Dr Martyn Rothwell MA, BA (Hons), UKCC Level 4
Senior Lecturer
Summary
I am currently a member of the teaching staff for the BSc in Sport Coaching, and a researcher in the Sport and Human Performance research group. My research interests are in the fields of skill acquisition, coaching pedagogy and talent development, where an international research profile has been developed. My current research involves exploring the influence of socio-cultural-historical constraints on expertise acquisition. Prior to joining Sheffield Hallam I held various coaching roles and managed talent development programmes in the sport of rugby league.
About
I have worked in the fields of coaching and talent development since 2003. During this time I managed the inaugural Midlands Rugby League Academy, overseeing the development and transition of talented teenagers into professional rugby league settings. Prior to working at Sheffield Hallam I strategically managed the conceptualisation and national implementation of a new rugby league playing format for primary aged children (6 to 11 years old). I am a practicing coach with experience of working across the participant continuum, more recently this has been with Coventry Bears RLFC and the England Wheelchair Rugby League team.
Within the Sport and Human Performance Research Group, I work with internal and external colleagues to conduct research that identifies key constraints on skill acquisition, sport expertise, and talent development. Where an evidence-based platform for the application of theory and research has been developed to establish how contemporary methodologies can support athlete development and preparation in applied settings. These experiences have led to a sustained track record of supporting a research and innovation culture, evidenced through a portfolio of internationally recognised peer reviewed outputs.
I am a Winston Churchill Fellow, where a grant was received to visit the Southern Hemisphere to investigate alternative coaching methods and competition structures. I have also consulted widely in the UK, where work has been carried for the Premier League, Basketball England, Sheffield Diving, and the Rugby Football League.
Teaching
Courses
Sport Coaching
Modules
Level 6 - Performance Analysis
Level 6 - Talent Development
Level 5 - Scientific Applications to Coaching
Research
Practice effects on intra-team synergies in Wheelchair Rugby League
Exploring representative co-design with elite athletes: A case study
The lived experiences of athletes working in an inquiry focused performance framework
Link 1 - https://www.shu.ac.uk/research/in-action/projects/sports-coaching
Link 2 - https://www.shu.ac.uk/news/all-articles/latest-news/hallam-lecturer-becomes-england-wheelchair-rugby-coach
Publications
Journal articles
Davids, K., Rothwell, M., & Rudd, J. (2023). Enriching lives across the lifescourse: adopting an ecological perspective to foster the person-environment relationship throughout development. Universidade do Algarve - Escola Superior de Educação e Comunicação, 21-28. https://sapientia.ualg.pt/handle/10400.1/18478
Davids, K., Rothwell, M., & Rudd, J. (2023). Enriching lives across the lifescourse: adopting an ecological perspective to foster the person-environment relationship throughout development. Universidade do Algarve - Escola Superior de Educação e Comunicação, 21-28. https://sapientia.ualg.pt/handle/10400.1/18478
Davids, K., Rothwell, M., Hydes, S., Robinson, T., & Davids, C. (2023). Enriching Athlete—Environment Interactions in Youth Sport: The Role of a Department of Methodology. Children, 10 (4). http://doi.org/10.3390/children10040752
Otte, F., Rothwell, M., & Davids, K. (2022). Big picture transdisciplinary practice - extending key ideas of a Department of Methodology towards a wider ecological view of practitioner-scientist integration. Sports Coaching Review, 1-24. http://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2022.2124001
Hydes, S., & Rothwell, M. (2022). Exploring the feasibility of a constraints-based curriculum with British diving coaches. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. http://doi.org/10.1177/17479541221106382
Morris, C., Otte, F., Rothwell, M., & Davids, K. (2022). ‘Embracing turbulent waters’: Enhancing athlete self-regulation using the ‘PoST’ framework for performance preparation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2 (1), 8-17. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajsep.2022.03.001
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., Woods, C., Otte, F., Rudd, J., & Stone, J. (2022). Principles to guide talent development practices in sport: the exemplar case of British Rugby League Football. Journal of Expertise, 5 (1), 28-37. https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume5_issue1/JoE_5_1_Rothwell_etal.html
Rothwell, M., Stone, J., & Davids, K. (2021). Exploring niche construction in sport coaching: an ecological dynamics analysis. Sports Coaching Review. http://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2021.1974692
McCosker, C., Otte, F., Rothwell, M., & Davids, K. (2021). Principles for technology use in athlete support across the skill level continuum. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. http://doi.org/10.1177/17479541211033471
Davids, K., Otte, F., & Rothwell, M. (2021). Adopting an ecological perspective on skill performance and learning in sport. European Journal of Human Movement, 46. http://doi.org/10.21134/eurjhm.2021.46.667
Davids, K., Otte, F., & Rothwell, M. (2021). Adopting an ecological perspective on skill performance and learning in sport. European Journal of Human Movement, 46, 1-3. http://doi.org/10.21134/eurjhm.2021.46.1
Otte, F.W., Rothwell, M., Woods, C., & Davids, K. (2020). Specialist Coaching Integrated into a Department of Methodology in Team Sports Organisations. Sports Medicine - Open, 6 (1), 55. http://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-020-00284-5
Woods, C.T., Rothwell, M., Rudd, J., Robertson, S., & Davids, K. (2020). Representative co-design: Utilising a source of experiential knowledge for athlete development and performance preparation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 101804. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101804
Rothwell, M., Stone, J., & Davids, K. (2020). Investigating the athlete-environment relationship in a form of life: An ethnographic study. Sport, Education and Society. http://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2020.1815690
O’Sullivan, M., Davids, K., Woods, C.T., Rothwell, M., & Rudd, J. (2020). Conceptualizing Physical Literacy within an Ecological Dynamics Framework. Quest. http://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2020.1799828
Nicholls, A., Morley, D., Thompson, M., Huang, C., Abt, G., Rothwell, M., ... Ntoumanis, N. (2020). The effects of the iPlayClean Education Programme on doping attitudes and susceptibility to use banned substances among high-level adolescent athletes from the UK: A cluster-randomised control trial. International Journal of Drug Policy, 82, 102820. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102820
Stone, J., Rothwell, M., Shuttleworth, R., & Davids, K. (2020). Exploring sport coaches’ experiences of using a contemporary pedagogical approach to coaching: An international perspective. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. http://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2020.1765194
Woods, C.T., McKeown, I., Rothwell, M., Araújo, D., Robertson, S., & Davids, K. (2020). Sport Practitioners as Sport Ecology Designers: How Ecological Dynamics Has Progressively Changed Perceptions of Skill “Acquisition” in the Sporting Habitat. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00654
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., Stone, J., O'Sullivan, M., Vaughan, J., Newcombe, D., & Shuttleworth, R. (2020). A department of methodology can coordinate transdisciplinary sport science support. Journal of Expertise, 3 (1), 55-65. https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume3_issue1/JoE_3_1_Rothwell.html
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., & Stone, J. (2019). Exploring forms of life in player development pathways-the case of British rugby league. Journal of motor learning and development, 7 (2). http://doi.org/10.1123/jmld.2018-0020
Rothwell, M., Rumbold, J., & Stone, J. (2018). Exploring British adolescent rugby league players' experiences of professional academies and dropout. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. http://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2018.1549579
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., & Stone, J. (2018). Harnessing socio-cultural constraints on athlete development to create a form of life. Journal of Expertise, 1 (1). https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume1_issue1/JoE_2018_1_1_Rothwell_Davids_Stone.html
Rothwell, M., Stone, J., Davids, K., & Wright, C. (2017). Development of expertise in elite and sub elite British Rugby League players: a comparison of practice experiences. European Journal of Sport Science, 17 (10), 1252-1260. http://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2017.1380708
Morley, D., Ogilvie, P., Till, K., Rothwell, M., O'Connor, D., & McKenna, J. (2016). Does modifying competition affect the frequency of technical skills in junior rugby league? International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 11 (6), 810-818. http://doi.org/10.1177/1747954116676107
Conference papers
Rothwell, M. (2021). Sociocultural Constraints and the Athlete-Environment Relationship in a Form of Life. In Movement, Learning and Pedagogy - A contemporary perspective, Oslo, Norway, 21 October 2021 - 22 October 2021.
Jones, G., Stone, J., Rothwell, M., Rumbold, J., Davids, K., & Otte, F. (2021). Providing augmented information for learning transitions in football: The transitional learning model for coaches [abstract only]. In Sport Sciences Congress 2021, University of Lisbon, 13 July 2023 - 21 July 2023 (pp. 80). Sports Sciences Congress: https://ssc2021.net/book-of-abstracts/
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., & Stone, J. (2019). Exploring Forms of Life in Athlete Development Pathways: The Case of British Rugby League. In 3rd Conference of Motor Skill Acquisition.
Stone, J., Rothwell, M., & Davids, K. (2019). Exploring sports coaches receptiveness to alternative pedagogical approaches to coaching [abstract only]. In Bunc, V., & Tsolakidis, E. (Eds.) European College of Sport Science Conference, 3 July 2019 - 6 July 2019 (pp. 663). European College of Sport Science: https://www.stk-sport.co.uk/images/sports-science-research-ecss-2019-book-of-abstracts.pdf
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., & Stone, J. (2019). The Influence of a Form of Sport Life on Athletic Experiences: An Ethnographic Study. In Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network 2019, London, England, 14 May 2019 - 15 May 2019.
Rothwell, M., Stone, J., & Davids, K. (2017). Development of expertise in British international and national Rugby League Players: a comparison of practice experiences. In Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network Conference, Coventry, England, 17 May 2017.
Morley, D., Ogilvie, P., & Rothwell, M. (2014). Using competitive engineering to affect skill opportunities within primary rugby league. In Martyn Rothwell, Washington, America, 11 June 2014.
Morley, D., Ogilvie, P., & Rothwell, M. (2014). Using competitive engineering to affect skill opportunities within primary rugby league. In Martyn Rothwell, Washington, America, 11 June 2014.
Morley, D., Ogilvie, P., & Rothwell, M. (2012). How does modifying playing opportunities affect children’s experience of Rugby League? In European College of Sport Science conference, Barcelona, Spain, 1 May 2012.
Morley, D., Ogilvie, P., & Rothwell, M. (2012). How does modifying playing opportunities affect children’s experience of Rugby League? In European College of Sport Science conference, Barcelona, Spain, 1 May 2012.
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., & Stone, J. (2017). Harnessing Socio-Cultural Constraints on Athlete Development to create a Form of Life. In Second scientific conference on motor skill acquisition, Kisakallion Urheiluopisto, Finland, 14 November 2017 - 17 November 2017.
Rothwell, M. (2021). Nonlinear Pedagogy to Enrich Athletic Skills: The Balance between Generality and Specificity of Practice. In International Conference on Motor Learning and Control applied to Motor Skills, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain, 2021 - 2021.
Book chapters
Roberts, W., Rothwell, M., Morgan, H., Vaughan, J., & Woods, C. (2023). How an ethos of amateurism can support the integration of an ecological approach to learning and development in football academies. In Roberts, W., Whigham, S., Culvin, A., & Parnell, D. (Eds.) Critical issues in football : a sociological analysis of the beautiful game. (pp. 26-37). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003253990-4
Rothwell, M., Rudd, J., & Davids, K. (2022). Integrating specificity and generality of practice to enrich children's learning in sport. In Toms, M., & Jeanes, R. (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Coaching Children in Sport. (pp. 284-292). New York: Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003199359-31
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., Stone, J., Araujo, D., & Shuttleworth, R. (2020). The talent development process as enhancing athlete functionality: Creating forms of life in an ecological niche. In Baker, J., Cobley, S., & Schorer, J. (Eds.) Talent Identification and Development in Sport. International Perspectives. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003049111
Presentations
Rothwell, M., Davids, K., & Stone, J. (2017). Harnessing Socio-Cultural Constraints on Athlete Development to create a Form of Life. Presented at: Second Scientific Conference on Motor Skill Acquisition, Finland, 2017
Stone, J., Rumbold, J., & Rothwell, M. (2017). Top gun to rugby league drop-out. Presented at: Sport and Medicine conference
Postgraduate supervision
Gerard Jones - Augmented verbal instruction can guide learners' search for performance solutions in football