Jona Bronswijk is a boxing coach working with the Dutch Olympic boxing squad. He is interested in practice and training designs that are informed by the constraints led approach. Jona is also studying for a masters degree in sport coaching science.The Constraints Collective

Dr Kane Middleton is an Associate Professor of Sport and Occupational Biomechanics within the Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science and the Sport, Performance, and Nutrition Research Group. Kane also serves as La Trobe University's Academic Program Director for the La Trobe - Sheffield Hallam joint PhD program. He completed his PhD in Sports Bio…

In this episode with discuss learning and performing in sport. For too long, learning and performing have been viewed as separate processes—train, then apply. But is that truly how we skilfully engage in competitive situations? In this episode we suggest learning and performing are a symbiotic process. If you’re not learning while performing or per…

Christian Thue Bjørndal is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sport and Social Science. He has a Master’s Degree in Sports Coaching and Sport Psychology from NIH and received in 2017 his PhD from research focusing on the dynamics of talent development in Norwegian handball. Christian is interested in interdisciplinary perspectives on athle…

Returning for a second time this week is Craig Morris, who has been a British Canoe Slalom performance coach for the past 20 years. Craig started his career as a pathway development lead in the Olympic sport of Canoe Slalom, he found a home in coaching at the age of 23. The process of co-creation in the pursuit of growth and performance enthralled …

Sion has been involved in futsal since 2004. As a player he represented Great Britain at two World University Games and played International futsal for Wales for 5 years. Captaining his country and scoring at international level are his proudest playing moments. He has also had the honour of coaching the England & Wales U19s as well as the England …

This week we are joined Timo Jaakkola, Sami Kalaja, and Pauliina Vastamäki, organisers of the The International Motor Skills Acquisition Conference. We discuss the forthcoming conference that will run from March 26th to 28th, 2025. Full conference details in the link below. Link to conference registration Event Registration - Kisakallio…

Eric Brymer is an AHPRA registered psychologist, endorsed sport and exercise psychologist and board approved supervisor. He is also a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society and Associate Professor at Southern Cross University. Eric is interested in the psychology of performance, wellbeing and learning in adventure and nature-…

Georgia Askew is a skill acquisition specialist with Para Table Tennis, Australia. She is also a Ph.D. candidate at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, studying the integration of skill acquisition with paralympic coaches and athletes. Georgia is also a Melbourne Storm fan! Links to Georgia's academic publications https://www.frontiersin…

Jim McKay is an Australian professional rugby union football coach. He has held head coaching positions across the world including Brisbane City (Australia), Cornish Pirates (UK) and Kobelco Steelers (Japan), and assistant coaching positions with the Queensland Reds (winning premierships in 2011 and 2021), and the Australian Wallabies Rugby Union F…

Dr Alex Lascu is a skill acquisition amateur (lover of) and researcher at the University of Canberra and Victoria University. Their love of learning and development is currently being explored with WA Cricket, in the hopes of helping every coach start, and continue, their own learning journeys to help young people love sport for a lifetime. Dr Alex…

In this episode we introduce our Patreon site. The site will be updated on the 1st of every month with access to a range of education materials. In addition to education materials we will also be hosting a monthly get together on Zoom. Check out the site at patreon.com/TheConstraintsCollectiveThe Constraints Collective

Ana Ramos, Ph.D., is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, and a member of the Centre of Research, Education, Innovation, and Intervention in Sport. Ana is also a European level volleyball coach and coach educator. Within the area of Sports Sciences, her research interests are related to the topics of sports training, sports peda…

In this episode with discuss the challenge of changing the tackle height in rugby league. Does this challenge need a shift in focus away from solving problems for players to providing environments that set problems and challenges for players to solve? To help us make sense of this issue we are joined by Anthony Sullivan and Cameron Owen. Anthony Su…

Carl has over 20 years of experience in teaching and coaching rugby. He is currently the Coach Education Manager and Performance Lead at the National Rugby League (NRL), where he collaborates with the National Education Program Development team to design, develop, and deliver a sustainable long-term Performance Coach Program in Rugby League. He is …

Jack is a PhD student at La Trobe University. He is interested in the Ecological Dynamics Framework and its application to shooting, where he is uniquely positioned to combine his sports science background with extensive experience as an ISSF rifle shooter. Jack has shot for Great Britain at European Championships, World Cups, and the World Champio…

In this episode we are joined by Jamie Hamilton. Jamie is a UEFA A-licenced coach, an academy coach with Ayr United FC, and is football writer (check out his Medium page for some excellent articles, link below). We discuss football tactics and theory, and how these ideas might be applied in practice. Enjoy! X: @stirling_j Medium: https://medium.com…

Matt is a coach, coach developer and lecturer in sport coaching with fifteen years’ experience across grass roots, elite and paralympic environments covering team and individual sports. Theoretically underpinned by an Ecological Dynamics rationale of learning, Matt’s research explores how coach learning can be guided in context by a coach developer…

Matt is a coach, coach developer and lecturer in sport coaching with fifteen years’ experience across grass roots, elite and paralympic environments covering team and individual sports. Theoretically underpinned by an Ecological Dynamics rationale of learning, Matt’s research explores how coach learning can be guided in context by a coach developer…

Part 2 of the episode with Duarte Araújo, where we discuss the role of cognition in sport performance. Duarte is the director of Expertise in Sport at the Faculty of Human Kinetics at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Duarte is also the head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for the study of Human Performance (CIPER) a national research unit funded…

This week we are joined by Duarte Araújo to discuss the role of cognition in sport performance. Duarte is the director of Expertise in Sport at the Faculty of Human Kinetics at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Duarte is also the head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for the study of Human Performance (CIPER) a national research unit funded by the…

This week we are joined by Paul Garner live from the Manchester Festival of Coaching. Paul is an Assistant Professor in Sport Coaching and Player Development at the University of Birmingham. Paul has represented Great Britain as a member of the British Alpine Skiing Demonstration Team, and has worked extensively in snow sports as a performer, coach…

This week we are joined by Craig Morris, who has been a British Canoe Slalom performance coach for the past 20 years. Craig started his career as a pathway development lead in the Olympic sport of Canoe Slalom, he found a home in coaching at the age of 23. The process of co-creation in the pursuit of growth and performance enthralled and drove him …

This week we are joined by Marianne Davies from UK Coaching to discuss how an ecological perspective is influencing the design and development of coach education and development in the UK. Marianne’s coaching experience includes more than 25 years of working in adventure sports, academic and corporate environments. She is a coach developer, coach e…

In this episode we are joined by Véronique Richard from the University of Queensland. Véronique specialises in performance psychology and creativity, working across research and applied environments. She is currently conducting applied research combining creativity and movement sciences to optimize performance, health and wellbeing. In her prior ro…

In this episode we explore applying the CLA in golf coaching with Pete Arnott. Pete is performance coach consultant and host of the Practice Thinkers podcast. He shares a wealth of experiences and discusses the nuances of working within a CLA framework. Enjoy! Links to golf focused resources www.practicethinkers.com https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-P…

In this episode we start where we left off in episode 2, and continue the discussions about Newell's 1986 book chapter entitled "Constraints on the Development of Coordination". We also discuss a 1994 paper that started to introduce the ideas of ecological dynamics entitled "The natural physical alternative to cognitive theories of motor behaviour:…

In this episode we are re-joined by a previous guest, Noah LaRoche. In true co-design fashion Noah sets the agenda and asks a range of questions about applying the CLA in practice. We explore the challenge of representative learning design and ask the question "how representative does practice have to be for transfer to occur?". Enjoy! Website: www…

In this episode we discuss all things constraints with Tyler Yearby and Shaun Myszka from Emergence. Enjoy! Website: www.theconstraintscollective.com Email: info@theconstraintscollective.comThe Constraints Collective

In this episode we explore basketball coaching with Noah LaRoche from Integrity Hoops. Noah shares some excellent insights into his coaching journey that has spanned many years, where he has worked with children and youth through to NBA stars. Noah shares advice on placing the individual at the heart of coaching, and how to make individualised sess…

In this episode we discuss relational and positional game models in football. The aim of this episode is to discuss what these two distinct approaches mean for coaching, athlete development, performance preparation and skill adaptation. It is not our aim to suggest one is bad and one is good, rather discuss the nuanced relationship between the two …

In this episode we explore the origins of the constraints led approach. We take a look at Karl Newell's 1986 book chapter entitled ‘Constraints on the development of coordination’. The aim of todays episode is to discuss how the concepts proposed in Newells 1986 chapter have influenced applied practice in coaching, skill acquisition, and physical e…

The aim of this short episode is to introduce and re-launch The Constraints Collective. In the episode we explain who we are, what we do, and what we hope to achieve on this journey of working with professionals who are passionate about improving learning environments across sport, education, medicine, law enforcement and the military.…