained that he wanted the opportunity to learn the principles of the game in a slower-paced setting, where the coach would be able to give him the attention he desired. Foyle also wanted to leave college with a strong academic grounding, and felt that this would be harder to accomplish at a school where you were a basketball player first and a student last. At Colgate, Foyle averaged 20.4 points, 12.7 rebounds and 5.66 blocks a game in his three-year college career (he left Colgate after his junior year in 1997). He also set an NCAA record with 492 career blocks which was only broken in 2002. Although Foyle left Colgate early to join the NBA, he maintained his commitment to education and graduated magna cum laude in 1999. Foyle has a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology from JFK University that he completed whilst an NBA player.

Adonal Foyle is widely respected by his peers and fans as one of the most intelligent players in the NBA and a real renaissance man. He is an activist with a deep commitment to improving the society in which he finds himself. Foyle makes numerous community service visits and founded two non-profit organizations: Democracy Matters, a non-partisan campus-based project working to get big money out of politics and people in; and Kerosene Lamp Foundation which uses basketball to empower at-risk youth to grow into healthy and well-educated adults. A host of organizations have honored his philanthropic efforts including the NBA, the NBA Players Association, the Mayor of Orlando and Sporting News. Most recently, he was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame and COSIDA’s Academic All-America Hall of Fame, and named Runner Up Central Floridian of the Year (2010) by the Orlando Sentinel. Adonal also serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the National Basketball Retired Players Association – Orlando Chapter.

You can follow Adonal on Twitter: @afoyle3131 Instagram: @afoyle3131 Facebook: @foylesforum or via his website: adonalfoyle.com

Wee Chat with Dr Barry Cripps, Sport Psychologist

This week’s new episode features Dr Barry Cripps. Alison’s mentor discusses key aspects of mental prep that are crucial for him.

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Dr Barry Cripps, CPsychol, CSci, FBPsS

Having spent his early career in Hampton School, RAF and Loughborough University, Barry undertook a doctorate in the Social Psychology of Sport, focusing his research on Team Interaction in Professional Soccer. Career moves followed into the BPS/DOP and the role of Director of Training for a test publisher. Barry has had a portfolio career focusing on individual, team and organisational work in industry and sport. Among the clients who have engaged Barry as a Psychologist are the CIPD, Cranfield Exec MBA, The Met Office and British Olympic Association.

Barry is a Founder Member of the British Psychological society (BPS) Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology. He was Winner of the Distinguished Contribution to the field of Sport and Exercise Psychology Award presented at the Inaugural Conference of the DSEP, December 2008. He has lectured in psychology and business with the Open University, the University of Plymouth, Exeter University, and Visiting Professor at the University of Commerce, Tianjin, China. Barry serves as an External Examiner in Business Psychology. Barry is Newsletter editor of the South West Branch, South West Review. He is particularly interested in personality, assessment, psychometrics, clinical hypnosis, positive and sport psychology; he has produced two books and is co-author of the personality questionnaire, Eysenck, Cripps & Cook Occupational Scales. His Consultancy is based in Exeter, Devon, England.

Barry was Alison’s primary supervisor for her applied work in sport psychology during her studies. He introduced her to elite archery, guided her closely in all aspects of the field and played a pivotal role in her growth as a young professional. She is deeply grateful for all his inspirational wisdom and all the hours spent at Lilleshall and hours of walking supervision through gorgeous Devon!

You can find more information about Dr Barry Cripps here: http://www.performance-psychology.com/