Sports Thoughts

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 and in the right situation can make a […]

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 […]