Send us a text In this episode of the Adaptable Athlete Podcast, I'm joined by Justin Ferguson — Director of Player Development at Minnesota United FC and a coach who’s deeply committed to modern coaching principles. We dig into what it really means to rethink player development, why talent is not a linear process, and how coaches can better support athletes through complex, messy learning environments. Justin shares insights from his work in professional soccer, including how Minnesota...

Send us a text This episode is a special repost of my conversation with Stu McMillan on the ALTIS Podcast, originally recorded as a lead-up to the ALTIS Speed Summit where I will be presenting. If you’re attending the Summit this weekend, this will give you a preview of what I’ll be covering in my talk on Saturday, June 7th. The session will be titled "This is Not a Drill: Developing Speed Through Problem Solving." We cover a wide range of topics—everything from designing adaptab...

Send us a text This episode of the Adaptable Athlete Podcast is part of our special SMSC 25’ Speaker Spotlight Series, highlighting some of the world-class minds presenting at the 2025 Sport Movement Skill Conference, June 26–27 in St. Paul, Minnesota. We're bringing back a classic: Episode 8 with Michael Zwiefel, an impactful voice in our field and a longtime influence on how we approach athlete development. Formerly the founder of Building Better Athletes, Michael now serves as Assistant He...

Send us a text In this repost episode of the podcast, we revisit one of our most favorite conversations — a deep dive into combat sport skill acquisition with Scott Sievewright, founder of Primal MMA and host of the Primal MMA Coaching Podcast. Scott brings an athlete-centered and constraints-led approach to his work with MMA athletes. In this conversation, we discuss how to design representative practice without traditional drills, how to keep intensity high while still respecting athlete sa...

Send us a text SMSC Speaker Spotlight: Garrett Baker In this episode, we’re highlighting one of our featured presenters for the 2025 Sport Movement Skill Conference — Garrett Baker, Skill Acquisition Specialist and Pitching Coach for the New York Mets. Garrett joins us to talk about the current state of skill development in baseball and why he believes coaches must move beyond traditional notions of “perfect mechanics.” We dig into how Garrett blends theory and practice in the bullpen, ...

Send us a text In this Speaker Spotlight episode, Coach Jav sits down with Dr. Rob Gray—renowned researcher, author, and podcast host—for a timely re-release of their impactful conversation on ecological dynamics, information, and movement learning. Rob is one of the featured speakers at the upcoming 2025 Sport Movement Skill Conference, taking place June 26–27 in St. Paul, MN. As the SMSC returns to its in-person roots, Rob shares a preview of the thinking that’s shaped his writing, re...

Send us a text In this special episode of the Adaptable Athlete Podcast powered by Emergence, Javi welcomes back movement specialist and Emergence co-founder Shawn Myszka for the official preview of the 2025 Sport Movement Skill Conference (SMSC). They break down what to expect at this year’s in-person event -including immersive learning sessions, athlete-led demos, roundtable discussions, and a new certification opportunity -all designed to help coaches better understand and apply ecological...

Send us a text In this episode of the Adaptable Athlete Podcast, Javi sits down with performance coach Sean Smith, who shares lessons from a unique career that’s spanned elite collegiate volleyball and the high-octane world of IndyCar racing. They dive into what it takes to support athletes across vastly different sports, why curiosity and communication are non-negotiables for great coaching, and how to create high-performance environments without losing the human element. From letting athlet...

Send us a text In this Six Minutes of Skill episode, Coach Jav explores the concept of the Challenge Point—both for athletes and coaches. He breaks down how finding the right level of difficulty in training can accelerate skill acquisition, improve decision-making, and better prepare athletes for real-game situations. Key Topics Discussed: ✅ Understanding the Challenge Point and its role in learning ✅ Why failing too much or too little in practice can hinder development ✅ How to adjust pra...

Send us a text In this episode, Javi sits down with Jim Haverstrom to explore a fresh approach to youth hockey coaching. Jim explains how his game-based, small-area practices transform the way young players develop skills and decision-making. Rather than isolating techniques, his methods use purposeful, in-game scenarios to build hockey IQ and foster creativity on the ice. He also shares strategies for communicating these innovative methods to parents, emphasizing long-term growth over immedi...

Send us a text In this episode, Javi sits down with Marianne Davies to explore a fascinating blend of topics, from adventure sports and ecological coaching to the power of language and learning. They dive into how language shapes perception, the unique relationship between teaching and learning, and the role of affordance perception in high-risk environments. Marianne shares her experiences in equestrian sports, adventure coaching, and expedition leadership, emphasizing how outdoor challenges...

Send us a textIn this episode, we dive deep into the transcendent movement skill of Lamar Jackson with special guest Shawn Myszka!In addition to having partnered with 139 NFL athletes and many pro bowlers, Shawn also has been deeply investigating and writing about movement on his website Football Beyond The Stats for over a decade. Every year Shawn names "Mover of the Year", and this year it was none other than Lamar Jackson! As a two-time Mover of the Year, Jackson’s ability to adapt, ...

Send us a textWelcome to today's show!Today I'm joined by Brian Neff of US Ski and Snowboard!Brian is an athletic development coach for US Ski and snowboard and specifically works with US Paralympic, Alpine and snowboard athletes. Prior to his current position, Brian has had roles in athletic medicine, strength and conditioning, and sports science across many different universities in the collegiate sector, such as Big Ten, Pac12 and Summit League colleges such as University of Minnesota, Uni...

Send us a textWelcome to today's show! Today we are going to be doing another installment of our "6 Minutes of Skill" series. A series where we dive into a topic related to skill acquisition, in under 6 minutes. To catch the last installment of this series, click here.Today, we are going to be discussing information. Specifically, what information is present in your training environments. Hope you enjoy the show!Right now, we offering an After Christmas Sale. It ends on 1/1,...

Send us a textWelcome to today’s episode! My guest today is Brian GilliamBrian works in hockey and has been working in player development for 39 years. He's the owner of Brian Gillum Hockey, which specializes in player and coach development. He is a Hockey Canada skills coach, coach development coordinator with Hockey Eastern Ontario and a Hockey Canada coach developer.n addition to that, Brian was a presenter at the most recent Sports Women's Skill Conference which is available for purchase....

Send us a textOn this episode I'm joined by Dr. Rob Gray! Rob is a multi-time guest on this podcast and is always a fan favorite. He is truly a giant in the movement community and one of the most knowledgable people around.In this convo, we discuss his latest book Learning to Be an Ecological Coach and what readers can expect to get out of it. He also answers several your questions from social media, including:What's the role of memory in EcoD?Explain the myth of "muscle memo...

Send us a textWelcome to today's episode! Today we are kicking off a brand new segment called, "6 minutes of skill" where we dive into a skill related topic in under 6 minutes. These are meant to be very practically driven This constraint serves 2 purposes: To challenge me to be concise yet descriptive in my language, and to give you (the listener) a quick and actionable episode.Today we are going address "Why we don't do drill" ...stay tuned and find out why If you like tod...

Send us a textOn this episode, I'll and we answer your skill acquisition questions!We asked you on social media to post any burning questions you had and you delivered! Today, we answer those questions. Some of the topics we covered include:Affordances - Can 2 athletes need unique solutions to solve the same problem?What about the phrase "let the environment speak first" - How can we use this framework?Stealing a pass in basketball - What to look for? How t...

Send us a textWelcome to today's show! On this episode, we announce our Movement & Skill Acquisition Award Winner! This is something, we started last year, where we get to honor the best and brightest on the skill acquisition community. We have categories: Lifetime achievement award, practitioner of the year award, and researcher of the year award. Last year Kieth Davids, Alex Sarama, and Rob Gray won the awards respectively. This year Shawn and Tyler ...

Send us a textWelcome to today's episode!...My guest today is Stuart Armstrong!Stu is speaker, coach developer, and host of of our favorite podcast, the talent equation Stu has worked as a head of coaching for sport England and , the player development manager for rugby football union and is one of the top experts on skill acquisition.As you could expect with Stu and I, today’s conversation is emergent and wide ranging. We discussed everything from Stu's coaching journey, which is so great to...