Craig Pickering

Sports Science Quarterly – Q2 2026

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Every quarter we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. In this edition we look at the latest research on inspirational speeches, lessons from motor sports, and more.

As always, the full Sports Science Quarterly is available exclusively to HMMR Plus Members. You can browse the past topics on our archive page. The first topic below is free to everyone, but sign up now to read about all the latest research. To get an idea of what Sports Science Quarterly is all about, the April 2016 edition is available in its entirety for free.

This Quarter’s Topics

Inspirational leader communication

Quick Summary – Inspirational speeches in sport, from Pacino’s Any Given Sunday to Jim Telfer’s “Everest” talk, are often viewed as iconic, yet research into how such communication actually inspires athletes at the elite level has been limited. Research analysing authentic footage from the British & Irish Lions, found six key themes of effective communication: framing the challenge, instilling belief, embracing the underdog role, showing the route to success, promoting responsibility, and fostering unity. The study highlights that inspiration comes less from theatrics and more from authentic, fluent delivery that balances emotional intensity with clarity and a strong sense of team identity.

There are some famous speeches from within sport, from both real-life and film. From the latter, there is Al Pacino’s famous speech from the film Any Given Sunday, where he implores the American Football players he leads to fight for every inch on the field of play. Outside of fiction, Jim Telfer’s British and Irish Lions’ speech about Everest is very well known. Speeches like this are often termed iconic, and they get a lot of attention from developing coaches, looking to provide some final words of wisdom to the athletes’ they lead. However, until recently, research into speeches from elite sports environments has been lacking; whilst there has been research on communication in elite sport more broadly (and between coach and athlete more specifically), this research hasn’t looked at communication designed to inspire within an elite sport setting in great depth. There is some research from lower-level representative sport; for example, college athletes in team sport events have been shown to prefer emotional messages; this preference is stronger when the team is considered an underdog. When coaches express genuine emotion in their voice, partnered with short, sharp messages that are linked to team values, athletes report greater improvements in focus, emotional arousal, and performance. Other research has highlighted that the use of film clips, which have been shown to increase athlete inspiration to perform well. When asked by researchers, elite soccer coaches outlined their belief that inspirational communication should be centered around:

  • Communicating a clear vision 
  • Charisma
  • Creating a need for change
  • Providing empowerment
  • Providing leader reliability (which included providing protection to athletes, and relieving them of perceived sources of pressure). 

These traits are similar to that of transformational leadership (which is often defined as idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration – you can see how some of these factors are drawn out by the behaviours of the elite soccer coaches). 

All of which brings us to a study from 2017; Investigating inspirational leader communication in an elite team sport context, from lead author Mattthew Smith. Here, the researchers sought to examine the communication of leaders within an elite sport environment. To do this, they utilised video footage from the British and Irish Lions, an elite rugby team that, every four years, play a 3-series test match against either South Africa, New Zealand, or Australia on a rotating basis. The advantage of this study is that it utilised real-world footage, whilst previous research has depended an athlete recalled from past experiences, which don’t always give the full picture. In addition, the video footage was captured across a variety of authentic moments, including in the changing rooms pre-match; given the importance of the occasion, it’s highly likely that the leaders in this environment were acting as they usually did, as opposed to changing their behaviour due to being observed (although its worth noting that some of the speeches were edited somewhat for the documentary used in the study). The researchers showed videos of the communication to a group of club-level rugby players, along with athletes from other sports, to determine how each clip inspired and motivated them to perform. 

In analysing the footage of these rugby leaders communicating with their followers, the researchers identified six key themes of successful communication:

  • Expressing the challenge and rewards of success
  • Creating and enhancing belief
  • Embracing and reinforcing the underdog status
  • Showing how the team can be successful 
  • Empowering the athlete to take personal responsibility
  • Creating pride and unity within the team.

The researchers also identified some features of communication that were perceived to be inspiring. These included the leaders building up to a key point, as well as the use of pauses, repetition, and emphasis. Across the length of a speech, the building of intensity as it progressed was also viewed as a key communication feature. In addition, demonstrations of passion and, to an extent, aggression (noting that this was a male-dominated environment) were reported to be effective. However, this aggression wasn’t in the form of shouting; participants emphasised the importance of a calm delivery that built in intensity. The research participants also outlined some features of speeches they did not like, which included multiple people speaking at once—this was seen as providing some confusion as to the key message. Participants also preferred communication that was fluent (i.e., the speaker wasn’t searching for the words to say), and not monotone in delivery. 

This study aligns quite closely with subsequent studies. For example, one study looked at pre-game speeches is basketball, finding that the emotional intensity of these speeches increased the collective efficacy of the team, as well as their short-term arousal, but that authenticity was crucial. This study on half-time team talks also highlighted the importance of emotional authenticity from coaches, along with clarity in their messages. In this study, researchers found a measurable improvement in second-half performance after an inspirational half-time talk, again highlighting the positive role coaches can play. However, this study, in Gaelic footballers, serves as a cautionary tale; players reported “inspirational fatigue” from over-used rhetoric, suggesting that it can be overdone. 

As a leader, the findings of this study should assist in creating a pre-competition plan. However, it is also important to try not to be too structured and planned in creating a speech, as it may limit its authenticity. The research also underlines that inspirational communication in elite sport is not about copying iconic speeches word-for-word, but about striking the right balance between content, delivery, and authenticity. Coaches who can frame the challenge, instil belief, highlight controllable routes to success, and embed pride and unity are more likely to generate the kind of emotional lift athletes respond to. Importantly, this isn’t a licence for theatrics; forced rhetoric or over-planning risks falling flat. The lesson for leaders is to understand their team’s identity, speak with genuine conviction, and deliver their message in a way that feels both natural and resonant in the moment.

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