An introduction to the Inside Edge Podcast with Bhavi Devchand.

"For a number of years, success to me was operating in a really unhealthy manner. I would need to be under significant duress away from the game to then step over that white line and go perform, as it was the only time I would feel like I was in control of my life."

This episode is with Nicole Bolton - Australian opening batter and arguably one of the best Western Australian cricketers of all time. Bolts has a fascinating story, battling inner demons for the majority of her career, yet finding a way to be one of the most consistent performers in the best team in the world.

5:10 - Why she stepped away from the game at 18 after being in the Australian set-up
10:30 - How younger players get derailed and burnout in the current professional environment and the way to change it
13:35 - How she focuses her attention in the middle irrelevant of what is happening off the field
17:45 - The search for perfectionism and how it derailed her mental health to the point where she had to leave the game she loved
18:30 - Having an out of body experience due to being under serious distress leading into a WBBL game
26:05 - Tools Bolts uses to help manage her wellbeing
32:00 - How yoga taught her the basics of performance - simplicity, flow, presence and enjoyment
33:10 - Her batting philosophy and how it is centred on trust, courage and freedom
34:40 - What makes batting coach Noddy so good, and how their definition of success has nothing to do with hitting cricket balls
36:30 - How she uses playing fast bowling to help face her adversities in life
41:15 - The 3 most important cricket shots
43:20 - How returning to club cricket reignited her love of the game
47:30 - Why it is so difficult to just let go and trust yourself
49:20 - How her positive personal narrative leading into the 2019 Ashes ended up being self-destructive
52:10 - Bolts' definition of success
52:60 - Who is Nicole Bolton at her best







Links:
Stitch in time article:

This episode is with Viv Paver - cricketer, coach, and one of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Viv had a lot of promise as a young cricketer, he was captain of the WA U17 team and was also part of an All-Australian Universities Championship. A senior playing career spanning 5 professional seasons in the UK & well over 140 Premier cricket games, he has a staggering high score of 257 and best bowling figures of 5/21. He is now coaching the Subiaco-floreat women in the WACA 1st grade competition and runs his own coaching business called Project Rubicon - where his holistic coaching methods have helped many professional cricketers such as Mitch Marsh and Dom Sibley in the Men's game, and Chloe Piparo and Piepa Cleary in the female game.

Despite being touted as one of the next big things in cricket, Viv failed to crack the professional set up in Australia. This led him down a path exploring psychology & philosophy - both critical in understanding how we can access our inside edge. Working with Viv completely shifted the way I approach the game, bringing a sense of simplicity and freedom that I didn't have access to for many years prior. I hope you enjoy.

4:10 - Experiencing fear as an 8-year-old before struggling with the rollercoaster of emotions despite having a lot of success as a young cricketer
7:50 - How focusing on being recognized and liked as a cricketer ended up ruining his professional career causing a crisis in his mid-20s
10:50 - Why it is so hard to not base your self-worth on looking good to others and how to deal with your ego if it has control over you
14:30 - What does mastery mean and how does it is the most important component of sustained success
22:00 - The effect on your relationships with others and your ability to perform consistently on and off the field
27:30 - Routines put into place that allowed Viv to find freedom and consistently score big hundreds including a high score of 257
31:40 - How to get our of your own way and have your performance match your potential
35:00 - Growth, Connection & Service: the keys to long term success
43:00 - Managing your mind if you have a lot going on away from the game
49:10 - Optimise your game by focusing on what is relevant and what is not
55:00 - Workshops Viv is running with male and female teams to help with the mental and emotional side of the game
59:50 - The difference in the mistakes made in the male and female game
1:02:30 - Recommended resources to continue development
1:05:20 - The transformation of Viv's definition of success
1:06:30 - Who is Viv Paver at his best


References in the podcast:

• Coach Paver Instagram Twitter Website
• Books mentioned: The Courage To Be Disliked, The Go-Giver, The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success
• Ikigai

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Molly Strano is an Australian off-spinner and well known as one of the great characters of the game. She is the reigning domestic player of the year & leading all-time wicket-taker in WBBL.
A Self-described raging extrovert, she genuinely believes she was born in the wrong era and has been best on ground at numerous mad-mondays. Behind all the shenanigans off the field, she is a big cricket badger, lover of the game and I hope you enjoy hearing her story.


4:09 - Making her Debut in a star-studded Victorian side as a 16 year old
5:30 - Dealing with the pressures of fitness tests and professionalism
6:15 - How she learned about work ethic and enjoyment from leaders in the Victorian team such as Kristen Beams, Kelly Applebee, Catherine Fitzpatrick and Elyse Villani,
10:00 - How comparing yourself to others can be so detrimental
12:00 - Experiencing the 'second-year blues' and falling out of love for the game before going to England to play for Staffordshire
16:00 - The keys to dealing with the pressure she puts on herself
17:50 - Developing from bowling very slow and loopy to flat and into the wicket and one of the best at opening the bowling in t20
18:40 - What makes Kristen Beams a great mentor
21:10 - How embracing her natural strengths ended up completely changing the direction of her career
25:20 - The keys to preparing to play at her best
29:36 - Molly talks us through conceding 17 runs in an over as the Renegades lost a close battle with the Scorchers
33:45 - What the best captains do to help Molly perform
35:50 - Dealing with injury setbacks including a stress fracture that kept her out of an entire WNCL season
39:50 - Going from club cricket to opening the bowling in the t20 world cup
41:30 - How the Australian leadership group dealt with being under pressure in the t20 world cup
46:00 - How Molly's definition of success has shifted through her career
48:00 - Who is Molly at her best

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Drewe Broughton is a former professional footballer and now a performance coach. As a young man, he was exceptionally talented, representing England U20s alongside a golden generation. He had a deep drive to succeed, however, an inability to control this desire and fall into the trap of the fear led to a continuous rollercoaster, jumping to 22 different clubs in 17 years and eventually ending up alone - bankrupt, suffering from addiction and contemplating life. As always, the lessons learned from suffering can provide us with the power to really impact the lives of others, and Drewe has certainly been able to do that. He is now a performance coach, working with Premier League Footballers, elite golfers and business leaders to help them navigate performing at their edge while in the arena. He is also a husband and father that really does live the same pearls of wisdom he shares with his clients. Reading his book and following his work has had a deep impact on my journey so far and I'm sure you will get a lot out of tuning in.

Topics discussed

• What caused Drewe to go from 25 goals/season to less than 10 even though he was doing more and in more professional environments
• Hard work is not a given. What it really means to work hard.
• How the gift of work ethic can lead to the curse of perfectionism. Where the line is and how push yourself without crossing that line.
• The missing component of coaching qualifications
• Why Drewe had a significantly different career path to Cristiano Ronaldo despite having the same work ethic and starting out as a talented player
• The one thing Kobe Bryant, The All Blacks, Cathy Freeman and many more have in common
• Tools used by Drewe to help the best athletes in the world overcome fear
• How spirituality simply means being more of yourself and trusting in something bigger than yourself
• The search leading Drewe to addiction, severe depression and loss of self

Links:
Drewe Broughton website
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Our guest this week is the captain of the White Ferns and #1 ranked t20 player, Sophie Devine. She has close to 200 international caps, broken numerous records and is arguably the most sought after player in franchise cricket. To top it off, she has also represented the NZ women's hockey team and was extremely close to playing for them at the Olympics. The list of accolades could go on forever, however, Sophie's story so far is filled with some significant challenges, including getting diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a teenager, giving up cricket to chase an Olympic dream, only to miss out oat the last moment and battling a serious bout of depression. Through her journey she has learned some valuable lessons and continues to use tools such as yoga and meditation to help her both on and off the field.

In this podcast:

• The dangers of early specialization and how playing a wide range of sport make a huge difference to her skillset now
• Getting Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes - thinking she was never going to play sport again and the role her support network played in getting her back on track
• Making the decision to step away from cricket to chase an Olympic dream
• Experiencing the professionalism of the Balck Sticks and how that had a significant effect on how she operated as an athlete
• Professionalism vs perfectionism
• How Sophie maintains focus on her natural strengths when she is under pressure
• Yoga and mindfulness practice leading to ease and peace at the crease and in life
• Dealing with clinical depression and anxiety where Sophie could not get out of bed or go onto the cricket field without breaking down
• How the White Ferns are integrating purpose mindset into their culture
• How Sophie has changed how she values herself
• What Sophie hopes the next generation gets right

The Inside Edge:
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Topics Discussed
Dealing with limited prep and COVID lockdowns leading into WBBL
Trying to find the balance between being attacking and reckless
Dealing with being in and out of form
Comparing herself to others and falling in to the trap of searching for answers external to her
How Junior moved through the 3 stages of the Heroes journey to find fulfillment
Advice received from Rachel Haynes to help deal with being dropped over and over again
The common traits in the best team cultures
What makes her coach Dulip Samaraweera so good
Managing being in a cricket bubble when personal performances aren't going well
The pressure Junior put on herself during WBB05 by looking too far ahead
Dealing with missing out on the squad for the T20 world cup at her home ground
How she is managing her mind and planning for the upcoming WBBL

http://instagram.com/insideedgeproject

Huss does not need much of an introduction, a legend of the aussie game and one of my heros growing up. He was widely regarded as one of the and hardest workers in world cricket and a very intense man. Along with this came many internal battles, he was constantly battling low self-belief and openly admits he crossed the line of pushing things too far. After getting dropped from the WA team he found a new sense of balance and freedom which then catapulted his career to playing for Australia and scoring thousands of runs across all 3 formats. He goes into great detail around his training strategies and mental routines and I'm sure you will all get a lot out of this one.

• Being too intense and working too hard having a detrimental effect on his performance
• How comparing himself to others led to inconsistency and getting dropped
• The basics of his batting mechanics and how he trained that
• Huss' 4 step batting routine that helped him navigate high pressure environments
• Managing his emotions during his test debut
• The importance of celebrating success in being able to maintain a high intensity when on the field
• How the Chennai Super Kings have maintained a strong team culture and sustained performance in the IPL
• How he helped the Sydney Thunder go from being at the bottom of the league to winning the BBL
• How he approaches coaching in the IPL with players such as MS Dhoni, Faf Du Plessis, Rayudu