Amidst the clamour and glamour of a fantastic World Cup in Russia, the ugly spectre of play-acting and simulation was always lurking. PDP Assistant Editor, Jon Hoggard, considers the impact of cheating on such a big stage, and uses observational learning theory to highlight the importance of removing it from the game. It’s the 17th minute of the World Cup Final. You’re dribbling at an angle towards the opposition box, with their well-drilled defensive line alert and ready, and your strikers are marked. You…
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Argentina were eliminated from the World Cup in the Round of 16 by eventual winners, France. PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan examines some of the cultural questions we’re left with on the back of a disappointing campaign from a traditional football heavyweight. While Phil Neville’s mansplaining was trending on Twitter and Neymar’s spaghetti haircut was splattered all over Facebook, there were some World Cup stories unearthing deeper questions. Deep questions with hidden connections. Wading through the catchphrase cliché’s provided by many pundits, moments of insightful questioning caught the eye…
In this fascinating and in depth conversation, PDP Editor, Dave Wright hosts International Hockey Coach & Coach Developer at Oxford Brookes University, Danny Newcombe. Danny and Dave discuss a wide range of topics around skill acquisition, constraints based coaching, creating a learning environment, the coaching spectrum and more. This is a must watch interview with a true innovator and thought leader in coaching. Danny is a Senior Lecturer, Coach Developer and Skill Acquisition Expert at Oxford Brookes University in England. A leading Hockey Coach, Danny…
Blandine Bril The Big Idea In shorthand, this paper is both WEIRD and weird. In longhand, it is about the impact of cultural constraints on motor habits. In a sentence: It is weird that the scientific community regularly assumes that Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) peoples are solely representative of humankind. This paper by Blandine Bril was published in Kinesiology Review in 2018. Bril’s question is a simple one: Are there “motor styles” common to members of a given cultural group? Her answer…
The 2018 World Cup displayed football and team cultures from around the world. In this article, Dr. John Alder of the English Institute of Sport follows up his article from Issue 17 of PDP Magazine with an insightful examination of the importance of ‘thinking culturally’. Note: John contributed to this article in his personal capacity. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of either the English Institute of Sport or UK Sport. As a custodian of a team’s culture,…
Australian cricket is embroiled in scandal. One of the world’s most talented teams has been tarnished with the label: cheats. The sporting world watches on and three players have been sent home, their careers uncertain after lengthy bans. PDP Editor & UEFA A licensed coach, Dave Wright, discusses how this incident is perhaps a culmination and reflection of a dominant narrative in Australian sport but also an opportunity for change. This Australian team has been guilty of poor behaviour for years, but it has finally…
In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright is joined by Strength & Conditioning Coach, Matt Depledge. Matt has spent the last four years working for a Premier League Academy in England and is now working in the world of youth development in Tennis. Matt gives us a brilliant insight into his own experience and offers his advice as to how coaches can integrate strength and conditioning strategies into their practice, load management and more importantly, the importance of applying sports science as part of…
The Big Idea A good example of Yiddish wit is the old parable, “Man plans, God laughs.” By now this adage has not only achieved bumper sticker status, but the American hip hop group Public Enemy used it as the title of their 13th studio album (released July 16, 2015). For our purposes then, it isn’t a stretch to connect this bit of wisdom to the world of sports. After all, planning is at the root of most all preparation and performance in sport. Is…
A Constraints Led Approach is a coaching methodology that Player Development Project actively promotes. Top PDP contributor, PE Teacher and blogger, Sporticus shares his excellent reflections from a coach education event in late 2017 in Sheffield, England attended by researchers and thought leaders in coaching. Over half term I had the pleasure to attend a seminar on Research and Practice Design in Elite and Development Team Games Programmes at Sheffield Hallam University. The three presenters Vanda Correria, Mark O’Sullivan and Danny Newcombe shared their current research and practice which…
Founder of Changing the Game Project and top Player Development Project contributor, John O’Sullivan shares his ideas about the definition of performance and how to create an environment of autonomy, learning and accountability. Last week I received the following email (edited for anonymity). We get calls and emails like this quite often from amazing, passionate coaches who are trying to make a difference. Take a read: Dear John, I’m currently a head football coach…I took over the program last January after being on staff for…
UEFA A licensed coach & PDP Editor, Dave Wright discusses why an individual approach to player development is crucial after recently presenting at a conference in Australia. The presentation was based on his philosophy, PDP research and experience from his time at Fulham FC. Recently, I was fortunate enough to be invited by Football Federation Victoria (the state governing body for football in Victoria) to present at their State Coaching Conference in Melbourne. I was given freedom to choose a topic, but encouraged to…
Keith Davids, Duarte Araújo, Luis Vilar, Ian Renshaw & Ross Pinder The Big Idea When asked to comment on what he found to be so special in playing the classical guitar, Andres Segovia spoke of his sitting position in playing it. He said he leans his body forward slightly to support the guitar against his chest, “for the poetry of the music should resound in our heart.” So why shouldn’t the poetry of the sports player resound in his or her heart? Which is what…
Constraints based learning and ecological dynamics are concepts that Player Development Project has promoted for a long time. Football coach and University tutor, Ben Galloway shares his excellent video on the topic around how the concepts can be applied in your coaching environment. The next couple of blog posts that I share via PDP will revolve around some videos that I have produced, stemming from Constraints Based Learning and Ecological Dynamics. Hopefully what these videos will provide is support to previously posted material and a…
Martyn Rothwell, Joseph A. Stone, Keith Davids, and Craig Wright The Big Idea In the pursuit of producing “expert” sports men and women, there is a myth worth exploring. It is common to take for granted that the number of years or hours of practice are predictive of becoming expert. For example, there is something called the 10,000-hour rule. The psychologist K. Anders Ericsson studied how people become experts in their field. He concluded that 10,000 hours of practice was a reasonable rule of thumb. …
Game-based learning has enormous benefits in terms of decision-making and skill acquisition. PE Teacher, blogger and regular PDP contributor, Sporticus shares his fantastic article on the advantages of manipulating games and the environment and how coaches can adjust conditions in order to help young players improve their skills. At the heart of a games based approach to teaching is the challenge to the centrality of learning isolated and decontextualised techniques that will ‘allow’ the child to play. Instead of starting with the practice…
Do you understand the context of your coaching environment? PDP contributor and associate lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, Ben Franks discusses the issues around the ongoing unopposed vs. opposed training debate and explains why context is key in a learning environment. Going Beyond the Opposed vs. Unopposed Dualism Unopposed vs. opposed, technique vs. skill – these arguments are forever plaguing Twitter, Facebook and coaching platforms. Some arguments come from theory, others from years of coaching experience, but all seem to be missing a really obvious point: everything pertains to context….
What influence does sporting governance have on player development and the athlete environment? Mark Upton, founder of myfastestmile, discusses how governing and funding bodies are PART of a complex social system – not THE system Previous fragments – #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9 In one of the links in fragment #9 it was intimated that innovation in football academies could be hampered by rigid regulations imposed from the governing body of that sport. This is not a sport-specific phenomena…Peter Gray (2014) talks of the same issue in education and the challenges of…
Luca Oppici; Derek Panchuk; Fabio R. Serpiello; and Damian Farrow The Big Idea If this study does nothing else, it should reinforce a couple of useful ideas hovering over our sporting life. First, there is inherent relevance for the power of field research to inform our sports practices. Second, we are learning that our sporting practices, where possible, need to be as game-specific as we can make them. This study is field-based in both its design and technical sophistication; it is not simulation, but fact-based…