About
Becoming a performance psychologist
My journey to become an expert in the training of athletes’ minds began at a young age. As a young player I often struggled to believe in my abilities, underperformed under pressure and focused too much on how good everyone else was. There was no one to help and despite reaching an elite level as a player, I knew there must be a better way. I’ve dedicated the past 30 years to specialise in understanding the mental side of performance, athletes minds, the challenges they face in pursuit of their sports goals and developing practical proven strategies to enable them to remove the mental barriers that would have otherwise limited them. I’m honoured to have become a trusted expert with athletes around the world.
Bio
Dr. Neal Bowes (PhD) has over 30 years-experience of performance at the highest level as a player, educator and performance psychologist. He has built an extensive and impressive track record of success both in the UK and USA for his ability to change performance at all levels.
Dr. Bowes is an expert in developing young athletes, many of whom have gone on to compete at US college, national, professional and Olympic level. He has worked with over 1,000 young athletes with example performance successes including; international selection for major events, national level selection, professional contracts, scholarship & selection to top USA colleges, transition from junior national to senior national teams and recovery from major injuries to return to pre-injury performance levels. He ensures each athlete has the foundations, processes and psychological skillsets to reach their potential in a sustainable way both in and out of the sports arena. Athletes describe him as a trusted expert and report high satisfaction with the care and investment they receive from him.
Dr. Bowes co-founded the highly successful sports performance consultancy SPG, Inc. in the USA which became the ‘go to‘ provider for young athletes in the competitive DC. Metro area. He has also been employed on several World Class Performance Programmes in the UK as the lead psychologist for National U16 teams and provided on-site support at European tournaments.
Dr. Bowes has also made a significant impact on children’s experiences in sport. He has been a long-term advocate for better practice and earlier proactive integration of performance psychology in youth sports. He has written national level guidelines for long-term athlete development (LTAD), integrated cultural change, provided full programme provision in academies & schools, and developed CPD programs for sports organisations, schools and academies in the UK & USA. The CARE™ learning approach, developed from his doctoral research, has been integrated into sports, PE and coaching programmes and benefited over 500,000 children to date. He is the co-founder and COO of The 2050 Sports Project dedicated to bringing sustainable positive change in youth sports.
Dr. Bowes gained his PhD. from the University of Bristol and holds masters and undergraduate degrees from the University of Warwick. He was a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) for 15 years and previously a British Association of Sport & Exercise Sciences (BASES) Accredited Sport Psychologist. He is a qualified teacher, qualified coach and former national level coach educator with over 30 years’ experience in educational and coaching settings. His former high level playing experience in football gives him an excellent insight into the demands of high-level sport. As a dad of twin boys, he also understands the realities and joy of being a sports parent.
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Dr. Bowes is a popular speaker and has appeared in leading publications and media outlets such as BBC, NBC and CNN news.
Experience. Trust. Success