Steve Lawrence is a consultant to Cruyff Football and Ajax. With a Masters in International Sports Management, Steve is at the forefront of research into the topic of Relative Age Effect. Here Steve gives Player Development Project readers an exclusive look behind the scenes at Ajax’s brand new academic education centre, a building he worked on as a consultant architect. The project for the new academic education centre at Ajax football club came about following discussions about the nature of pedagogy in the elite youth…
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Content focussed on helping you take a holistic approach to developing your players.
To set the scene for the following discussion on socio-cultural constraints, we start with Ruben Jongkind’s comments made during May 2016’s NextGen Talks. Ruben is the former Head of Talent Development at Ajax Amsterdam, and after working with Johan Cruyff on ‘Plan Cruyff’ he is regarded as a leading authority on Johan’s philosophy. Ruben Jongkind’s comments give a clear example of how socio-cultural (macro) factors influence player development within academies. While most of us are well aware of the problems with a ‘win-at-all-costs’ mentality, Ruben’s…
Sara D. L. Dos Santos, Daniel Memmert, Jaime Sampaio, and Nuno Leite The Big Idea In the team sports it is traditional that when coaches are asked what they are coaching, the usual response is, for example, “I coach soccer.” But if soccer coaches were collectively to adopt the general idea of what these researchers call the Creativity Development Framework, they might be more inclined to say “I coach creativity.” However odd this latter response may seem, the authors of this paper imply that this…
Co-founder of Myfastestmile & regular PDP contributor, Mark Upton discusses learning dynamics and the challenges of making change within any existing system citing examples from performance sport. I was recently asked for a reflection on my experiences in performance sport. After some pondering what came to mind was how learning (for all involved, not just players) needs to be a constant given that there will never be a blueprint/recipe/formula that can be settled upon with any permanency. Over time this becomes easier said than done,…
N. Balague, C. Torrents, R. Hristovski, and J. A. S. Kelso The Big Idea As scientific disciplines go, sport science is but a babe in the historical woods of science proper. In spite of the fact that the recent evolution of sport science is essentially interdisciplinary, many believe it has already become a victim of its own success. That is, instead of achieving its promise of successfully integrating the disciplines and sub-disciplines it is composed of (such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, psychology, sociology, and the…
How do we manage our own bias in coaching and player development? Founder of Fit Across Cultures, Susan Salzbrenner discusses this difficult topic that is inherently part of human nature but manageable if you invest time with learning to understand your players. Every coach has a favorite player. Although most of them would never admit that. Giving all players a fair chance to prove their worth is a quality many coaches pride themselves with. But is there really such a thing as being a fair…
Alfonso Montuori and Ronald Purser The Big Idea Get ready for a dust-up! The authors of this paper published a lengthy literature review and discussion on the social dimensions of creativity in an earlier paper we previously summarised for the Player Development Project. Its title was “Deconstructing the Lone Genius Myth: Toward a Contextual View of Creativity.” Their primary intent in that paper was to argue that the idea of the lone genius theory of creativity needs revisiting. It wasn’t long before Carl Hale took…
Euro 2016 provided a fascinating insight into the relationship between football, player development and culture. PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan looks at the importance of culture and how its influences can be traced in different development environments across the world. The way we play football is a reflection of culture. Playing styles (team and individual) mirror the social values and cultural practises within socio-cultural contexts. Contexts like the schools, clubs, or groups we’ve belonged to. Growing up in England I tackled hard, avoided making mistakes and played it safe, especially under…
Tania Cassidy and Lynn Kidman The Big Idea When most anyone—whether in or out of the institution of sport—brings up the idea of coaching education programs, the quick response is “Yes, but . . .”. The “yes” is near-universal agreement that such education is necessary; the “but” is near-universal hesitation about what such programs should entail. The typical compromise results in creating programs that are big, dependent largely on generic and formal coaching courses, and entail elaborate qualifications and certificates. Cynicism usually follows. And coaching…
Iceland’s development pathway has been the focus of debate following the tiny nation’s showing at Euro 2016. But underpinning all the investment is an intangible thread, which recently came under attack from one of the world’s best players: their mindset. In light of the comments made by Cristiano Ronaldo and others about the Icelandic mindset, Jon Hoggard looks to unpick how the national team’s mentality has been formed by the country and shaped by recent investment. In qualifying for Euro 2016, Iceland became the…
Sarah Ullrich-French, Meghan H. McDonough, and Alan L. Smith The Big Idea We moderns are sometimes seduced into believing that our remarkable, collective technological progress and improvement is equivalent to human progress and improvement. But this is not necessarily so. Creating and sustaining positive individual and even national character is one heck of a social problem that befuddles us still, no matter our technical wizardry. The growing interest in creating positive youth development (PYD) programs most certainly is one international effort to help the youngest…
Lecturer and Sports Coaching & Development expert, Dr. John Stoszkowski discusses how systems and stories shape the way we learn and whether we do enough to question our current paradigm as coaches. “Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.” – Michael Shermer Imagine you’re a hominid going about your business on the plains of Africa a few thousand years ago. It’s daylight, so you’re out hunting and gathering food or wood for…
Jessica L. Fraser-Thomas, Jean Cote, and Janic Deakin The Big Idea Richard Feynman (1918-1988), the celebrated theoretical physicist, once wrote about an experience he had while visiting Hawaii. It was suggested that he visit a Buddhist monk who lived high up in the mountains. He did so. Somewhere in their discussion, the monk told Feynman something he never forgot. The monk said: “To Man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell.” When we talk of…
Join us for a video discussion with National Coach Education Manager from Football Federation Australia, Sean Douglas. PDP Editor Dave Wright is joined by Lead Researcher, James Vaughan in a wide ranging discussion. We cover topics including: Image Source: depositphotos.com
PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan examines the influence of corporations on football. Highlighting the danger of economic incentives he looks at how Leicester City’s story could be catalyst for a revolution in the global football story. Where do you think future of the game (football) is going? Question posed by Eduardo Rubio (Head of Academy Coach Development at MK Dons, England) at a panel discussion entitled “Building a learning culture in a football club” at the 2016 AIPAF: III International congress of Applied Psychology in…
Player Development Project Technical Advisor, Dan Wright discusses the importance of knowing your player, building relationships and coaching the person. Building trust between coach and player is vital for success at all levels. If your goal as the coach is to aid development of youth players or to win the Premier League it is impossible without the relationship between athlete and coach. The intangible bond between athlete and coach is very noticeable, at training sessions, in conversations and at games and yet at the same…
How does a coach help a player maximise their return on training? Todd Beane, Founder of TOVO Institute & regular PDP contributor discusses the value in prioritising learning and maximising training time to get the most out of every session. Wouldn’t you want to maximize the return on the investment of your time and energy? As a teacher, wouldn’t you want to know that you are using every hour afforded to you to maximize learning? As a coach, wouldn’t you want your training to bring about…
Joseph Baker and Sean Horton The Big Idea Whether human development is a product of nature or nurture is one of the longest and most colourful debates in the history of ideas. More common today however is the growing belief that we evolve by way of the intertwining of both our biological and environmental influences. This review paper explores the impact of these interactions on human performance, and in particular, on acquiring and demonstrating sport expertise. The inherent complexity of interacting influences in the pursuit of sport expertise is…