Creativity values, culture, systems and control. What does it all mean and how does it impact coaching and sporting environments? In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright hosts Co-Founder of my fastest mile, Mark Upton alongside PDP Lead Researcher and AIK Academy Coach, James Vaughan. In this wide-ranging conversation, the guys discuss some of James’ Phd research and his recently published paper on creativity, as well as diving down a number of rabbit holes such as: This philosophical discussion will hopefully leave you considering…
positive youth development
Christina Salmivalli The Big Idea This review paper was published in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior. Its subject is bullying. While its context is the classroom, what is reported in the research entails the fields of play as well. If there is an umbrella quote covering the inherent nastiness of bullying, it would be this, Maya Angelou’s reflection: “I’ve learned that people forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” What amplifies…
John W. Mahoney, Daniel F. Gucciardi, Clifford Mallett, and Nikos Ntoumanis The Big Idea It would be difficult to find an adult athlete or coach who doesn’t have a favourite quote on the need for mental toughness in competitive sports. Who hasn’t heard the general adage that success in sports is 10% physical and 90% mental? Or who among us hasn’t read the mighty locker room posters from the past: from Babe Ruth, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up;” from Bobby…
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…
Joseph Baker, Jean Cote, and Bruce Abernathy The Big Idea When asked about his early years, hockey great Wayne Gretzky, said: “I played everything. I played lacrosse, baseball, hockey, soccer, track and field. I was a big believer that you played hockey in the winter and when the season was over you hung up your skates and you played something else.” This paper is one of the early research warning signs that Gretzky may have been right about the value of playing multiple sports when…
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…
Paule Miquelon and Robert J. Vallerand The Big Idea The good news coming out of the general field of psychology since the beginning of the 21st Century is what is called positive psychology. Instead of primary preoccupation with the pathology of mental illness, understanding human well-being and happiness is attracting increasing numbers of scholars and practitioners. In particular, and related directly to this research paper, there is continuing empirical interest in learning more about the relationship between various psychological factors and improvements in physical health. In…
Carsten H. Larsen, Dorthee Alfermann, Kristoffer Henriksen, and Mette K. Christenson The Big Idea One easy way to understand the big idea of this research study into improved talent development in a sport such as soccer is to use an analogy. When the authors speak as they do of a holistic ecological approach to sporting talent development, it is hard not to think of growing a garden. If we want high yield in our garden we begin with the right seeds; we carefully prepare the soil…
Stewart A. Vella, Lindsay G. Oades, and Trevor P. Crowe The Big Idea This study continues the line of research by these authors into the stubborn problem of improving coach education programs. They believe that transformational leadership is a promising partial solution. Historically, transformational leadership and its modern extensions is an approach to create positive change in individuals and social systems. As a leadership concept it has been around since the late 1970s. Over time the approach has been used by government, the military, and…
Stewart Vella, Lindsay Oades, and Trevor Crowe The Big Idea For nearly a century youth organizations having anything to do with sports have claimed various and sundry positive outcomes as a result of such play. Besides just keeping children occupied and out of the work force, it was generally believed that playing sports were character-building experiences. The authors of this study are fully aware of this history. They update the reader on the status of the current research on what is called positive youth development. It is their view that…