ISSUE · JUNE 2026 · HOSTS: IAN RENSHAW & KEITH DAVIDS
June gave us one of the best real-world case studies we could have asked for. The Spurs led Game 4 of the NBA Finals by 29 points and lost — the largest comeback in Finals history. We used it in this month's round-up to talk about momentum as a dynamical-systems attractor, not a mindset — it tracks closely with Gernigon, Briki and Eykens' model of psychological momentum, where a stable attractor state resists small perturbations until a critical fluctuation tips it into a sudden, disproportionate shift. That's what this means for how you design practice.
Alongside that, we had a full month of guest conversation, theory, and reflection. Thanks for being part of it.
— Ian & Keith
THIS MONTH ON THE PODCAST
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WEEK 1GUEST PODCAST · EPISODE 94Michael Richardson
Perception-action coupling, and what it actually looks like to coach for affordances rather than technique.
Listen — Episode 94 → -
WEEK 2THEORY PAPER · EPISODE 95Before the Ball Moves
How international footballers gain their advantage — the anticipatory information elite players pick up before the ball is even played.
Listen — Episode 95 → -
WEEK 3GUEST REVIEWRevisiting Daniel Lycett
Lego-based therapy, team chess, narrow badminton courts, and designing for metastability — Ian and Keith dig back into episode 81.
Read the review → -
WEEK 4MONTHLY ROUND-UPYour Team Was 29 Points Up
Momentum as an attractor state (with a nod to Gernigon, Briki & Eykens' dynamical-systems model of psychological momentum), the NBA Finals collapse, perturbing a losing system on purpose, and why your warm-up doesn't look anything like the game it's meant to prepare players for.
Read the blog →
CLIP OF THE MONTH
"The team that are under pressure, that are losing, they have to perturb the system."
— KEITH DAVIDS, ROUND-UP 11
MEMBERS-ONLY THIS MONTH
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EARLY RELEASEMembers get next month's guest conversation, "What Makes a Champion,"before it goes public.
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MONTHLY CATCH-UPRecorded live this month, plus a summary newsletter recapping the key discussion points for anyone who couldn't attend live.
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PRESENTATION & POSITION STATEMENT"Constrain to Afford or Constrain to Potentiate?" — Ian and Keith dig into the distinction between the two, with a video presentation and a written position statement.
WHAT WE'RE READING / WATCHING
For the underlying theory: Gernigon, Briki & Eykens (2010), "The dynamics of psychological momentum in sport," Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology →
That's June. Onto July — keep an eye out for Ben Teune joining us as guest, a discussion around Gullich's paper on What Makes a Champion, and another guest podcast review.
— The Constraints Collective
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