Real Talk for Sport Parents Podcast

Hosted by Samantha Livingstone

This episode marks the final episode of the season! I’m so grateful to each + every person who poured time, energy + heart into these conversations — and to each + every person who listened, shared, and took part in building this sacred container.

As this season comes to a close, I’m pausing to practice what I teach — taking space to reflect, listen, and allow what’s authentically aligned to emerge. Thank you for listening, sharing, and being part of these conversations!!

Ep. 26 – David Durand – The Brain Science Every Sports Parent Needs to Know

In this episode, Samantha Livingstone welcomes mental performance coach and author David Durand to discuss adolescent athlete development through a nervous-system and psychology lens. Durand shares his upbringing near New Orleans, early sports obsession, perfectionism, pressure, an autoimmune diagnosis, and injuries that disrupted his athletic path, ultimately leading him into psychology and sports performance work. They explore how internal “demands” (I have to/should) can push athletes into a survival state, why timing matters when talking with frustrated teens, and how parents can ask about an athlete’s internal experience. Durand explains basic brain concepts (upstairs/downstairs brain, “flipping the lid”), emphasizes bottom-up regulation before top-down tools, and outlines his BET framework—Breath (extended exhale and diaphragmatic breathing), Eyes (softening vision and widening peripheral awareness), and Touch (grounding and team connection).

· 02:57 David’s Sports Journey

· 05:07 Helping Teens Thrive

· 07:04 Demands vs Desires

· 11:20 Talking After Tough Games

· 15:33 Hand Model Brain

· 24:27 Connection Action Shutdown

· 31:05 Top Down vs Bottom Up

· 37:37 BETS Breath Basics

· 42:40 Eyes and Nervous System

· 53:23 Unhealthy Climate Warning Signs

· 56:43 Stretch Not Stress

· 57:28 Social Media and Identity

· 01:03:49 Parent Guidelines and Boundaries

Quotes

• “I tell parents now, I think the hardest job right now is to be a, a teenager. Mm-hmm. And specifically a teenage girl. And I think the second hardest job is be a, a parent of a teenager. Um, I think specifically moms, if you have daughters.” [07:27]

• ” How it’s not about getting dysregulated, it’s about finding our way back home, finding our way back to connection mode.” [26:47]

• ” Who, who you are does not come from what you do, but it’ss. Mm-hmm. The opposite of like, what you do comes from who you are.” [55:07]

Social Media and Links

· RTSP Instagram

· samanthalivingstone.co

· realdevelopment.org

· David’s Substack

· David’s Book “B.E.T On It” on Amazon

David’s Bio:

David Durand is a mental performance coach who works with adolescent athletes, coaches, and organizations to strengthen the psychological side of development and performance. His work focuses on helping young athletes build internal security, develop psychological skills, and better understand how their brains and bodies respond to pressure so they can learn more effectively, enjoy the process of sport, and perform at their best.

David is the author of B.E.T. On It: A Psychological Approach to Coaching Gen Z and Beyond, a guide for coaches and parents who want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of modern athletes by understanding the psychological and nervous system factors that influence their behavior, development, and performance.

He is also the author of Better Than Before: A Psychological Guide for Injured Athletes, which provides evidence-based tools and reflective practices to help athletes navigate the mental and emotional challenges of injury recovery and return to sport.