I’m delighted to speak with Dr Jim Taylor this week. Jim is an internationally recognised authority on the psychology of performance, sport, and parenting. Jim has worked with professional, Olympic, collegiate, and junior-elite athletes in skiing, cycling, triathlon, tennis, track and field, swimming, football, golf, baseball, and many other sports.

Jim received his Bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and earned his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Colorado. He is a former Associate professor in the School of Psychology at Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale and a former Clinical Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver.

Jim has been a consultant for the United States and Japanese Ski Teams, the United States Tennis Association, and USA Triathlon, and has worked with professional and world-class athletes in multiple sports. He has been invited to lecture by the Olympic Committees of Spain, France, Poland, and the U.S., and has consulted with the Athletic Departments at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Jim has published more than 1000 articles in scholarly and popular publications, and has given more than 1000 workshops and presentations throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. He is the author of 19 books and the co-editor of five textbooks. His books have been translated into 10 languages.

A former world-ranked alpine ski racer, Jim is also a 2nd degree black belt, certified instructor, and tournament fighter in karate, marathon runner, Ironman triathlete, 2x national triathlon champion, and 3x World Championships medallist.

I’m delighted to speak with Dr Derek Panchuk this week. Derek is a skill acquisition specialist with over 15 years experience working with coaches across sport, including: the NBA, G-League, a wide-range of National Sporting Organisations, regional and community level organisations, and clubs. Derek helps coaches and leaders build bridges between the science of learning and art of coaching so they can discover new ways to grow talent and build teams.

Derek completed his MSc in Motor Control and his PhD in Neuromotor Control at The University of Calgary. After completing his studies, Derek moved to Australia and was the first ever National Lead for skill acquisition at the Australian Institute of Sport. Here he worked closely with coaches to design individualised learning environments that aligned with their coaching philosophies and goals.

Derek now consults, working closely with coaches to transform how they coach and develop players. He uses an individualised approach to coach development grounded in the science of skill learning that helps coaches discover their strengths and uncover new opportunities so they can improve buy-in and have a big impact with their players.

I’m delighted to speak with performance coach and scientist, Dr Mehdi Kordi this week. Mehdi began his career in biomedical science before moving into aerospace physiology. His first position in high performance sport was as a sports scientist for British Cycling before moving into coaching role with the GB Para Cycling Team.

In 2018 Mehdi joined the KNWU – The Dutch National Cycling Union – initially as coach and scientist for the Track Sprint Team, and then as Track Coach for the Endurance Team. In 2022 he became the Head Coach for KNWU. During this time both the men’s and the women’s teams enjoyed unprecedented success in major cycling competitions including the Olympic games.

Mehdi has a PhD from The University of Northumbria in Sport and Exercise Physiology.

Mehdi and I speak about the cultural and coaching interventions that transformed the Dutch cycling team from obscurity into Gold Medal winners.