The Constraints Collective

An emergency episode: VAR was dominating the World Cup news cycle, and a paper had just landed asking the exact question everyone was arguing about. Ian Renshaw and Keith Davids review Schütz, Betsch & Plessner's "The Impact of Video Speed on Intention Attribution" (Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 2026) — four experiments showing that slowing footage down increases how inten...

# From the Pitch to the Algorithm — with Ben Teune In this episode, Ian Renshaw and Keith Davids are joined by Ben Teune, Sports Scientist and Analytics Lead at the WTA (Women's Tennis Association), whose PhD work — embedded with the Western Bulldogs AFL club at Victoria University — tackles a problem every constraint-led coach runs into: you're told to "manipulate the task," b...

The San Antonio Spurs led Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals by 29 points and lost it on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left — the biggest comeback in Finals history. Ian Renshaw and Keith Davids use it to argue momentum isn't a mindset problem but a stable attractor state (drawing on Gernigon, Briki & Eykens' dynamical systems model of psychological momentum) that has to be deliberately broke...

Keith and Ian go back through Daniel Lycett's PE curriculum redesign from episode 81 — and pull apart what was really going on underneath it: context, donor sports, and designing tasks people can actually succeed at. Along the way: Lego therapy for autistic learners, team chess, a French badminton study, and why Keith won't smash newer players off the pickleball court.

#95 Before the Ball Moves: How International Footballers Gain Their Advantage In this episode, Ian Renshaw and Professor Keith Davids explore the tension between practice tools and movement variability. Using Ian's experience with a golf putting mat as a springboard, they examine how template-based practice can encourage rigid repetition and ask whether this conflicts with Bernstein's pr...

#94 The Constraints Collective Podcast with Michael Richardson In this episode, Ian Renshaw and Keith Davids are joined by Professor Michael Richardson from Macquarie University, a specialist in ecological psychology and computational modelling. Mike's work sits at a fascinating intersection of mathematics, AI, and human movement — and this conversation explores what that means for how we und...

# Round Up 10 — May 2026 In this month's update, Ian Renshaw and Professor Keith Davids catch up on the latest from the Constraints Collective world before diving into a rich discussion on skill adaptation, movement variability, and the dangers of template-based practice. Using Ian's experience with a golf putting mat as a springboard, they explore Bernstein's principle of "rep...

In this episode we are joined by Zama Xolani Mofokeng a South African gymnast from Tembisa, Gauteng Province who has broken world records for consecutive one-handed back handsprings, performed not in a gym, but on public streets. Zama shares his lived experiences of perceptual-motor learning, intrinsic motivation, environmental adaptation, and the constraints-led approach. If you're getting v...

In this episode Ian  and Keith discuss why millions of people are put off exercise for life by bad PE memories. The culprit? Traditional formats that reward the already-skilled and humiliate everyone else (the beep test being a prime offender). They discuss solutions to this problem and explain how small tweaks can make all the difference to people's experiences. If you're getting value...

In this episode we are joined by Dave Keelty and Sam McKenzie, high performance practitioners working at the cutting edge of sport. We explore talent development and coach development and New Zealand's "Balance is Better" philosophy, discussing how coaches can individualise training within team sport environments. Link to Dave's Deep Dive platform  https://the-deep-dive-coachin...

What do beavers building dams have to do with coaching elite athletes? More than you'd think. In this episode, we dive into niche construction theory. A concept borrowed from evolutionary biology, and explore how coaches are constantly shaping the environments that shape their players. From Pep Guardiola transforming English football, to Sri Lanka losing its ability to play spin on perfect pi...

Should you ditch the bowling machine? The hidden cost of "convenient" practice What if the tools coaches rely on most are actually making athletes worse? In this roundup episode, Martyn, Keith, and Ian unpack a deceptively simple problem, getting young cricketers enough quality ball-facing time, and follow the thread all the way from 13-year-olds in the nets to Jannik Sinner's warm-...

Dr Tom Parry is the Kinesiology Program Director in the College of Education and Human Development at Butler University, Indianapolis, USA. His area of expertise is motor-skill learning, and specifically the application of ecological dynamics to coaching.  Dr Tyler Yearby is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Education for Emergence, a sports movement skill education company that offers prerecorded...

If you're getting value from our podcast check out our membership options and coaching community at www.theconstraintscollective.com where you can access podcast summaries, narrated presentations, early release podcasts and monthly online meet ups with experts from the Constraints Collective. Support the running of the podcast at patreon.com/TheConstraintsCollective In this episode we revisit...

In this episode Ian is joined by Brendon Moy and Adam Gorman to discuss a paper entitled ' Making physical education popular: the impact of the constraints-led approach on physical education students’ intrinsic motivation'.  Link to paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17408989.2025.2606036?casa_token=H_Mdur1XlZIAAAAA:hMmOxBVodsPMueFWP0uqaGo00ZA9-Fu0qdwfxLwslJMYbAKQd7XGRqji...

In this episode we are joined by Brendon Moy, an Associate Professor in Physical Education at Queensland University of Technology. Both his research and teaching are focused on the constraints-led approach (CLA), an alternative physical education teaching approach informed by contemporary motor learning theory.  His research and teaching have primarily focused on developing Physical Education Teac...

In this episode, we explore how ecological dynamics continues to reshape the way we think about skill development. Keith shares insights from recent PhD research, including work examining whether virtual reality can help children develop risk assessment skills. The bigger issue? Many young athletes today grow up with fewer opportunities for unstructured play, meaning less exploration, less calibra...

In this episode we are joined by Brendan Moy and Adam Gorman to explore an important question for coaches: How can we help learners explore and improve their skills more effectively?  We discuss how we can encourage athletes to explore movement solutions by manipulating aspects of the task, like the rules or structure, rather than telling them exactly what to do.  If you're getting value from...

Daniel Lycett is the Head of PE & Sport at St David’s College. He is an experienced physical educator working across primary and secondary education, bringing a practical, people-centred approach to education and learning. Daniel holds a BA (Hons) in Physical Education Teaching and Coaching from York St John University. If you're getting value from our podcast check out our membership opt...

If you're getting value from our podcast check out our membership options and coaching community at www.theconstraintscollective.com where you can access podcast summaries, narrated presentations, early release podcasts and monthly online meet ups with experts from the Constraints Collective. Support the running of the podcast at patreon.com/TheConstraintsCollective This episode kicks a hole...

If you're getting value from our podcast check out our membership options and coaching community at www.theconstraintscollective.com where you can access podcast summaries, narrated presentations, early release podcasts and monthly online meet ups with experts from the Constraints Collective. Support the running of the podcast at patreon.com/TheConstraintsCollective In this episode we discuss...

Tabai Matson is a globally experienced rugby coach with a career spanning elite club and international rugby across Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, South America, and Europe. After playing and coaching Yamaha Júbilo, he moved into coaching roles in Australia before returning to New Zealand, where he led Canterbury to the 2012 ITM Cup title. He has since worked across the international...

If you're getting value from our podcast check out our membership options and coaching community at www.theconstraintscollective.com where you can access podcast summaries, narrated presentations, early release podcasts and monthly online meet ups with experts from the Constraints Collective. Support the running of the podcast at patreon.com/TheConstraintsCollective In this episode, we explor...

If you're getting value from our podcast check out our membership options and coaching community at www.theconstraintscollective.com where you can access podcast summaries, narrated presentations, early release podcasts and monthly online meet ups with experts from the Constraints Collective. Support the running of the podcast at patreon.com/TheConstraintsCollective Jia Yi Chow is the Dean of...

If you're getting value from our podcast check out our membership options and coaching community at www.theconstraintscollective.com where you can access podcast summaries, narrated presentations, early release podcasts and monthly online meet ups with experts from the Constraints Collective. Support the running of the podcast at patreon.com/TheConstraintsCollective In this episode we discuss...