The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching
The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching is a space for curious, evidence-informed conversations that sit at the intersection of learning, movement, skill acquisition, ethics, and philosophy — with a particular love for adventure, lifestyle, and equestrian sports.
Hosted by Marianne Davies, the show explores what it means to become skilful in environments that are complex, fluid, and never fully controllable — where risk can be managed, but not eliminated.
Each episode brings research and real-world practice into dialogue through spontaneous, thoughtful discussions with practitioners and researchers. Expect deep dives into ecological and systems perspectives, coaching practice, decision-making under pressure, and the socio-cultural realities that shape how we train, compete, and care — for ourselves, for others, and (in equestrian contexts) for the horse as a partner in the learning environment.
The River Tiger Podcast from Dynamics Coaching
Are instructions always good? Exploring the importance of how and why coaches guide 'Focus of Attention' with Dr Vicky Gottwald and Dr Robin Owen.
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode we revisit the importance of considering where an athlete or learner is focusing their attention and why focus of attention is so important for skill acquisition, retention, and transfer.
My guests bring the topic to life with an overview of the research literature to date. We also discuss some of the challenges of research, application to practice and why this area is so important for coaches to be aware of.
Findings in the 'focus of attention' literature for the benefits of an 'external focus' has been one of the most replicated phenomena in sports science. But, is it that simple? More recent research is challenging the simple internal vs external focus dichotomy and looking at what perceptual information might be most important for the performer to be attuning to.
We also discuss the importance of researchers learning from practitioners.
My guests on this episode are Dr Vicky Gottwald and Dr Robin Owen.
Vicky Gottwald
X @GottwaldVicky
University profile
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/staff/spss/vicky-gottwald-016917/en
Robin Owen
X @RobinOwenPsych
University profile
https://www.hope.ac.uk/si/dr-robin-owen.html
Useful Links
Gottwald et al, (2023). Every story has two sides: evaluating information processing and ecological dynamics perspectives of focus of attention in skill acquisition
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1176635/full
Harnessing the power of attention: Exploring 'focus of attention' theories, practice, and myths. In book: Myths of Sport Performance (Due in Spring 2024). Publisher: Sequoia.
Draft version: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377416924_Harnessing_the_power_of_attention_Exploring_'focus_of_attention'_theories_practice_and_myths