Blog

Our latest news and insights

Cricket, Leadership, Sport Psychology John Mulcahy Cricket, Leadership, Sport Psychology John Mulcahy

SSA Blog: Follow the leader

The captaincy has been somewhat of a poisoned chalice for past English all-rounders. Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff’s brief tenures in the role are the obvious examples. Despite being dominant performers, both were unable to transfer that dominance into successful captaincy. It is often said that the burden of captaincy inhibits a player’s ability to play. It creates a greater cognitive load and inhibits the ability to focus on their usual role. Is there any evidence to support this observation?

Read More
Football, Performance, Sport Psychology, Sponsorship John Mulcahy Football, Performance, Sport Psychology, Sponsorship John Mulcahy

SSA Blog: Training partners

Project restart created an unprecedented interest from football media and fans into training, performance and the potential for injury that the return from lockdown has created. As we have mentioned in a number of previous blogs (It’s back, Recovery position, Project restart), Covid-19 presented staff with a number of unique challenges. There was no playbook for lockdown and the extended break it caused. There was no fixed return date to build conditioning towards, and there was no clear understanding of the fixture demands if/when competition was to return.

Read More
Covid 19, Esports, Sport Psychology John Mulcahy Covid 19, Esports, Sport Psychology John Mulcahy

SSA blog: The performance potential of esports

The continued rise of esports has only been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Restrictions to movement, social interaction and of course live sport have motivated many to get their competitive fix via the gaming world. Competitive gaming is far from new with tournaments being held as long ago as 1972 at Stanford University. However, the development of faster more reliable internet connections, improved computer processing power and increased game development budgets and production quality have allowed for rapid expansion over the past decade

Read More