Jarlath Regan's Irishman Abroad podcast is proving to be a massive hit with Irish podcast listeners, as it consists of long form interviews with a myriad of Irish stars such as Dylan Moran, Hozier, AP McCoy, and Graham Linehan to name but a few.
Another big name is set to appear on the podcast, as Brian O'Driscoll recently sat down for a chinwag on a wide range of topics such as overcoming shyness, his fallout with Paul Kimmage, and even the idea of him making the 2015 Rugby World Cup squad, but we were particularly interested in his explanation of how he overcame a crisis of confidence that he was suffering in 2008.
The podcast will be released this Sunday on iTunes and Soundcloud, but we've got a snippet for you here that should whet your appetite for the whole thing, after BOD claimed that a sports therapist suggested he should watch YouTube compilations of himself to get his mojo back:
I was in a bad dip of form, I went through some personal disappointments. I had some hard times in 2008 with the death of my friend and there was an incident in New York where I got wrongfully arrested. And all these culminated and effected my form. I needed a neutral voice. For want of a better expression, it was almost counseling to try and change my mindset a small bit and get myself thinking in positive manner about how i get the best out of myself again.
I own about three hundred thousand hits on a four hundred thousand hit montage video. People might think "Wow, a lot of people have watched this!" It's actually just me watching them over and over again!!...I did look back on them to remind myself of what I was capable of and the skill set that was always there.
Typically modest, the video he is probably talking about actually has closer to a million views.
We can't help but wonder now, how many other top sports stars are watching their best stuff on YouTube?
It's a pretty solid motivation tactic, "look at how amazing you are", and it must have helped, as BOD was back to his best before long, but then again it is a pretty damn fine YouTube compilation.
It would probably different if say, Paul McShane was told to watch YouTube clips of himself and only saw this:
(We have no beef with Kilpeaddar's finest, but YouTube certainly isn't kind to him.)
You can catch 'An Irishman Abroad' on iTunes and Soundcloud if you want to listen to O'Driscoll's interview in full, which again is due to be released on Sunday.
