Ideas, Insights and Curious Observations
If we want our athletes to creatively navigate the dynamic nature of competition we must build this mindset through trust and exploration.
In team sports, creativity is not just something we hope to see occasionally, it’s critical to unlocking an athlete’s full potential. It’s the essential part of athletic expression that separates the good from the great.
Creativity is not dependent upon innate talent-it’s not something we’re born with. It’s developed over time. At some point in their development, creative individuals found the confidence to think differently, adapt optimally, and express athleticism uniquely.
“Those that posses the unique ability to use both their movement skills and thought processes to solve problems creatively become masters of the moment.”
So the real question is, can creativity be developed?
In my opinion, it can. But to cultivate creativity, you must build your entire coaching culture around it. In team sports, creativity requires a blend of pattern recognition, problem solving and experience. Where skilled athletes can leverage their accumulated knowledge to identify and execute unexpected solutions in dynamic situations. Essentially, hours upon hours of problem solving opportunities under different conditions, with the confidence and freedom to make a mistake as they learn to find the most optimal way. This allows athletes to adapt creatively in real-time.
Teams that know how to cultivate creative expression will embrace unconventional strategies that lead to more opportunities to win the critical moments. It starts by setting a strong foundation in the required skills. Knowing the rules, while exploring the limits. As required skills are mastered, the focus shifts towards the mental side of pattern recognition and situational awareness.
“My philosophy is to use repetition without repetition, or a high volume of reps under a variety of conditions with different problems to solve.”
We may work the same skill or technique, but use it in different, situationally unique ways. This experience gives us mental flexibility, or the ability to adjust quickly to what we are seeing, and find quick and efficient solutions to the problems we encounter.
This is where divergent thinking comes into play. We want the player to explore different options in training, learning what works and what doesn’t in each situation. They have to be innovative. Basically, seeking alternative options to presented problems. It’s unstructured, no correct or incorrect strategy. It’s judgment free. We’re exploring, not testing. It’s multi-faceted, shifting perspective and looking for unlikely combinations that seem to fit.
This process shifts our thinking from the left (more analytical side) to the right (more creative side) of the brain. And in doing so, it fosters a creative mindset for problem solving. The blend of creative thinking and accumulated experience leads to a player that can adapt under pressure.
“Training environments that cultivate a creative mindset see enhanced player performance, increased team cohesion, better adaptability, fewer injuries and long-term engagement.”
But this coaching in this environment requires restraint. If we want the players to actually “learn,” we can’t give them the answers (even though that’s exactly what we want to do). Giving players the answers to the problems they encounter creates the illusion of learning.
It’s actually quite difficult for most coaches. Instead of telling the player what they need to do, coaches need to ask the player questions. When they come up with an answer you didn’t expect, ask more questions. Ask them to show you how that might be done, figure out what they were thinking, allow them to explore.
“It is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment than by trying to make people think more creatively."
Coaches set the environment. Present problems, restrictions, or obstacles, and then get out of the way. The athlete sees the problem and draws from their limited experience of known solutions in an attempt to solve the problem. Coaches now add restrictions or change the environment and ask the athlete to try again. Now what worked before will not work in the current environment. The athlete must find a different solution.
Inexperienced athletes will explore many options that won’t work. That’s fine, but allowing them to figure out it allows them to learn. Telling them it won’t work smothers the learning process and stifles the creative mindset.
In our soccer skills classes, we don’t teach “moves” or “tricks.” We ask them to move their body around the ball to create athletic advantages. We ask them to move the ball around their body to create more ideal angles. We may work a single touch sequence for 15 minutes, but explore 10 different ways of performing that sequence as we change the conditions.
In this block, many athletes will come up with unique and unexpected ways of performing the task, while staying within the rules or restrictions. They find interesting ways to blend skills together and use them in unique combinations that allow them to navigate the space more effectively. I didn’t “teach” them the pattern, but they “learned” to perform the pattern…as they unlock their creative mindset.
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