Sports Thoughts: Recent Episodes
Wayne Goldsmith
With more than 25 years thinking about sport for a living, Wayne Goldsmith has a few more thoughts on Sport than most people.
He's worked with Olympic Gold medalists, Premiership Winning Teams, Highly Successful Coaches and traveled the world for more than a quarter of a century thinking and talking about sport.
Whether it's coaching coaches in the USA, educating sporting parents in the UK, inspiring athletes in Australia or speaking at a sporting conference in New Zealand, Wayne's Sports Thoughts carry with them the practical, real-world, first hand experience of working in the sports industry across the globe.
Each episode on Sports Thoughts features ideas, information and inspirations drawn from Wayne's long and illustrious career in sport. He talks with the credibility and confidence of someone who's experienced all that sport has to offer and the commitment and passion to share everything he's learnt with his listeners.
Everyone has Sports Thoughts....the Cab Driver telling you what's wrong with Football, your best friend arguing with you about the umpiring decision in the big game, your neighbor talking golf swings with you across the back fence, your workmate debating who's the best basketball player of all time....everyone's got Sports Thoughts.
If you love Thinking about Sport - then think Sports Thoughts.
Podcast theme music supplied courtesy tunereel.com
Coaching Energy – How To Feeling Energized In Your Coaching If you’ve ever coached you will “get” the concept of “Coaching Energy”. Coaching Energy is the combination of energy in training and practice sessions that comes from: The Coach; The Athletes. The combined “energy” of the coach and the athletes […]
The Real Role Of Sporting Parents – Being The Sporting Parents Your Kids Really Need You To Be. Having delivered hundreds of sporting parents seminars all over the world, I am often asked, “What is the real role of sporting parents? Is it to merely pay sporting registration fees and […]
Athlete Empowerment Under The Microscope – Myths And Misunderstandings Of Coaching Empowerment. The world of sports coaching – like most areas of human endeavour – is full of trends, fads, jargon, gizmos and gimmicks. Every so often there’s another “revolutionary” new direction in coaching, sports science, athlete development and sports […]
Choosing Your Coaching Path – Trends in Coaching The world is changing. People are looking for more from their lives, their workplaces, their “faith” – whatever that faith maybe – and of course – they’re looking for more from their experience of sport. As coaches are the primary deliverers of […]
Whole Coaching Practice. Let’s discuss the real importance of Whole Coaching and investigate some of the ways that you can incorporate the concept of Whole Coaching into your program. This is part two of my special short series on Whole Coaching. In part one, I talked about what Whole Coaching […]
Whole coaching simply means coaching the whole athlete having an holistic, broad, whole of life, whole of family, whole of environment, approach to the way we connect with, engage and inspire the hearts and minds of athletes. It asks some core questions of our coaching: How do we build relationships […]
One of the most common sayings in sport is: “There’s no I in team”. The saying is supposed to convey the belief that the strength of any team is the team itself – i.e. unity, people working together, selflessness etc. On a certain level that’s true. Many High Performing Teams […]
The Sports Industry around the world follows some very predictable and very common policies, patterns and practices. If you spend a moment or two thinking about these policies, patterns and practices, you’ll be able to understand why sporting organizations, sports clubs and sports leaders do what they do they way […]
Eight Essential Coaching Skills for Every Coach Coaching is a lifelong commitment to learning, to growing and to inspiring change in other people. It is both an art and a science. It is the art of inspiring change through emotional connection. The question is, how do you become a coach […]
Five Questions To Ask Yourself – Towards a Coaching Philosophy Coaches ask a lot of questions. Coaches are always looking for answers. Perhaps the most important questions a coach can ask are those which are directed inwards – those which will help you discover the reasons why you coach and […]
A Lifetime of Lessons – 30 years of Successes, Failures and Learning. I’ve been involved in the sports industry for over half of my life. It’s been 30 years of successes, failures and learning and even though at times the frustrations have overwhelmed the fun, it’s been a pretty good […]
Startup Sports – Starting Again – and Getting it Right the Second Time Around the world, many sporting organizations are experiencing significant declines in participation. Rugby in New Zealand. Swimming in Australia. Football in England. Even BEFORE Covid-19, there was a global decline in the number of kids training for […]
Continuous Improvement – Living a Learning Life. Every day – aim to get just a little better. Find one thing – just one thing – and strive to learn how to improve it at every coaching session. Continuous improvement is the very essence of life: to learn, to grow, to […]
Greatness is something most people involved in high performance sport aspire to: the ambition to achieve something remarkable and to become something more than they are. However, greatness does not work like that. You become great by thinking, saying and most importantly doing things that lead you to the achievement […]
One of the most common requests I receive is to conduct end of season Performance Reviews. A Performance Review is ostensibly very simple and straight forward. You interview the coaches. You interview the players. You interview the staff and management. You pull together all the data and notes you’ve collected […]
What if I told you everything you thought you knew about Periodization was wrong? What if your unbreakable beliefs in one-week Microcycles, four-week Macrocycles and three month long training Phases as the cornerstones of planning training programs was probably holding you – and your athletes – back from realizing your […]
Creativity And Innovation In Coaching By Wayne Goldsmith Ideas are easy to find. Information is everywhere. Anyone, can get anything, anytime, anywhere and usually for free. You have access to more ideas and information than any coach in your sport at any time in history. Everyone knows what you know! […]
There is no doubt that sports science has made a significant contribution to the development of sport around the world at every level. However, as it is with every industry and in every walk of life, there’s a need for sports science to be committed to honest self-reflection, continuous self-improvement […]
Coaching Life Skills – Using Your Coaching Skills In Life By Wayne Goldsmith Coaching as a profession and an art form is a multifaceted activity which involves the development of a broad range of skills and capabilities. Every day during training and practice, coaches routinely demonstrate skills which are directly […]
Coaching and Covid19. By Wayne Goldsmith Coaching is the art of inspiring change through emotional connection….read that last word again…CONNECTION. Covid19 has presented coaches with many difficult and seemingly overwhelming challenges none the least being trying to figure out how to connect with, engage and inspire athletes without being physically […]
Over the past 25 years I’ve been asked to work with sporting organizations all over the world and help them build and grow a successful sporting culture. And no matter how many times I do it, I am stunned at the lack of understanding of what a sporting culture actually […]
Holistic Coaching – Coaching the Whole Athlete. For the most part, coaching is focused almost exclusively on the physiological development of athletes. It’s easy for coaches to be centered on the physiological aspects of athlete development as they can be seen, be measured, be counted, be observed. Yet, human beings are […]
Sporting Parents. Sporting parents are the key to sporting success. They teach values. They help to build and grow virtues. They foster and nurture character. Sporting parents teach important life lessons: lessons about responsibility, about accountability, about honesty and respect and integrity and humility. Sporting parents working in partnership with […]
Perform the Skill. This is the first, and unfortunately for most athletes, the last step in their skills learning program. Coaches come up with a drill, athletes copy it, try it, learn it. Sports Skills Step 2: Perform the Skill very well. Skills mastery comes from regular practice combined with […]
10 Habits Of Great Coaches – Living Excellence All great coaches have learned lessons, tricks of the trade, habits of excellence which they know can turn misery into mastery, struggles into success, and woes into winning. Saying something as simple as “well done” the right way at the right time […]
Modified Sports Are A Waste of Time In an effort to turn around the disastrous falls in sports participation around the world, many sporting organizations have resorted to creating new, shorter, faster modified sports hoping to re-capture the imagination and loyalty of kids, fans and families. These modified versions of […]
High Performing Teams – Getting to the Top and Staying There. Many people claim to understand high performance yet it is an attitude – a lifestyle – a way of thinking it is very rare. One of the key elements of a high performing team is a commitment to continuous […]
Sport Leadership Lessons – Leading Sport. Lots of people talk about Leadership in sport. But leadership is so much more than just being the CEO or Board Chairperson. In this Episode of Sports Thoughts we look at how leadership works in practice in sport. Wayne presents his experiences working in […]
Sport Has to Change and Here’s How to Change It. There is no doubt sport around the world has to change. It is irrefutable that the number of kids playing traditional forms of organized competitive sport has not just fallen, in some sports it’s totally collapsed. In response, sporting organizations […]
In this episode Wayne looks at the power of the mind in sport and how athletes and coaches can use their mental game as a tool – as a weapon – against their competition.
In this Sports Thoughts episode, Wayne looks at the heat and environmental challenges of the Australian Open Tennis Tournament plus discusses the issues of early specialization in sport.
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about the famous idea – “the one percenters”. What is a one percenter? Everyone talks about it – but what does it look like? Is a one-percenter really something that makes ONE PERCENT difference? Can a one-percenter […]
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) looks at sleep and how much emphasis it has been given in recent years by sporting bodies and professional clubs – with some now incorporating designated “sleep chambers” for athletes to rest during the day.
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) talks about the position athletes hold in society and whether they should have as much influence as they do – and how they should act as a result.
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about the archetypal athlete body which has been moving more and more towards being bigger and stronger. What impact does this have on certain sports, and what does it mean for the future of competition and […]
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about sporting organisations putting emphasis on the highest tier of competition. What that means for the growth and development of the particular sport, and whether or not it’s a good model to follow. Originally broadcast […]
With Steven Hansen leaving the All Blacks after the 2019 Rugby World Cup, is someone within the system like Ian Foster the best man to take over, or should the NZR look for something fresh? Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about […]
Wayne Goldsmith joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about athlete welfare in the face of rabid desire for commercial revenue – with particular reference to the current World Athletics Championships in Doha where athletes are competing in sweltering conditions and empty stadiums. Originally broadcast on Radio […]
Sport and Pressure Wayne joins Miles Davis on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about pressure and how athletes can thrive (or crumble) with it – with a particular focus on the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
Criticism of the Australian Cricket team’s celebrations following their win in the Ashes, as well as the upcoming NRL finals. We talk about the end of season “Mad-Mondays” and other celebrations in professional sport, we briefly discuss the FIBA World Cup and we talk about the upcoming NRL finals series […]
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about NZ Sport and the five main sporting bodies campaign to attack the decline in kids participation in sport within New Zealand. Wayne thinks while the decision is great, it shouldn’t be hailed as a revolutionary, […]
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about end-of-season prize giving and how to acknowledge kids without annoying parents and other children. Wayne also talks about the challenges that come with coaching your own child’s sports team and some techniques you can put […]
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about how to get the most out of social sport. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about talented athletes who lose their way, or let the limelight get in the way of their sporting career – with particularly reference to James O’Connor. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. […]
Wayne Goldsmith joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about Australian cricketer Steve Smith’s redemption following his two centuries in the opening game of the Ashes. He also talks about the All Blacks v Wallabies match this weekend and the mindset of NRL clubs who are out of […]
Wayne Goldsmith joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about eSports and the decline of kids participating in traditional sports. With the winner of the Fortnite World Cup pocketing US$3 million over the weekend, will more kids choose to ditch the active sports, for a life of professional […]
Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) joins Jason Pine on Radio Sport Mornings to talk about the aftermath of the Cricket World Cup Final. What sort of mental scarring will the Blackcaps suffer from such a close defeat? How can they move on and centre their focus back to winning ways […]
This week’s Wayne’s World show looks at dealing with defeat. I’ve known some remarkable athletes who narrowly missed out on Olympic medal & even 10, 20 years later look back at their entire athletic career as a “failure” because of that one race loss. I’ve talked to many professional sport […]
We look at the bad side – the issue of sideline abuse of referees, umpires, touch-judges and other officials and the upside – the potential for officials to see their role as much about education and sport development as it is about rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Originally broadcast on […]
Not so long ago this only meant physical violence on the field between opposing players – but increasingly Violence in Sport can relate to off-field behaviors and words – of players, coaches, fans, media, officials and others. For example, if you go to an AFL, NRL, A-League match these days […]
Renowned coaching professional Wayne Goldsmith chats with Radio Sport’s Jason Pine about the Cricket World Cup – including Steve Smith and David Warner being boo’d by fans, rain days, and whether or not it’s worth “holding things back” for the later parts of a tournament. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport […]
Wayne Goldsmith shares his thoughts with Jason Pine on the topic of kids playing too much sport and getting injured. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
Sport is a big part of our national identity, and that’s reflected in sport participation rates for kids in New Zealand. It hovers around 90% and that makes us the envy of the world. But 70% of kids who participate in sport drop out between the ages of 13 and […]
Calling in from his UK /Ireland tour enroute to Devon in the deep South West of England. This week, Wayne talks about what he learnt while spending time with England’s FA and the Irish Rugby Union. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
Calling in this episode from Dublin, Ireland following his workshop with 200 coaches at the Sport Ireland conference. This week,Wayne talks about the holistic approach to training and coaching, highlighting the importance of mental and emotional training as well as the physical. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport […]
Wayne talks about the position the Warriors find themselves in – having two young halves fighting for the starting spot. How do you manage players who want to be on the starting roster, with the needs of the team and ultimately development? Do the Warriors need to make a decision […]
Wayne talks ‘peaking’ in sport and whether or not there is any scientific evidence to suggest that teams can peak at any given point during a season. Are coaches able to schedule a team to peak at a certain point, or is it just a matter of playing as hard […]
Wayne talks about “round ones” in sporting competitions. How much teams can learn from “one game” and how fans and media need to resist the urge to label a team’s season after just one round. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
What can coaches do to make sure teams are successful in away games ? Originally broadcast on Sports Breakfast with Kris Klifunis, Wayne Clark on 91.3 SportFM Perth.
This week, Wayne talks about the difficulties netball faces as a sport and also the issues facing those who play sport in remote areas. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
This week, Wayne takes calls and texts from listeners on coaching and sport. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
This week, Wayne talks through the biggest challenges facing rugby and why the sport needs radical change – referencing an article penned by coaching mastermind Wayne Smith. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
This week, Wayne talks about the importance of coaches looking at character before natural talent when recruiting players. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
This week, Wayne talks about “round ones” in sporting competitions. How much teams can learn from “one game” and how fans and media need to resist the urge to label a team’s season after just one round. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
Sporting Parents Tips. Sporting parents are critical to help every child realize their full potential as athletes and as human beings. This episode discusses the 5 Es of Sports Parenting: ENJOYMENT ENCOURAGEMENT EXPERIENCE EMPATHY EVERYONE Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
Business Coach – Sports Coach. Business Coaching is a growth industry in many parts of the world. Increasingly the business world is turning to sport and looking at how coaches work in the sports industry. This episode discusses the similarities between the business world and the sports industry and investigates […]
Building A Winning Team. One of the great skills of sports leaders need to develop is that of List or Roster management. This show discusses the concept of List Management and how professional teams go about finding, building and growing sustainably successful teams. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio […]
Competitive Sport is Dying. How do you make sport more appealing to kids in that age range? How do you coach them? How do you change competitions to make them more engaging and exciting for kids 6-12? This week, renowned coaching professional Wayne Goldsmith talks about the biggest challenge facing […]
Sport on the Road. Wayne Goldsmith (renowned coaching professional) talks about professional teams on tour – chatting about winning and losing on tour, unique challenges like dealing with hostile media, different climates, travel, and living together in close quarters. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by […]
Sport: The Buck Stops with….. Modern sporting teams have a cast of thousands…………managers, sports scientists, medical staff, researchers, analysis experts, strength and conditioning professionals, Board members, media teams, marketing and advertising staff….it takes a lot of people to make sport happen. However, when it comes down to it, it is […]
The Pitfalls of Punishing Potential. Renowned coaching professional Wayne Goldsmith talks about punishing athletes for not performing, and offers some different ways to change their attitude and mindset. Originally broadcast on Radio Sport Mornings, Radio Sport NZ. Presented by Jason Pine.
Gaining and Retaining Coaches. Renowned coaching professional Wayne Goldsmith talks all about coaches and how professional clubs go about selecting the right coach, or ditching them! Why do coaches change clubs (or why not), why do some coaches succeed in some clubs and not others, the “100 days” rule, and […]
Playing Through the Pain: Drugs are for Mugs. Renowned coaching professional Wayne Goldsmith talks about playing through pain, as well as the use of painkillers in professional sport. Is it heroic? Are painkillers just another form of performance enhancing drugs? Also talking through the long-term risks and letting young athletes […]