Untapped Stories
Irish Rugby's Head Performance Coach on Communication, Movement, and Developing Great Athletes
In this episode of Untapped Stories, we sit down with Nick Winkelman, PhD - Head of Athletic Performance & Science for the Irish Rugby Football Union, former director of education at EXOS, and author of the widely acclaimed book The Language of Coaching: The Art & Science of Teaching Movement - to talk about what separates great coaches from good ones, why the words you use matter more than you think, and what it really takes to build an elite athlete from the ground up. After working with athletes across the NFL, NBA, MLB, international rugby, and beyond, Nick has arrived at a belief that reshapes how most people think about coaching: The program is only half the job. The language is the other half. X's and O's, training loads, and periodization plans all matter. But when it comes to actually changing how an athlete moves and performs in the moment, it's the words a coach chooses — the cues, the analogies, the feedback — that determine whether the message lands or gets lost. The best coaches in the world aren't just the most knowledgeable. They're the most engaging communicators in the room. Nick explains that coaching language isn't about being flashy or entertaining. It's about meeting athletes where they are — building cues that connect to how the body actually learns movement, and creating environments where athletes can feel the difference, not just hear about it. Whether you're coaching elite rugby players in Dublin or youth athletes in a local gym, the principles are the same: speak to the body, not just the brain. From there, the conversation shifts into something Nick feels strongly about outside the elite performance world: Get kids moving early — and keep it varied. In a world where early specialization has become the default, Nick makes a compelling case for mobility, physical literacy, and multi-sport participation as the foundation of long-term athletic development. Kids who develop broad movement vocabularies early don't just become better athletes — they become more coachable, more adaptable, and more resilient as they move through increasingly competitive environments. The body learns by doing many things, not one thing over and over again. The conversation also explores one of Nick's most thought-provoking observations about elite athletes: The best ones are almost always talented AND tested. Across years of working with world-class performers, Nick has noticed a consistent pattern — the athletes who reach the highest levels rarely had it easy. Natural talent opened the door, but adversity, setbacks, and obstacles shaped what happened once they walked through it. The athletes who've had to fight for something tend to bring a quality to their training and their competition that raw talent alone simply can't produce. Throughout the episode, Nick highlights the core principles that drive elite development at every level: Why coaching language and cueing are as important as programming Using analogies and external cues to unlock better movement The case for getting kids into mobility and physical literacy early Why multi-sport backgrounds build more complete, adaptable athletes How adversity and talent together create elite performers Bridging the gap between sports science and real-world coaching This episode is a must-listen for coaches at every level, parents thinking about how to set their young athletes up for long-term success, and anyone who believes that how you say something matters just as much as what you say. ️ Untapped Stories is presented by https://athletesuntapped.com/ — the nation's leading platform for private sports coaching. We connect athletes and families with elite coaches who help players build strong fundamentals, confidence, leadership, and lifelong habits through sports. Follow https://www.instagram.com/athletesuntapped/ for more conversations with elite coaches and athletes, and explore private coaching to elevate your game and development.
