Harnessing Socio-cultural Constraints on Journal of Expertise 2018. Vol. 1(1) Athlete Development to Create a Form of Life © 2018. The authors license this article under the terms of the 1 2 3 Creative Commons Martyn Rothwell , Keith Davids , and Joseph Stone Attribution 3.0 License. 1, 2 3 Center for Sports Engineering Research, Sheffield Hallam University; Academy for Sport & ISSN 2573-2773 Physical Activity, Sheffield Hallam University Correspondence: Martyn Rothwell, [email protected], ph: 0114 225 3989 Abstract The role of task constraints manipulation in pedagogical practice has received considerable attention in recent years, although there has been little focus on the role of socio-cultural constraints on an athlete's development to elite performance. Here, we aim to integrate ideas from a range of scientific sub-disciplines to consider why certain behaviors and cultures (socio-cultural constraints) may exist in sport performance and coaching. Using recent conceptualizations of affordances in ecological dynamics, we explore how socio-cultural constraints may influence an athlete's development and relationship with a performance context. We also highlight how workplace practices eminating from the industrialization of the nineteenth century in countries such as the UK may have influenced coaching practice and organizational behaviors from that time on. In particular, features such as strict work regimes and rigid role specification may have reduced personal autonomy, de-skilled performers, and induced a “body as machine” philosophy within sporting organizations. These traits could be considered counter to expert performance in sports where creativity and adaptive decision-making are important skills for athletes to possess. We propose that ecological dynamics is a theoretical framework that enhances the understanding of the influential nature of socio-cultural constraints on the development of athlete performance. Key ideas suggest that sport pedagogists and practitioners could develop methodologies which help design practice landscapes rich in information to encourage athlete autonomy to search for relevant affordances which invite functionally relevant actions for competitive performance with physical, psychological, emotional, and social dimensions. Future research is needed to explore a range of sports in order to identify and clarify the relationship between socio- cultural constraints and expertise acquisition. Keywords ecological dynamics, affordance landscapes, socio-cultural constraints, learning design, expertise acquisition these complex and dynamic interactions and Introduction emanating from person-environment Expertise in sport is multidimensional and relationships (Davids, Handford & Williams, emerges from the rich, continued interactions of 1994). A key principle of ecological dynamics, an athlete with a range of task and relevant for the challenge of athlete environmental constraints in performance, development, is the interacting influence of task simulated in practice (Davids, Button & and environmental constraints on an athlete's Bennett, 2008). Ecological dynamics is a ability to become attuned to the opportunities powerful theoretical framework for for action invited by objects, surfaces, features, understanding how sport practitioners can terrains, and other people in a performance support athlete development, predicated on setting. This key principle is known as 94 https://www.journalofexpertise.org Journal of Expertise / June 2018 / vol. 1, no. 1 Rothwell, Davids, & Stone (2018) Harnessing Socio-Cultural Constraints on Athlete Development affordances in ecological dynamics (Davids, explain why certain performance styles are Güllich, Shuttleworth & Araújo, 2017). An developed in certain regions and why they are increasingly functional relationship with a valued and exploited to establish dominance in performance environment is the basis of elite sport. Athletic sprinting in Jamaica, for expertise from an ecological dynamics rationale example, is ingrained in the sporting culture and (Araújo & Davids, 2011). These ideas suggest has a history and tradition of excellence that is that athletes who have been trained to select strongly influenced by the G. C. Foster College from a rich and diverse range of affordances for Physical Education and Sports, where the available in a competitive performance country's athletic coaches are educated in a environment will be better prepared to perceive Jamaican “way of sprinting” (Moore, 2015). In information, adapt their actions, make decisions, these sporting cultures a form of life can be and interact skillfully with ecological constraints highly influential in how sport practitioners of competition. construct and design the micro structure of James Gibson (1979, p.119) argued that "the practice, which may have positive or negative affordances of the environment are what it effects on athlete performance. However, the offers the animal.” For example, in rugby league notion of different countries or regions being a ball offers itself to players for kicking when associated with a particular style or way of traveling on the ground or for intercepting with practicing and performing in a sport is rather their hands when it is moving through the air; a simplistic, lacks theoretical substance, and slow player invites a quicker player to run past requires conceptual clarification in order to help him/her; a hard pitch offers itself to be us understand the basis for performance sidestepped upon. Recently, Gibson's initial development. For example, to enhance athlete conceptualization of affordances has been development, is it feasible for one country to revisited to emphasize the invitational simply imitate a way of practicing or performing characteristic of affordances to individuals with associated with another (highly successful) the relevant experiences, skills, and capacities nation in a sport (Harris, 2017)? Simply (Withagen, de Poel, Araújo & Pepping, 2012; imitating the traditional practices of another Rietveld & Kiverstein, 2014; Bruineberg & nation may present performance challenges Rietveld, 2014; Withagen, Araújo & de Poel, without first exploring, understanding, and 2017). Here, we elucidate what these embracing the form of life that influences the refinements imply for making sense of the factors that lead to another nation's success in variety of socio-cultural practices that are competitive sport. embedded in what the philosopher Ludwig Here we contend that differences in quality Wittgenstein termed forms of life (Wittgenstein, of performance and playing styles are 1953), which consist of behaviors, skills, substantively based on a specific “form of life,” capacities, attitudes, values, beliefs, practices, often developed under specific historical and and customs that shape the communities we live socio-cultural constraints in particular in. The features of a form of life subsequently geographical locations in the world. Forms of shape how we live (Rietveld & Kiverstein, life are predicated on highly specific customary, 2014; Bruineberg & Rietveld, 2014). habitual, highly developed, yet responsive Extrapolating these ideas, we contend that modes of performing, competing, training, and there are current examples of “forms of life” practicing which result in the preference to identifiable in sport (e.g., related to skiing in design specific types of affordance landscapes Northern Europe, soccer in Brazil, cricket in in athlete development programs. Exploitation South Asia, and rugby union in New Zealand). of the invitational nature of affordances when In specific sports, these forms of life designing affordance landscapes in practice task demonstrate the influence of specific socio- designs (Withagen et al., 2012; Withagen et al., cultural and historical constraints in the 2017) should aim to make the emergence of development of sporting excellence. They can effective skilled action more likely. In these 95 https://www.journalofexpertise.org Journal of Expertise / June 2018 / vol. 1, no.1 Harnessing Socio-Cultural Constraints on Athlete Development Rothwell, Davids, & Stone (2018) affordance landscapes, specific practice task not ask any initiative in a man. We designs guide developing athletes in their search do not care for this initiative. All we for functional relationships with performance want of them is to obey the orders environments founded on skill, expertise, and we give them, do what we say, and talent (Davids et al., 2017). Although recent do it quick. That scheme of giving clarifications of Gibson's conceptualization have minute instructions to every man, made valuable contributions to the literature on that is assigning him a task, having affordances, little is known in sport domains that task all planned for everyone about how a form of life can help sport [emphasis added]. practitioners harness local socio-cultural Of interest is how these idea's filtered into practices to influence affordance utilization and cultural practices in institutional programs in acquisition of sporting expertise. Understanding education and sport, affected the development of more about this issue can help sport pedagogists individuals. British rugby football league is one identify and exploit key socio-cultural sport with a relevant socio-cultural-historical constraints to enhance the quality of athlete backdrop to provide insights into how coaching development in specific sports (Uehara, Button, behaviors and practice design shape how players Falcous