Conversation with David Brailsford CBE

Last night I went to ‘a conversation with David Brailsford CBE’ at Sheffield Hallam University. Dave Brailsford is the Performance Director for GB cycling and has transformed the fortunes of the team and the sport. It was very interesting to listen to the topics and his views on these. It had a strong psychological feel and some principles he highlighted were worth noting. He highlighted the CORE principle that aims to give ownership to the athlete. The C stands for commitment, the O is for ownership, the R stands responsibility and the E stands for excellence. The first 3 need to be present for the final one to be achieved. He also highlighted the CHIMP model that was developed by Steve Peters (GB cycling psychiatrist) which is an interesting model to explain human behaviour. This model links parts of the brain to different behavioural outcomes and can be applied to every environment where there is some form of human behaviour . The Chimp is the emotional element and the frontal lobe is the logical element.