How we work

What to expect

Unless your need is very specific, we will almost always suggest an initial phase of needs analysis. Of course, even with specifics such as presentations, we will always take the trouble to talk through your desired outcomes – you can be assured it won’t just be something ‘off the peg’!

In the majority of cases, however, we complete a careful evaluation of where you are, what you need and the best ways in which this can be accomplished. This gives you a chance to get to know us, seeing whether you will feel comfortable working with us. Furthermore, the report we provide will usually make a number of suggestions on how to address your challenge. In our experience, many of these won’t need our specialist input but rather, are things you can change yourself. We will always give you clear recommendations and, as importantly, the reasons why. Where we think we can help, this will be clearly stated with interim goals, methods and costs, both in time and money. It’s important that you know how much commitment will be involved in achieving the objective.

The links will take you to some example packages or services. Of course, everything is bespoke but they might fit your needs or give you some ideas.

Sport/Team packages

Our aim here is to help improve your performance. We look carefully at every aspect; your training, coaching, specialist input. Ideally we watch you train, prepare and compete. We interview all the important stakeholders, coaches, parents and, of course, you. The same approach is used with teams; crucially treating all the members as individuals and also considering the interaction between them.

Our aim is to leave you independent; in simple terms, to make ourselves redundant. Of course, many of our clients have been with us for years. All that happens is, as goals are achieved, they move the bar upwards, setting new targets for us to work together on reaching. Others reach their targets and use the skills developed to work solo, then come back for more. We also have ‘one time’ clients who get where they wanted to be then finish. In truth, there aren’t so many of these because our clients usually like what we do. Whatever happens, however, it is always YOU in control.

Academy/School support packages

Academies and specialist schools are becoming more common. In parallel, even ‘normal’ schools are realising how useful developing the right skills can be for students. Whatever, your aims or type of organisation, we can design a package of support to meet your needs, with a combination of different elements from the following:

• Direct support, daily, weekly or less frequently provided by our quality assured specialists in your workplace

• Education and development for your coaches/teachers so that player/pupil development becomes an embedded feature of normal training

• Consultancy support to you, supporting the development and refinement of your systems and structures

• Clinical psychology support on an ‘on-call’ basis, plus case formulation and advice on next steps with mental health issues

Performance Audits

Looking to review your current support and coaching provision? We can improve quality and, in many cases, save you money by better targeting, independent evaluation of contributions, etc. We have experience of looking at and working in partnership to improve:

• Sports science and medicine provision

• Systems used in your performance pathway

Professional Development for individuals and organisations

Coach or practitioner education and development. We offer professional training for practitioners on development pathways (e.g. BASES, BPS) across several disciplines or CPD on specific topics such as clinical issues, physical skill refinement or performance enhancement. We can also design accreditation schemes for NGBs and organisations.

Conference Presentations

We have a record of successful and impactful presentations at national and international conferences on all aspects of performance.

Media Contributions

Grey matters have a record of successful contributions to both broadcast and written media. In the past we have acted as consultants for existing projects or stories, providing a scientific perspective in layman’s terms.

Recent examples include written media contribution to The Times articles on past doping and its impact on British Sport, Radio 5 live discussion on developing coaches for British Athletics, and on television, helping Idris Elba with the challenge of aerobatics on No Limits.

Much of our research work has also acted as the stimulus for sections or even the total content of various programmes. E.g. The England Patient (Horizon) and Losing It (Equinox).