Sport Sparks helped to boost creativity and find solutions for City St George's basketball team

Where can coaches turn to for help when they're out of time, out of colleagues, and out of ideas? THE CHALLENGES OF COACHING A 2020 study by Leeds Beckett University identified 17 main categories coaches’ problems fall into. Problems with player-coach interaction, coaching knowledge and skills, and the coaching workforce were in the top 4. In terms of support networks, the research found that coaches would look “closest to home: to themselves, their family/friends” [1], instead of branching out to find alternatives. These factors can make sports coaching an isolating and challenging environment to innovate in. This case study explores how using an AI tool, Sport Sparks to generate ideas and develop solutions, can be a beneficial ‘coach in your pocket’ tech tool - a source of both knowledge and support.

In this blog post we look at the new 'Bazball' phenomenon in cricket and how this creative approach has revolutionised the English team. Bazball has reinvigorated English cricket with creativity and captured the imagination of the fans, which was on full display at the 2023 Ashes. The final test of the Ashes series ended in another England win over their old rivals Australia, and tie the series. Only bad weather in Manchester denied the revived England team yet another series win. Bazball is the new, exciting cricket strategy on the pitch – an approach favouring aggression and fearlessness – and a great example of transformational creativity. Margaret Boden, Research Professor of Cognitive Science and creative theory pioneer, defines this type of creativity as: “a transformation of the search space so new kinds of ideas can be generated.” Coach Brendon McCullum promised just that when he joined the England team in 2022, wanting to strip away the timid English approach to cricket and describing the team as “guys who are maybe just a little bit stuck by the fear of failure rather than the possibility of success.” He also added: “It's just allowing the guys to be able to make good decisions because they're in a clear frame of mind and a positive environment.” The focus on psychological safety and a positive mindset paved the way for the English team to try a riskier form of play with more confidence.

No one really thought that a 20 year old - even one as physically strong as Alcaraz - would have the psychological chops to smash Djokovic. At this level of elite sports, where athleticism is pretty equal, winning and losing boils down to mindset more than muscle. In this blog we breakdown how Alcaraz has developed a number of creative problem solving practices that enable him to conquer the one of the world's most successful players, a tennis Terminator, undefeated at Wimbledon in decade.

"I always wanted to be able to present skating in a way I had not seen before."

England captain Leah Williamson described Head Coach Sarina Wiegman as the "missing ingredient." In this blog post we explore the creative strategies Head Coach Sarina Wiegman introduced to the Women's England Football team, which lead to their unmatched performance and sterling victory at the Euros 2022.

“Sometimes our ego takes over and we cease to be curious”

Raducanu's risky strategy is  challenging the coaching status quo In this blog post we consider the volatile Raducanu coaching strategy that has been described by commentators as wild, risky and downright trigger-happy. We discuss coaching, the creative process and consider if the Raducanu approach is cutting edge creative or simply cut-throat crazy?

Get more out of your research