14 Sep 2015

Jamie Edwards is the founder of Trained Brain and is credited with helping the early season form of top players such as Joe Hart, Gareth Bale and Luke Shaw.

Is it possible that Jamie Edwards, a peak-performance coach who promises to train the football brain, is partly responsible for their good form on the field?

An interesting video. A common sense approach  and food for thought for Grassroots football coaches in dealing with young players to help develop that all important confidence.

Edwards is a former basketball player who overcame the disadvantage of being only 5ft 6ins tall to play for England at the Commonwealth Games in the 90s.

The use of peak performance coaches has become a real talking point at the top levels of sport and in particular football.

Jamie Edwards works somewhat differently than many other peak performance coaches. Rather than endorsing the power of positive thinking, he coaches the players to be more realistic with their targets and have a “deal with it mentality”
His courses promise to deal with anxiety, to help athletes cope with stressful situations by using a neutral mindset to succeed. Edwards’ reputation also delves into  others sports and his reputation was enhanced back in 2005 when he began working with the England cricketer Andrew Flintoff during  England’s win over Australia in the Ashes series.

Golfers such as Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood have also benefited from the methods Edwards uses to help sportsmen meet their targets. ‘Positive thinking is a lie, a myth,’ he claims ‘Neutral thinking is more realistic, asking: “is it possible? Can I hit that shot? Can I score the goal? Yes”.’

Any comments on similar experiences or ways in which you think we can help grassroots players develop confidence?