Developing creative team games players: From jazz to sport coaching

Participants and ethics

The sample comprised a group of seven female volleyball players, aged between 10 and 14 years old, with the majority of the players being 14 years old. This group was sampled due to its accessibility to the first author, who combined the roles of both coach and researcher. This was, therefore, considered to be first person action research (AR), ¹⁷ where the coach developed an inquiring approach to his own coaching practice, aimed at evolving and transforming his coaching practice. The volleyball players had varying levels of experience and the majority had been coached by the first author for the last four seasons. At the outset of the study, the researcher had 12 years of experience as a volleyball coach, coaching both male and female squads, from introductory levels to adult performance-led squads.

The study was approved by the University’s ethics committee: participants were given a detailed information sheet outlining the study’s objectives and giving them the opportunity not to participate in the data collection phases of the study. Consent forms were collected from the participants’ guardians and assent forms from the participants themselves. Anonymity was assured through the use of pseudonyms.

AR approach

This study used jazz concepts of collaborative creativity to challenge the dominant culture rooted amongst sport coaches and to promote a transformation in coaching practice. As such, an AR design was considered most appropriate, as described and justified in the following paragraphs.

Anti-mainstream, creative endeavours tend to be shut-down due to their ground-breaking nature. ¹⁸ This emerges from societal pressures for individual’s actions to conform with normative behaviours.^19,20 However, an AR design has got the structure and potential to emancipate the individuals from the prevailing, yet somewhat inhibiting socio-cultural pressures. ²¹ Indeed, to promote transformation of practice, Kemmis and McTaggart ²² argue that an understanding of practice is necessary, accompanied by an in-depth comprehension of the social and historical context in which the practice occurs. This argument arises from the fact that any given activity is rooted within the interactions between the individuals in the field. ²² Consequently, transforming practice constitutes a socially rooted process, whose first step is initiated by transforming the social relationships in the field. ²²

AR represents an opportunity to question what is happening in the situation and how practice can be enhanced. ²³ McNiff ¹⁷ refers to AR as a form of inquiry to evaluate one’s own practice, identify areas for improvement and set an action plan which addresses the highlighted areas. Traditionally, the reflective opportunities offered by an AR design are based on reflection cycles. ²³ Accordingly, Kemmis and McTaggart ²² described the process as a spiral of intertwined cycles, in which each cycle includes: planning a change, applying and observing the plan, leading towards a modification within the environment, followed by a reflection upon the process and outcomes of the plan, and the restart of a new cycle based on the previous one. However, the researcher should reinvent this structure according to the project’s specificity.^17,24 In fact, from the modifications implemented within the environment, context-specific reactions from the participants will emerge, ²⁴ which will affect the unfolding of each cycle and the evolution of the research.

The role of critical friends in AR

The educational nature of AR ²² highlights the role of collaboration and cooperation in the unfolding of each cycle. Therefore, a crucial component to the process is the interaction and idea sharing with others, named as critical friends (or critical colleagues). ¹⁷ Bi-weekly meetings were held with the critical friends; an experienced action researcher, and a fellow doctoral student. Their role was to provide constructive critique, feedback and support for the researcher in the reflection process. Indeed, the importance of their role was accentuated by their thorough insight of the research context, understanding of the research field and the micro-political dynamics ¹⁷ in sport coaching. In brief, the critical colleagues assumed a crucial role, supporting the researcher to achieve a critical perspective, challenging the researcher’s personal assumptions and consequently, having an impact upon the unfolding of each research cycle. Written reflections documented the main topics discussed and conclusions drawn from the meetings.

Data collection methods

Consistent with McNiff’s ¹⁷ guidelines on how best to gather rich, ‘thick’ data for AR, data were collected from two different sources: focus groups (FGs) with the players, and the coach’s reflective log. The data collection period lasted 14 weeks and was interrupted for three weeks, at week eight, by the Easter vacation during which there was a break in training and games. Data were collected once per week and each training session lasted 2 h.

Focus groups

Aligned with the transformative and evolving nature of AR, ²⁵ player FGs were conducted during week 8 and in week 14, at the end of the first and second research cycles. The aim of the FGs was to evaluate the impact of the AR intervention on the players’ creative thinking. This way, the conversations within each FG critically evaluated the coaching procedures implemented and consequently informed the subsequent research cycle. Semi-structured focus groups ²⁶ were conducted, allowing the participants to drive the content of the conversation in order to access as much information as possible, leading to greater depth in the discussions and consequently allowing for deeper and richer data to be accessed. ²⁷

Reflective log

A reflective log was used to keep a record of the events, describing the evolution of the interventions and to write personal commentaries. ²⁸ Each log entry provided detailed descriptions, functioning as a recording of past events and most importantly, as a reminder for future action. ²² This way, the recorded events contributed to the development and unfolding of the subsequent cycle. The entries also reflected the lead researcher’s personal feelings and frustrations regarding the overall process; the everyday constrictions and challenges present in the coaching environment, such as players’ engagement and attendance or external setbacks (such as the venue availability) which impacted upon the study’s outset.

The AR intervention

During the first research cycle, the focus was on implementing a collaborative, creativity-centred environment. This intervention clashed with the baseline coaching practices where the problem-solving tasks frequently had a unique, optimal solution which promoted convergent, ²⁹ as opposed to divergent, and creative thinking. Here, consistent with Kenny’s ³ principle of ‘privileging creativity’, the players were challenged by the coach to collaboratively develop creative outcomes within a range of generic volleyball games and activities. This seemed a logical first step, to replicate some of the key principles of creativity described by Kenny, ³ since fostering a creativity-driven environment was deemed fundamental for creative behaviours to occur. Although this initial cycle was considered critical to embed a creative mindset within the team’s language and actions, the exaggerated focus on creativity led to a shift away from the study’s objective of utilising creative thinking as a means to enhance the players’ strategic and tactical knowledge.

Following the first cycle, the players were challenged to construct creative and novel actions, within modified games or game-related scenarios, focused on enhancing their strategical and tactical knowledge. Indeed, privileging creativity brought to the forefront the emerging nature of creativity.^2,7 This way the coach’s practice was in line with Kenny’s ³ key principle of maintaining challenge and building knowledge through creativity’s collaborative nature. For instance, athletes were often suggested to ‘do the opposite of what they usually do’ or ‘do the opposite of what their opposition is expecting they will do’. The players were also motivated to collectively construct their responses, leading to additional time allocated for the athletes to discuss their offensive strategies.

Furthermore, aligned with the aforementioned privileging of creativity ³ and Seddon’s ¹⁵ idea that inspirational tales of well-known jazz musicians should be shared with performers, throughout the second cycle, short clips of volleyball games containing what was deemed as ‘creative plays’, were shown to the players as a source of inspiration. These were interpreted with the support of the coach, so that the players could understand how to apply the observed actions and strategies in their own play, instead of simply mimicking the observed actions. In parallel, technically focused practices were delivered, to enhance the players’ known ‘motifs’, as defined in the paper’s introduction. The objective was to enlarge the range of possible technical and tactical options they could ‘draw upon’ and apply when facing game-related scenarios, with the objective of outsmarting the opposition and enhancing strategical knowledge through collaboration. ⁴ Additionally, to develop the players’ ability to adapt their pre-set tactics, game-related scenarios were modified forcing them to adapt their initially set tactic and apply a ‘motif’ coherent to the emergent changes in the game. However, the players’ range of creative actions was constricted by a wide range of factors, such as their limited technical skills, inexperience, physical constrictions (e.g. height) or even the reduced number of participants in each training session. All these factors were the target of careful consideration and reflection, which shifted the study towards a more careful focus on the creation and application of creative strategies ¹⁵ within the third cycle.

Throughout the third and final cycle, emphasis was given to the emergent improvisational process and ‘in-the-moment’ creative actions.^2,4,7 Therefore, the focus was mainly on the use of small sided-games and game-like scenarios, to enhance the players’ ability to adapt their pre-set strategy and to generate creative and emergent solutions to the issues raised within the game. These improvised decisions were individually or collectively discussed with the players, deconstructing their tactical decisions to enhance their tactical understanding. Hence, the main objective of the third research cycle was to enhance the players’ ability to improvise and demonstrate more frequent manifestations of empathetic attunement. ¹⁴

Data analysis

Different sources of data were used to understand the studied phenomenon, increasing the researcher’s confidence on the data collected, ³⁰ to attain the study’s aim and objectives. Consequently, data emerged from the commonalities traced between the FGs and reflective log.

Considering that qualitative data are usually analysed in the form of words and written text, ²⁷ the FGs and reflective logs were fully transcribed to allow a thematic analysis. The procedures suggested by Gratton and Jones ³⁰ were followed to allow a systematic data analysis. The first step consisted of a careful organisation of the data, to permit data to be coded and analysed. This was an ongoing process during the research process, to order and reduce the mass of data collected. The second step consisted of a re-organisation and display of the data collected, to facilitate the drawing of conclusions. The third verification step finalised the conclusions by cross-referencing the field notes and FG transcripts in an attempt to validate some of the conclusions drawn throughout the data collection process.

Focus group data were initially analysed deductively, ³¹ according to the themes presented in the literature (as described in the paper’s introduction). Since the FGs were structured to evaluate the procedures implemented during each cycle, the codes utilised mirrored the same body of literature presented in the introduction. In fact, data were re-read, scanning for statements that might fit into the deductive categories and to also provide the opportunity for further codes to be generated. ²⁶

When analysing the reflective log entries, room was given for new categories to emerge, to accurately reflect the phenomenon being studied. ²⁶ Therefore, an inductive analysis was initially employed. However, as concepts and working propositions began to emerge from the data, the analysis shifted towards a deductive reasoning, to make sense of the emerging concepts in light of the theory. ³⁰

Creativity as a tool to develop strategic and tactical knowledge

The initial emphasis on ‘privileging creativity’ ³ employed during cycle 1 was critical to embed a creative mindset in the players. Indeed, the participants acknowledged during the first FG the importance of creative ideas on court: “To surprise the opponents by using different strategies” (Daisy, FG1); “You are more likely to score if you vary your actions” (Hellen, FG1). This demonstrated an awareness that creativity ‘as an end in its self’ is not enough, it should also be appropriate to the context in which it is being expressed. ¹⁰

This state of mind fuelled the players’ ability to implement creative actions, which were subsequently utilised as a tool to improve technical and strategical knowledge. ¹⁵ Hence, the learning curve was accentuated throughout the second and third cycles of the study. When questioned about their learning, during the second FG, Sarah replied “I’ve learned that attacking is not only to look for the gaps but to outsmart their defensive and blocking organisation”. Thus, through the conception of creative solutions in game-like scenarios and game situations, the players comprehended the impact of their individual and collective creative endeavours upon the game.

Hence, throughout the study, the players demonstrated an increased awareness of the impact of their actions upon problems raised in training, revealing an improved tactical and strategical ¹⁵ knowledge throughout the study. Accordingly, the first quote was extracted from the first FG, conducted during week eight, in which the player expressed the team’s perspective on this particular subject. The second quote examines the lead researcher’s reflections on an interaction with the same player during the last training session, in week 14.

I base my decisions about where to ‘set’ on where the blocker is, if I can see them, and also depending on the hitter and if they can play a quick ball.

(Olivia, FG 1)

When asked about sorting a plan that was compromised by the quality of the first touch, she [Olivia] said that “when the 1st touch is not good we’re closing zones.” It’s interesting for me that she analyses the game this way, by thinking about the number of solutions possible according to the game’s contingencies.

(Reflective log, Training session n.14)

Improvisation and the emerging characteristics of the game

Resonating with Sawyer’s^2,7 concept of ‘emergence’, the FGs and coach’s reflections echoed the players’ increased understanding of the emergent contingencies presented by the game. The quotes below illustrate the athletes’ increased awareness of a wider range of aspects within the game. The first quote refers to a rule applied in a game scenario, which obliged the players to focus on each other’s offensive actions. The rule consisted of prohibiting the players to attack by applying the same technical skill used in the previous attack of their own team. Consistent with Cropley’s ¹⁰ argument that creativity should be both novel and appropriate, the objective was to oblige the players to resort to novel, but also effective strategies. Although novel and creative actions were observable, some were not reasonable or appropriate to the context, as Eteläpelto and Lahti ⁶ consider essential.

Since the participants were not allowed to attack employing the previously used skill, creativity emerged from their observations of each other’s performance. Through this strategy, the players were taking ideas from each other, regarding the technical actions that could be executed. However, they were not all related to the game’s features.

(Reflective Log, training session n.3)

The role of motifs in the improvisation process

Sawyer ¹⁶ defined motifs as stocks of music that can be recycled in jazz improvisation. Within the study, motifs were interpreted as technical (pre-composed), ¹¹ tactical ¹⁵ (improvised), ¹¹ or strategical ¹⁵ knowledge. Thus, a technical motif was considered a hit ‘down the line’ (parallel to the side line) or a ‘tip’ (slow hit, usually landing on the empty spaces). It can also be considered a tactic, such as a pre-planned quick attack behind the setter, or an in-the-moment improvised strategy such as a backcourt attack (an attack from the defensive zones: 1, 6 and 5). Such a broad translation of the concept into the coaching field led to the frequent emergence of motifs within the training sessions, as illustrated by the following quote: “The strategies used weren't novel; they reflected their [the players] past knowledge on what would work in this type of game” (Reflective Log, Training session n.6).

These sorts of observations were commonly reported in the reflective logs, especially during the second and third cycles. As the players were resorting to strategies (i.e. pre-planned) and tactics (i.e. improvised) previously utilised to structure or improvise their attack, the focus throughout the study’s second cycle aimed to enrich their range of technical motifs. The objective here was to enlarge the pool of possible options that players could resort to, when challenged by game-related scenarios. This was done not only through the delivery of technically focused drills, but also by showing examples of novel and creative actions to the players, mimicking jazz tutors’ actions, as reported by Kenny. ³ This contributed to enhancing the pool of motifs that they could employ, as the following quotes shows: “You have a list [of technical skills] in your head” (Sarah, FG 1), and: “In previous matches you’ve scored a point because you’ve caught them off guard with the fast ball, that’s what you tend to go to” (Abigail, FG 2).

Hit parallel to the side-line.

The above statements support the importance of motifs during the creative process. In the first instance, the player referred to technical actions used as a pre-set collection of strategies to decide which action to choose. Whilst the musicians decide how to improvise under the umbrella of a musical framework, ¹⁶ collective games players usually improvise under a pre-set strategy. In the second case, the player is alluding to pre-composed strategies. ¹⁵ As she understood the strategy as efficient, she stated that she would resort to the same strategy when in similar game situations. Therefore, the data demonstrate the parallels between the creative processes employed by jazz musicians and team games players. Here, it can be concluded that, just like jazz musicians, the broader the base of motifs, the better equipped the players are to improvise.

Empathetic attunement: Communication on court

The types of communication employed by jazz musicians, as established by Seddon, ¹⁴ were a valuable tool to understand the athletes’ interactions. Seddon’s framework recognised communication channels as verbal and non-verbal, utilised in the creative process by jazz musicians. Due to rules and conventions of the volleyball game, most of the decisions are made before the play, since the players decide the collective attacking movements before the ball is in play. Seddon ¹⁴ classified this process as verbal instruction; as it would appear on a volleyball court, the setter establishes and instructs her teammates about the attacking movements. Also, embedded in Seddon’s framework, is the concept of empathetic attunement. According to the author, this represents the ideal communication channel to create and improvise within a jazz group. When in this state, musicians take creative risks and respond to each other’s musical utterances. ¹⁴ In a sporting context and especially, within a volleyball game, this concept is particularly relevant to understand the athletes’ decisions when the pre-planned attacking strategy is not possible, due to emerging changes in the game’s characteristics. Consequently, the players will observe their peers’ actions, body language, game conditions and cues to construct the best possible creative outcome. These sorts of behaviours were sporadically observed during the study’s second cycle, as the following quote illustrates:

The aim was to ensure the attackers would ‘read’ the context and their decision would emerge from a conscious reading of the context. Occasionally, the players were able to reformulate their attacking strategy, in play, as a reaction to the movement of the rest of the players. However, not every adaptation was the most effective to score a point.

(Reflective Log, Training Session n.4)

The effect on the players’ communication channels

To achieve Kenny’s ³ key principle of maintaining challenge and building knowledge through leadership and collaboration, the collaborative nature of the creative process required a shift in the first author’s coaching practices, in which the players’ voice required more space on the training court. Therefore, to provide further opportunities for players to collaborate, longer discussion times were necessarily allocated before and after the play. Here, most of the discussions and exchanges observed were democratically conducted by the players, in which most of the players had their voice heard in the group. These exchanges refer to the discussions prior to the play – verbal cooperation or following a play – verbal collaboration. ¹⁴ As instigated by the coach (and lead researcher), the recurrent themes of these exchanges were on strategies to outsmart the opponents through collaboratively planned creative attacking strategies. On the second entry of the reflective log (in week 2), it was recorded that players “prescribed what they could do” to each other. This contrasts with the quote below, exemplifying a shift in the players’ communication habits:

Regarding their exchanges, similar to what has been happening, none of the players seem to prescribe to the rest of the players about how to act. The negotiation works via suggestions made by the players.

(Reflective Log, training session n.14)

Furthermore, through the focus on improvisation, the quality of in-play communication channels established by the athletes, emerged during the second research cycle as an aspect to improve. Therefore, to respond to the emergent issues raised by the game and subsequent adaptation to the pre-established strategy, the in-play communication needed to be short, concise and clear, as obliged by the particularities of the volleyball game. The following quote establishes the view of one of the players regarding the improvement of in play-communication: “We learned to be more specific in what we were communicating. […] specifically saying what it is that you’re ready to do […]. Instead of saying ‘yeah’, you’ll say ‘fast ball’” (Abigail, FG 2). Since the players were focused on improvising creative tactics, clarity in the communication was deemed essential, since any improvised movement and change to the strategy had to be quickly and clearly articulated, so that the rest of the teammates could react accordingly. These behaviours are therefore aligned with the concepts of emergence^2,7 and empathetic attunement ¹⁴ where improvisers go beyond supporting their fellow players; they will feed from each other’s performance to inform their individual, subsequent action.