Show Notes
If you watch tennis, you might recognise his face. You aren't sure what he does but you see him at the Grand Slam events as the cameras pivot to the players team and families seating. Maybe in the short video played before Andy Murray, Britain’s greatest ever tennis player, comes onto centre court at Wimbledon, you see him on the same practice court chatting to Andy as he then disappears into the locker room. Matt Little is a world renowned coach and he has been Andy Murray’s strength and conditioning trainer since 2007. In that time, so much has had to be faced. The joy of Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold, the despair of career-threatening injuries to Andy that didn’t seem like they would ever shift. If you need reminding how fragile an athlete’s career can be and how they need those around them help them through those moments then this interview is probably it.
I met Matt when we were allowed to meet outdoors socially distanced , so you will hear our conversation occasionally accompanied by the sound of the wildlife in Richmond Park, London. With that backdrop we discussed the importance of setting values, experience, loyalty, listening to learn, data and other key topics around performance and culture and started with Matt telling a story about when he was based at Loughborough University, one of the worlds great sporting institutions.
More About Matt Little: Website - www.matt-little.online Book - https://amzn.to/3cztsIr Instagram - @_matt_little_ Twitter - @MattLittleSandC LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-little-b1a6512a/?originalSubdomain=uk Show Notes - https://benryan.co.uk/podcast/episode-5-matt-little/#show-notes-e5
Listen & Subscribe to The Ben Ryan Podcast: Ben’s Website - https://benryan.co.uk/podcast/ Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ben-ryan-podcast/id1553400216 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3iUL1eLA7HFKt5gxO7Uf4j?si=oN9YN6uFRSSGbO6kR01ONQ Amazon Music - https://amzn.to/3shGDnO TuneIn - http://tun.in/pkdsm
Social: Follow me on Instagram - https://bit.ly/2Z5QSit Follow me on Twitter - https://bit.ly/3ph5W7o Follow me on LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/3ah8Ftv Read about me - https://amzn.to/2NLu0Ck
More from The Ben Ryan Podcast
Jon Norfolk is head of coaching at one of Great Britain’s most successful Olympic programmes, British Cycling. Jon is another of our guests that has experienced competing and coaching in different cultures and environments. Having worked previously with the Australian Track Cycling Team and been head coach of the hugely successful GB Paralympic cycling programme, he was also both an International cyclist in his own right and also cycled as a tandem partner including setting a world record in the kilo at the 2008 Paralympic World Cup.
Jon Norfolk is head of coaching at one of Great Britain’s most successful Olympic programmes, British Cycling. Jon is another of our guests that has experienced competing and coaching in different cultures and environments. Having worked previously with the Australian Track Cycling Team and been head coach of the hugely successful GB Paralympic cycling programme, he was also both an International cyclist in his own right and also cycled as a tandem partner including setting a world record in the kilo at the 2008 Paralympic World Cup.
Scott Drawer is the current Director of Sport at Millfield School, one of the UK’s leading independent school’s. Before that he was Head of Research and Innovation at UK Sport and also held positions as Athletic Performance Manager at the Rugby Football Union and worked in the Sky Performance Hub in Cycling.
This week its part 2 of my chat with former footballer Robbie Elliott. Robbie spent two decades as a professional footballer, playing over 140 times for Newcastle United and over 250 appearances in total. Last week we chatted about his own playing career and some of the iconic managers he worked under including Ossie Ardilles, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalgleish, Sam Allardyce and Sir Bobby Robson.
After last weeks chat with Darius Charles, we stay on the football theme with another ex Professional footballer, Robbie Elliott. Robbie had almost two decades as a professional footballer, playing over 140 times for his beloved Newcastle United and over 250 appearances in total, which also included spells at Sunderland, Leeds, Hartlepool and an eventful four years at Bolton Wanderers.