Welcome to the 3rd edition of the newsletter.
🎙Podcast: Andy McNab on Special Forces Performance
Andy McNab is perhaps the most recognisable name of any special forces operator in the world. Andy is best know for commanding an 8 man SAS patrol designated Bravo Two Zero in Iraq, which he wrote about in the book bearing the same name. The book tells of a mission that was compromised leading to three of the eight dying and four (including Andy being captured, held and tortured for 6 weeks).
I wanted to talk to Andy about his choices to join the military, what selection is like for special forces applicants and what qualities are selected for. And Andy as you’d expect tells it like it is. There is a clarity of understanding about what is required, how you undertake highly specialised manoeuvres and how you achieve high-performance under the intensity of combat.
This is an incredible insight to a truly elite world. You’ll hear all about;
- SAS selection (and how they don’t receive any feedback during the process)
- team behaviours that are valued (and examples of negative behaviours lead to immediate deselection)
- performing when it matters (and how the SAS require controlled aggression)
- Andy’s attitudes to life from a tough upbringing
- being a high functioning psychopath and how he uses emojis to help him read emotions
How did I get in contact with Andy McNab?
It was an honour to speak to Andy, but I didn’t know him directly. If I go back a few steps, it is a case of leaning into your network to find interesting people to talk to on the podcast. The chain of events was from former professional poker player, Casper Berry (who I met on a CPD event in 2013, who put me in touch with ex-Rugby player Harvey Thorneycroft, who asked me to speak at his Brilliant Minds Showcase in 2018, I spoke alongside Dr Kevin Dutton .
Kevin wrote ‘The good psychopaths guide’ with Andy, so I asked if he would put us in touch. These sort of approaches have approx less that 25% chance of coming off – this one did.
Enjoy the discussion
Subscribe on itunes and Youtube !
📃 Blog: Setbacks
Setbacks! Athlete injuries or illness – if you’re working in sport as a coach, sports scientist and definitely a physiotherapist or medic for long enough you will encounter it.
There are so many approaches, but one I read about from child psychology has always stuck with me by Christine Eiser 1990.
She identified 3 factors;
1) The degree to which the issue is life threatening or disruptive of daily routine
2) Understanding and attributions of causality
3) The supportiveness of the family and network
Social posts of the week: In praise of Sue Campbell from the Lionesses
BBC News: Laura Kuenssburg
England players pay tribute to their inspirational leader Dame Baroness Sue Campbell
Watch my interview with Sue on Youtube
Adam Kellett on Linkedin
Five Things That Nobody Told You About Performance Coaching in Sport.
Work opportunity
We’re looking for a digital marketing assistant. We’re looking to use our network first, before we try advertising, to ask if you know of someone with digital marketing skills, who you think would be great for us and is looking for a new opportunity to grow and developing with us, then ask them to drop us a line and make an enquiry .
In the community
(links below are for community members, click here to join )
📆 Upcoming Community Events
Next week we have two meet up events
- Wednesday 23rd November @ 7PM : Professional Sport vs. Olympic Sport: Same but Different – Strength & Conditioning Meet-up
- Thursday 24th November @ 7PM : Recovery Focus – Physiology & Nutrition Meet-up
🎥 Replay of the week
How to sharpen your needs analysis
You have to know what you’re aiming towards! You also have to find what your client needs most. Both of these statements should drive a lot of your initial interaction with your clients. How do you go about developing a great needs analysis? Find out in this workshop.
🏅Top threads
Emerging interest group on female athlete/player health and performance.
Thank you to those who joined today’s impromptu initial discussion around female athlete health. We will be creating a resource of information to help you support women in your work. Watch this space.
Not in the community yet? You can sign up for a course and get community access for free or sign up for the community directly. It’s £49.99 for lifetime access