Science for Sport Podcast

345: Football's Next Competitive Edge: IMPECT

November 9th, 2026  |  27 mins 21 secs

ai in sport, artificial intelligence in football, bundesliga, catapult sports, data analytics in football, data driven decision making, elite football, football analytics, football data, football performance, football performance analysis, football recruitment, football scouting, football statistics, football technology, impect, jens hegeler, opposition analysis, packing, packing data, packing expected threat, performance analytics, performance data, player evaluation, player performance, player recruitment, richard graves, science for sport, sports analytics, sports science, tactical analysis, talent identification, video scouting

Former Bundesliga footballer and IMPECT co-founder Jens Hegeler joins Richard Graves to explore how data is changing performance analysis and recruitment in professional football.

Jens explains why traditional statistics don't always tell the full story, how IMPECT's Packing metric measures the impact of individual actions and how clubs use contextual data to identify and evaluate players. They also discuss the importance of combining data with traditional scouting, IMPECT's integration into Catapult and the growing role of AI in football analytics.

344: Preventing Non-Contact Injuries in Professional Football

November 2nd, 2026  |  35 mins 8 secs

acceleration, andrew hyde, athlete development, athlete education, athlete monitoring, daniel booth, elite sport, football injuries, football performance, football strength and conditioning, force plates, gps data, hamstring injuries, individualisation, individualised training, injury prevention, load management, movement assessment, myolab, non-contact injuries, performance coaching, performance testing, physical preparation, player availability, player ownership, private coaching, professional football, rehabilitation, return to play, richard graves, science for sport, soccer performance, soft tissue injuries, speed development, sports medicine, sports rehabilitation, sports science, sprint mechanics, strength and conditioning, training load

Richard Graves is joined by strength and conditioning coaches Andrew Hyde and Daniel Booth to examine why non-contact injuries remain such a challenge in professional football. They discuss the limitations of squad-based physical preparation, the relationship between data and what actually happens on the pitch, training load, movement mechanics and the importance of understanding each player's individual needs. They also explore how clubs and private practitioners can work together more effectively and why educating athletes to take greater ownership of their physical development could be an important part of keeping players fit and available.

340: What Saliva Testing Can Tell Us About Athletes

October 5th, 2026  |  21 mins 14 secs

athlete health, athlete monitoring, biolyz, biomarker testing, cortisol, elite sport, football performance, illness monitoring, individual baselines, injury risk, marlon millard, performance data, recovery monitoring, richard graves, saliva testing, salivary biomarkers, science for sport, sports science, training load

Richard Graves speaks with Biolyz founder Marlon Millard about the use of frequent saliva testing in elite sport. They discuss individual baselines, cortisol, the need to interpret biomarker trends alongside training and wellness data, and the potential and current limits of using those data to anticipate problems.

338: How Sports Science Has Changed Coaching with Simon Grayson

September 21st, 2026  |  41 mins 21 secs

athlete monitoring, coaching, elite football, elite performance, football analytics, football coaching, football management, football performance, football periodisation, football recovery, football sports science, gps data, high-speed running, huddersfield town, injury prevention, leeds united, leicester city, man management, match preparation, performance data, performance science, periodisation, player availability, player load, preston north end, professional football, recovery, s&c, science for sport, science for sport podcast, simon grayson, sports performance, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, training intensity, training load

Simon Grayson joins Richard Graves to discuss how sports science has transformed professional football across his five decades in the game. From nutrition and recovery to GPS, high-speed running and individualised training, Simon offers a manager's perspective on what performance practitioners can do to genuinely influence decision-making. He explains why data needs context, why coaches still need to trust what they see on the pitch, and why no amount of technology will replace good man-management.

336: How the NFL’s Best Practitioners Use Performance Data

September 7th, 2026  |  29 mins 38 secs

american football, applied sports science, athlete monitoring, athlete preparation, athlete readiness, catapult, catapult sports, college football, data analytics, elite sport, football performance, gps tracking, high performance sport, injury prevention, injury risk, jamie hepner, load management, ncaa football, nfl, performance analysis, performance data, performance technology, player availability, player tracking, practice load, practitioner decision making, sport science, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, training load, training prescription, vector 8, video analysis, wearable technology

Jamie Hepner joins Richard Graves to explain how NFL and college football teams are moving beyond simply collecting performance data and using it to shape practice, manage player availability and improve preparation. They discuss athlete monitoring, training prescription, injury risk and why context and practitioner judgement ultimately determine whether data leads to better decisions.

328: Blood Flow Restriction at the World Cup

July 13th, 2026  |  26 mins 25 secs

Premier League, athlete monitoring, athlete readiness, bfr, blood flow restriction, circulatory recovery, dr warren bradley, elite football, elite sport, exercise physiology, football performance, hrv, hytro, injury risk reduction, international rugby, long-haul travel, performance recovery, performance support, physiotherapy, player availability, practitioner education, recovery, recovery science, return to play, science for sport, sleep quality, sports medicine, sports physiology, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, tournament football, travel fatigue, wearable technology, world cup

Richard Graves speaks with Dr Warren Bradley about how blood flow restriction is being used in elite sport, with a particular focus on World Cup football. The episode explores BFR as more than a recovery tool, covering its role in travel, tissue priming, injury mitigation, return-to-play and player availability. Warren also challenges the obsession with overly specific data, arguing that practical, consistent application matters when working across elite squads under tournament pressure.

325: Building Sports Science Systems That Coaches Use

June 22nd, 2026  |  32 mins 5 secs

ai in sport, anna cruse, applied sports science, artificial intelligence, asymmetry, athlete management systems, athlete monitoring, athlete welfare, catapult, coaching, college sport, data analytics, elite sport, football performance, force plates, high-performance sport, human performance, integrated performance teams, ncaa, performance analysis, performance data, performance science, return to play, science for sport podcast, sport science, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, teamworks, university of utah, utah athletics

Anna Cruse joins Richard Graves to discuss how the University of Utah turns performance data into meaningful decisions across 19 sports. Anna explains why context and education matter more than simply collecting additional metrics, how Utah is developing more individualised athlete monitoring and where AI can support sports science without replacing human judgement.

316: Neuroscience and Coaching in High Performance Sport

April 20th, 2026  |  33 mins 43 secs

athlete development, athlete wellbeing, behaviour in sport, brentford fc, coaching, coaching science, decision making, elite sport, football coaching, football performance, high performance sport, human performance, nervous system, neuroscience, performance consistency, performance psychology, self awareness, sports psychology, sports science

This episode explores how human development, neuroscience, and coaching are converging in elite football. Dr Sally Needham explains how understanding the nervous system, self-awareness, and behaviour can unlock more consistent performance, while offering practical insights for coaches and practitioners looking to integrate these concepts into real-world environments.

315: The Under-fueling Problem in Professional Sport with Dr Nessan Costello

April 13th, 2026  |  31 mins 14 secs

al-ahli fc, athlete health, athlete nutrition, body composition, carbohydrate loading, creatine, disordered eating in sport, elite football nutrition, elite sport, football fitness, football performance, football science, fuelling for performance, hydration, match day nutrition, performance nutrition, pre-season nutrition, premier league nutrition, ramadan sport, recovery nutrition, saudi pro league, science for sport podcast, sports dietitian, sports medicine, sports nutrition, sports nutritionist, sports physiology, sports science, supplementation in sport, underfuelling

Dr. Nessan Costello, 1st Team Sports Nutritionist at Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, joins Richard Graves to discuss the realities of nutrition in elite football. With experience at Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds United, Nessan unpacks why so many professional players are chronically underfuelled, the truth about carbohydrate loading and post-match recovery, and why chasing ultra-lean body composition is actively harming performance. He also shares what Ramadan nutrition looks like from the inside, with training sessions at 10pm and cup ties kicking off past midnight, and what the World Cup heat conditions in North America will demand from nutritionists and athletes alike.

312: The Role of Environment in Player Performance

March 23rd, 2026  |  36 mins 30 secs

athlete mindset, coaching, coaching psychology, elite sport, football coaching, football development, football performance, high performance sport, leadership in sport, performance analysis, player development, player psychology, professional football, sports performance, sports science, talent pathways, team culture

A powerful conversation with Carl Asaba on the realities of professional football — from non-traditional pathways and career setbacks to team culture, psychology, and the importance of man management in elite sport.