TheJustKickinItPodcast
Just Kickin’ It Podcast is where coaches sharpen how they think, train, and develop players. Built on years of conversations with top minds in the game, the podcast returns with a renewed focus on connecting theory, science, and real-world coaching. Each episode delivers clear, actionable insight to help you design better sessions, improve decision-making, and create training that transfers to the game.
Episodes
The Coaching Lie We've Been Telling for Decades
In this episode, I sat down with Dr. Steve Smith — academic, author, and former competitive badminton player — to unpack one of the most misunderstood concepts in sport coaching: ecological dynamics.We dive deep into why isolating skills in practice can actually create bad habits, how perception-action coupling shapes real athletic development, and why so many talented athletes never reach their p
What Is Coaching? Brett Ledbetter on Questions, Trust, and Removing Interference
What if coaching isn't about giving better answers—but asking better questions?In this episode, Brett Ledbetter challenges conventional thinking around coaching, leadership, and performance. Rather than focusing on instruction, control, or motivation, Brett explores how great coaches help athletes take ownership of their development by thinking for themselves.Together, we discuss why questions
Performance Is a Side Effect - 3rd Conversation Dr. Kapil Gupta
What if everything you've been told about performance psychology is wrong?In our latest episode of Just Kickin' It, Brian and Josh sit down with Dr. Kapil Gupta — advisor to professional athletes, CEOs, and performing artists — for one of the most thought-provoking conversations we've ever had.Kapil doesn't prescribe. He doesn't hand out frameworks, four-step processes, or the
The Interference — Dr. Kapil Gupta on Why Coaching Might Be the Problem
What if the biggest obstacle to greatness isn't a lack of information — but too much of it?In this conversation, I sit down with Dr. Kapil Gupta for a raw, unfiltered exploration of coaching, human potential, and the relentless pursuit of greatness. Dr. Gupta challenges nearly everything we take for granted about how athletes are developed — from the obsession with instruction and certificatio
Kapil Gupta: Why Coaches Are Teaching Athletes to Think Too Much
In this powerful first installment of a three-part series, joins the Just Kickin’ It Podcast for a conversation that challenges many of the foundational ideas surrounding coaching, confidence, mindset, and performance psychology.Kapil explains why thought may actually interfere with elite performance, why prescriptions and “mental skills” often make athletes worse, and why greatness may come less
“High Performance Isn’t a Feeling—It’s a Framework”
In this episode of Just Kickin’ It, we sit down with leading sports psychologist Dan Abrahams to unpack what it truly means to perform under pressure.This conversation goes far beyond surface-level “confidence” and mindset clichés. Dan introduces a clear, actionable mental framework built around attention, intensity, and intent—and explains why most athletes and coaches misunderstand what mental p
- *The Brain Is Trainable — Here's How | Dan Abrahams Relaunch
Before we dive into Dan Abrahams' latest book Compete, which will be released soon, we're bringing back one of our most impactful early conversations — the one that started it all.Dan Abrahams is a leading sports psychologist who has worked with Premier League clubs including West Ham and Fulham, and has spent over 15 years embedded in the football world at every level. He's also the a
Stop Coaching — And Watch Your Players Get Better" —
Dave Tenney, a long-time guest on the show, has spent decades working at the highest levels of professional soccer — and he's changed his mind about a lot of it.In this conversation, Dave and Brian dig into why so many coaches — from grassroots to pro — are unknowingly creating a ceiling for their players. They explore why training in isolation doesn't transfer to the game, how emotion and
“What an FBI Hostage Negotiator Can Teach You About Coaching”
What can an FBI hostage negotiator teach you about coaching?In this episode of Just Kickin’ It, we sit down with Chris Voss—former FBI hostage negotiator, CEO of The Black Swan Group, and author of Never Split the Difference—to explore how negotiation principles apply directly to coaching, recruiting, and player development.This conversation challenges a fundamental idea: coaching isn’t just instr
Raymond Verheijen on Football Periodization, Injuries, and Why Coaches Overcomplicate Training
This episode with Raymond Verheijen is about football periodization, why many coaches overcomplicate training, and why the primary job of a coach is to structure football-specific work in a way that improves performance while reducing injuries.Verheijen explains that periodization is not a rigid master plan that controls a team. It is a tool for organizing training, practice games, and the weekly
Football Fitness vs Isolated Fitness | Raymond Verheijen Explains What Coaches Get Wrong
Football Fitness vs Isolated Fitness — A Philosophical Approach to TrainingIn this episode, we sit down with Raymond Verheijen to break down one of the most misunderstood areas in coaching: fitness in football.Rather than viewing fitness as running, conditioning, or physical output, Verheijen reframes it through the true demands of the game—communication, decision-making, and execution. These thre
