In this blog I will be talking about creativity in coaching as creativity in coaches is vital in order to help recognise their players ability so that they can achieve their full potential. I will also be talking about my experience in coaching and how I have used creativity in my sessions.
Creativity is an ability to think and act in ways that are new and novel. Memmert & Roth, (2007) state that creativity entails varying, rare and flexible decision making in complex game situations. Memmert & Roth, (2007) mentions that invention and innovation is also central for creativity. An example of invention is when a coach would change the training session using a brand new method which the athletes haven’t used before. Therefore, athletes may learn better in this way and as a result may make them more creative. Coaches may also approach their athletes in a novel way to help their athlete move forward. Innovation is when a coach is able to recognise and also take advantage or initiate a light bulb moment. This is when a coach would have a break through idea which would change the whole game.
In order for athletes to remain creative they have to consider many aspects when training, as it has a large impact on their body as well as their intellectual activities. When an athlete trains it can help them feel confident in themselves. However, to have a creative mind you have to push yourself to think further than just inside the box. An example of this would be Floyd Mayweather as he trains 5 times a day when a fight date has been set. He trains in different ways in comparison to every other boxer in the field. However he is very creative when he is boxing as he would throw combinations that other boxing fighters simply cannot implement.
It states in Fairweather, E., Cramond, B. and Landis, R. (2015) creative coaching is often used by coaches as it helps improve the physical activities that are being carried out whilst making teamwork more effective. However, coaching is also about improving yourself every step of the way, not considering any setbacks but using creativity to prepare for a more eventful session. It states in Wayne, (2010) that the best five golden rules for a creative coach are the following; the idea must be new, it must work, all athletes must understand it, it must be flexible and subject to change as well as being limited by the restrictions or boundaries of past thinking. Coaches following these rules will make for a successful creative coach.
In previous coaching experience I have used creative coaching in a high school when they were all told to come up with a passing drill. They had 15 minutes to come up with a drill which they failed to do as they struggled and had a lack of knowledge therefore I had to step in as a coach and set out a passing drill which was more structured and something they could relate to. Moving forward I would carry out this activity with autonomous players which would have good knowledge as this would work better with them.
In another of my previous coaching experience I have carried out creative coaching in my boxing sessions as being creative leads to success. This helped me create new ideas for the session and new pathways to improve and enhance the children’s performance. Similarly it has helped me discover that being creative is very important therefore carrying out basic sessions will result with the children getting bored and would ultimately lead them to not attend the sessions. Creative coaching has also helped me recognise that being creative is not only about carrying out sessions differently, it’s about making them fit according to each child and help improve performance in order to become a better athlete as that is what creativity is based upon.
On the other hand, Non-creative coaching can lead athletes to become narrow minded which means they will not pay attention or not want to listen to their coach or anyone else however this can then lead to fall outs between athletes and coaches. It can also lead athletes to become demotivated as they are not willing to play or train to their best of their ability as their sessions are repetitive. Non-creative coaching can also lead to a closed mindset for athletes as they will not want to learn specific drills that their coach might put in place and will stick to basic training. Non-creative coaching can ruin a good working relationship and a team.
With regards to my previous experience in boxing my coach used non-creative coaching skills, this did not help me or my training partners. My coach was giving out instructions on how to shadow box, but many individuals already had their own technique due to every fighter not the being the same. Our coach thought being creative will help but it did not, we all forgot our own technique and started to carry out his way of shadow boxing which did not help and affected everyone in training. Therefore we spoke to our coach and explained the methods of training were not for us and as a result he has not carried out another session like this. This was very important to me as this could have lead me to lose interest in the sport as I did not enjoy his coaching method and continuously using such methods would lead to lack of motivation in this field.
Bibliography
Memmert, D. and Roth, K. (2007). The effects of non-specific and specific concepts on tactical creativity in team ball sports. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(12), pp.1423-1432.
WG COACHING. (2019). Creative Coaching: Teaching coaches to be Creative and Innovative. – WG COACHING. [online] Available at: https://wgcoaching.com/creative-coaching-teaching-coaches-to-be-creative-and-innovative/
.Fairweather, E., Cramond, B. and Landis, R. (2015). Are creativity tests susceptible to coaching?. Asia Pacific Education Review, 16(2), pp.177-182.
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