PDP Co-Founder and psychology researcher, James Vaughan, explores creativity in footballers with a focus on the coach’s perspective. What does it mean to foster creativity in players? How can we better understand the process of encouraging creative problem solving on the field? Vaughan offers practical insights and solutions to an often abstract topic. Creativity is often described as the use of imagination to invent something. Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson refines this idea by explaining creativity as ‘the process of having original ideas that have value’. The…
visualisation
How much impact does positive visualisation have on performance? Roy Skillen examines the effect of this powerful process using examples of some of sports best performers. Sydney Australia, 21st of November 2003. Jonny Wilkinson stands 40 yards out lining up a penalty in the dying seconds of the Rugby World Cup Final. England trail by one point and this is surely their last chance of claiming their first world crown. But rather than showing any sign of nerves there is a confidence about his stance,…
Critically acclaimed and widely accepted as the most effective performance enhancing mental skill by high-performance athletes, CEOs, actors, public speakers and authors, ‘visualisation’ is often undeveloped and largely under-used in player development settings, as well as other educational environments. But why is this the case? PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan discusses. Similarly, while ‘vision’ is regarded as the cornerstone of organisational, leadership, or long-term development structures, minimal emphasis is placed on players’ vision for their own future. American author Stephen Covey sees vision as an…
In a time when self promotion and self celebration seem to be the focus of an entire generation, Lara Mossman explains why teamwork is still the most effective game plan of all. Nick Levett, FA National Development Manager, says that first and foremost we should be building good character in young people. It is sound advice for players developing their dream style of play because character plays an important role in goal achievement. The field of positive psychology has identified 24 character strengths that can enable…