Owning the Moment: What Pressure Really Teaches Us
Pressure isn’t the villain it’s made out to be. For many athletes, it’s the mirror that reflects their true game. High-stakes moments strip away comfort zones, forcing players to confront themselves. Yet, in those moments, most stumble—not because of the external pressure, but because of where their attention drifts. After years of working with elite […]
How Sleep Deprivation Secretly Undermines Your Team’s Peak Performance
Sleep deprivation is often a silent productivity killer in the corporate world. While high-performance teams are known for pushing boundaries and meeting tight deadlines, the effects of poor sleep can sabotage even the best efforts. Lack of sleep doesn’t just lead to fatigue—it impairs decision-making, increases risk-taking behaviour, and causes irritability, low moods, anxiety and […]
The hidden gold in South African sport coaching
Walking around the Paris Olympic village, it struck me that there was something familiar about the guy wearing black New Zealand team kit. And the Aussie guy in the green and yellow tracksuit. Or the guy dressed in the Great Britain Olympic gear. What is it? The mind scrambles for answers. Trying to place names […]
The Story
It happened in 1996 during my time as fitness trainer South African Cricket team management, I first got to meet Nelson. I had planned to ask him two questions. But when the moment arrived and he moved into my space, I became enveloped by an indescribable presence and a powerful stillness overcame me. Video footage […]
The hangover of success.
June 5, 2024 Why we need to learn from wins as much as losses. It’s intriguing that failures often trigger exhaustive reviews, while successes are followed by celebration and then overshadowed by complacency. This disparity overlooks a critical opportunity to learn from what went right. Success can lead to two types of hangovers. The first […]
Swimming provides the most compelling solution to the transgender inclusion debate in sports.
This isn’t solely because snug-fitting swimming costumes reveal much of the answer. This post was sparked when I learned that a friend had just received the maximum 4-year ban from their sport for testing positive for a banned substance. They tested negative in all previous and subsequent tests. It was once-off contamination. Despite exhaustive efforts […]
The Bittersweet Taste of a World Cup Win
Last weekend’s World Cup rugby win by the Springboks over the All Blacks left a lingering bittersweet taste. The sweetness happened as the final whistle blew to mark the Springboks triumph, and the bitter came from another realisation that dawned soon thereafter. Before I get to the bitter, let me start with a secret that […]
Five insights before the rugby World Cup final
Luck wins World Cups
In recent weeks I’ve been asked more times than I can count: “Who do you think will win the World Cup?” The first answer is, “Which one, cricket rugby?” Regardless, I have the same answer for both. The team that wins will be the luckiest one. Mark these words. A closer look will reveal that […]
Jonny Bairstow Stumping
A$$hole. The spate of opinions around Alex Carey‘s stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the Ashes has been interesting to follow. Not that the world needs another opinion on it, but still, here’s mine. Bairstow was silly to make the mistake of walking out of his crease when he did. He knows better and deserved to […]
Parents Unwittingly Undermine Kids Sport Participation
36% of parents undermine their kids sport participation. More than one in three parents undermines their kids sport participation. Most do this unwittingly, despite having best intentions. A school sport study1 showed that 70% of the 40 million kids who start playing sport at school quit by the age of 13. The two main reasons: coaches […]
Are we making or Breaking our Kids?
Last week, a talented and dedicated young athlete gave up on a rising career. He did so despite loving the sport, and having invested years of time, effort and discipline into it. The reason? He eventually had enough of his coach and trainer bullying, abusing, criticising and belittling him. When he spoke up, they said […]
Fitness in Cricket
Fitness in cricket is a bit like how you dress in a corporate environment. It is secondary to performance, but it plays a supporting act. Recently, captain Dane van Niekerk was dropped from the South African women’s cricket team (Proteas) for failing a 2km running test by 18 seconds. A year ago, batsman Lizelle Lee […]
Reframing Change
Change can be easy. Much is written about change. Become fitter. Lose weight. Gain weight. Find a better job. Improve things in your relationships. Reduce stress. Get outdoors more. Start that new hobby. We all want our lives to be even better, but we’ve been told that change is difficult. That it requires discipline, determination and commitment. We need to […]
When Fear Strikes
A story from that scary intersection where a series of mistakes, a consequential oversight, and an unexpected turn of events collide. My mate Guy and I set out from Simonstown to test a 3.8m Inflatable boat with a 30 hp engine. It was a 15-year-old rig which he had very recently bought. There was a […]
