Ahead for the game

2023 has been an immense year for me. Personal and professional milestones are things that I have realised will come if we are patient and I have really noticed that this year.

I'll use this post to reflect on some of the opportunities that I have been presented with in the final quarter. There have been some challenges undoubtedly, but in the spirit of gratitude I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the W's that I have had in teaching, in my professional practice, in my private practice and some opportunities which came about spontaneously. These opportunities have not only taken me to places that I wouldn't have expected, but also given me experiences that I wouldn't have had with the support of my network.

There are far too many people to thank for facilitating this and giving me the opportunities individually, but they know who they are!

Here's to continual growth in 2024 🎉

In some ways, I’m preempting my New Year’s resolution. However, a really good habit I got into this year was making an effort to listen to one episode of a podcast per week.

This year has been fuelled to a large extent by Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes with The High Performance Podcast and Dan Abrahams with The Sport Psych Show.

What I’d like to do is extend my human performance playlist. So, if you have a podcast looking at the mental side of performance please feel free to recommend it below.

I’m going to aim to listen to 1 a week and offer a review of some description weekly too.

Please share and tag and hopefully I can get some real variety in my listening, all with the aim of developing better performers.

Have a Merry Christmas, try spend time with those who matter to you and re-fuel to have a great 2024 🎉

Extremely privileged to work with again.

Working with this age group can be so rewarding. Being able to see the lightbulb moment and enable them to leave the room with at least one thing learnt is the why 💡

A recent study showed that wearing barefoot shoes can increase foot strength by 60%.

Your feet are the foundation for movement. For everything above them to reach their strength potential your feet need to be strong and stable.

You don’t need your shoe rack littered with like mine is (although it probably will be once you’ve tried a pair) but getting a pair to walk in, go to the gym or a small run is a start.

Get yourself a pair and use LEWIS10 at checkout for a lovely 10% discount.

On Thursday night a group of brilliant like minded people got together for our first meeting (at the pub, where else would you flesh out ideas?) to set up the next spectacular adventure.

William, Kate and Derek were overlooking the laptop and maps, planning logistics.

and were nerding out over camera chat.

was sharing the knowledge gained from with who was bringing fresh fundraising ideas and inspiration.

and and Pheebs were discussing how they will have to continue to fix me - mentally and physically - along the way.

And Ben was importantly pouring the beer.

It’s a brilliant mix of people, some I’ve known for years and shared amazing experiences with, some I’ve met in the past six months that bring new knowledge and ideas. One thing we all share is a desire to create an adventure that does some good.

I’m grateful to everyone in that room for getting the ball rolling. Here we go!

With 2022 on the way out and 2023 pending, I’ve been really excited by the recent work that I’ve been asked to do.

I’ve shared some of the presentations and workshops that I have recently delivered or will soon be delivering.

It’s a really exciting time here at Ahead for the game and I’m entering 2023 with a real sense of excitement and purpose.

Thanks to all those who have trusted me in supporting their performance and wellbeing aspirations. I look forward to continuing to support people in this way 📈

Progress ⏳

Something exciting pending ⏳

A fantastic evening last night exploring life’s demands and how we can balance these with Bristol Bears Women centre of excellence squad 🐻

Whilst on youth pathways life tends to pull us in all directions while we are trying to figure out our purpose and identity. Being able to identify and manage these demands is essential not only for performance but wellbeing and self awareness too!

One happy man! 😁😁😁

Finally, after around 18 months of work, I have a printed copy of my book in my hand.

This has almost been as big a challenge as that which the book is about.

I hope those of you who pick up a copy enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed reliving such an epic part of my life.

If you do want to pre order a copy, use the link in the comments. It’ll arrive in plenty of time before Christmas.

I heard Ian Botham say this recently and rewound the program a number of times to really catch the essence of it.

For me, it highlights the importance of living in the present. It shows that getting too far ahead of ourselves can be problematic, and it highlights the importance of humility to accept that we don’t know everything, but we most definitely can learn to understand many things!

This is the beauty of our brains and the ability for them to absorb information 🧠 At the end of the day, it is a muscle and can be trained 💪🏼

Another quote from Amine Avad comes to mind and that is, “be humble enough to see your mistakes, courageous enough to admit them, and wise enough to correct them”

Some thoughts from captain 💭

Here he highlights the importance of engaging with mental skills from an early age. I took this from a recent article that was published which shared insights into his game 🏏

This is vital and is at the core of all the work that I do with 🧠

It’s great to see mental skills filtering down from the top in such a healthy and helpful way 👏🏼

Final day to sign up! We go live at 5pm UK time later today

Returning successfully to sport for young athletes We will uncover some of the why's and what's of lockdown and our pathway out of it.

Get involved and share 👇🏼

Returning successfully to sport for young athletes We will uncover some of the why's and what's of lockdown and our pathway out of it.

I am excited to present Ahead for the game's first independent webinar which will be hosted on April 14 at 5pm UK time with the support of Chels Maloney. It is targeted towards a Zimbabwean audience, but the take home messages will be transferrable to athletes, children and parents alike, regardless of location or country!

Any support in attending, sharing or even offering feedback is always appreciated!

Returning successfully to sport for young athletes We will uncover some of the why's and what's of lockdown and our pathway out of it.

Dom Bess recently highlighting the importance of having someone to “offload” to.

In the article that I took this from, he speaks at length about the support that sport psychologists can offer athletes.

From my perspective this isn’t just for top level athletes, this is something that athletes of all levels and ages can benefit from.

It highlights the opportunity to share the burden or at the very least the ability to park thoughts in a confidential space.

These are some of my thoughts, what are yours?

This week, it’s a quote on the experience and use of from (Dirk Nowitzki)! 🏀

This one resonates with me on so many levels. Much of my work is done with youth and adolescent athletes, as well as those who are just breaking through. This highlights from the perspective of someone who’s been through it, how he feels about it!

This doesn’t mean it’s only for younger athletes, it’s just a perspective highlighting the importance. In some sense, it’s never too early to seek support 🧠

6 sessions up for grabs in a raffle- get involved!

Sables Auction 2021 – Sables Rugby Network A live online auction that aims to raise funds for the Sables Trust. The fund raiser will not only provide the Sables some much needed financial support as the team continues to prepare for the World Cup Qualifies but it will also provide an opportunity for the Sables to leave there own legacy in su...

The first draft of is complete.

It has been a mammoth task to get here but at least it gave me something to do during lockdown!

Ready for an external proof read (trust me I’ve proof read it enough) and undoubtedly plenty of editing.

But, it is looking closer to a finished product.

Who might grab themselves a copy when it’s all said and done?