A stragetic and tactical talent management perspective: The viable athlete
I’ve just returned from a month-long trip to the USA and UK, where I gave a talk (in various guises) called “The Talent Equilibrium”, my take on the strategic and scientific approaches to talent...
View ArticleThe 2-hour marathon and the 4-min mile
In the last month or so, I’ve been involved in some lively debate about the prospects of the sub-2 hour marathon within five years. At issue is not whether it will happen some day, because it would...
View Article2014 Wrap Part 1: Week by week musings
Let’s wrap up 2014 with a two-part series covering some of the big stories of 2014. As usual, it feels as though the science aspect of sport was dominated by doping accusations, explanations and...
View Article2014 Wrap Part 2: The science of sport review
This is the second part of my 2014 review – the first was a “diary” of sorts, made up of weekly articles that I write for a South African national newspaper, The Times. Those articles, because of...
View Article2015 Genie: Three wishes for the year
This was originally a post I threw onto Facebook in a hurry yesterday afternoon, but it seemed to get some traction, so I’m repeating it, with a few expansions here. It is my wishlist for 2015 – none...
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A career change and high performance organizations: The good, the bad & the ugly
As I posted the other day, I’ve just finished my first (of presumably/hopefully many) stint in Dublin, working for World Rugby in a career change. I resigned from the University of Cape Town at the...
View ArticleThe Science of Sport: Now taking your research, and sending it to the “user”
Earlier today I read a really interesting article discussing what can only be described as the total anonymity of scientific ideas when published in journals. It explained that on average, a...
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The Gatlin dilemma
A version of this article appeared in The Times Newspaper on May 18th, 2015 But I’m not a man like that. I’m not the kind of guy to cheat people of their money or let the fans down… that’s not what I...
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A no-good week for doping in sport
It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for doping in sport, with a one-two punch delivered in the form of the Nike Oregon Project allegations, and then the UCI/WADA suspension of the...
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Paula Radcliffe, off-scores and transparency
Another week, another doping story, and this one is a big one. You surely haven’t missed it, and by now you know that in response to a British parliamentary hearing, Paula Radcliffe issued a...
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Denial plus shock, divided by the tip of the iceberg. A recipe for mistrust
The WADA report into the IAAF’s alleged doping cover-ups came out yesterday, and Twitter was rocking. So many journalists and commenters wrote excellent summaries and opinion pieces (there’s a list...
View ArticleIAAF to-do list: Invite in, step aside & break the orbit
The core issue about trust and the IAAF is this: When reality knocked on the door in the form of the German documentary and other investigative pieces (not to mention the glaringly obvious realities...
View ArticleInterview with Renee Anne Shirley
It was a week ago that a fuse was lit on the latest doping crisis, when the WADA-mandated Independent Commission (IC) released their report on their investigation into Russian doping and corruption....
View ArticleThe Talent Series: Strategy, tactics and then science
Let’s try something new…sorry for the dungeon look, it’s done in transit. Here is the presentation that I gave to the English FA and the English RFU over the last week. Well, it’s an extended...
View ArticleTalent ID Video series: #1 – fundamental concept and definition
Hello everyone, and happy new year! I hope that whatever your profession or goals, you will have a successful, high-performing and victorious year! I’m kicking off the year with the first part of my...
View ArticleTalent ID & Management Series, Part 2: Accepted inefficiencies
Welcome to Part 2 of the Talent ID & Management series. As you may recall from Part 1, I am talking you through a presentation I have given to English FA and English Rugby in recent months, on...
View ArticleTalent ID & Management Part 3: Imperfect tools & sensible science
Here is part 3 of my ongoing Talent ID and management series. If you missed the first two instalments, you can view them at the following links: The strategic and tactical fundamentals of Talent –...
View ArticleTalent ID & Management: The 10,000 hour “rule” and talent
Welcome back to my ongoing video series on talent ID and management. Today is Part 4, but you can get up to speed with the previous instalments at the following links: The strategic and tactical...
View ArticleTalent ID & Management Part 5: Early vs Late Specialisation?
Yesterday I posted a video in my Talent ID and management series in which I introduced the concept of the 10,000 hour rule, and I explained how some of the foundational work in that area didn’t...
View ArticleRenee Anne Shirley: The two sides of Richard Pound
Renée Anne Shirley is an anti-doping advocate and management consultant who will be well-known to those of you who have followed her insights on Twitter over the last few months. She previously...
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