"They ought to be ashamed of themselves" - a conversation with Shawn Myszka and Tyler Yearby

The Talent Equation Podcast

In this special New Year's Eve episode, I welcomed back Shawn Myszka and Tyler Yearby from Emergence to discuss a recent academic paper criticising ecological dynamics and many of researchers and practitioners working in the space. The article is called "Ecological Dynamics as an Accurate and Parsimonious Contributor to Applied Practice: A Critical Appraisal" by Dave Collins, Howie Carson, Par Rylander and Ray Bobrownicki.
I invited Shawn and Tyler onto the show because I wanted them to be given an opportunity to address the callous misrepresentation in the direct driticism they made regarding Shawn and Tyler's work on Bruce Lee's alignment with ecological principles. The conversation evolved into a broader discussion about the future of ecological dynamics in coaching science and the emerging role of skill acquisition specialists in professional sports.
Five Key Points

1. The ecological community continues to grow, with practitioners across different fields finding value in applying these principles. It is interesting to note that Collins is authoring this criticism while at the same time promoting a book that embraces ideas from ecological dynamics.
   
2. The paper misrepresented Shawn and Tyler's research about Bruce Lee, claiming they altered quotes to fit their argument when in fact they had been explicitly transparent about their modifications and reasoning.
   
3. There's a fundamental misunderstanding about combining traditional and ecological approaches - you can't simply cherry-pick elements without considering the underlying theoretical foundations. Anyone who suggests that you can do this is either being dishonest or they don't understand the basic assumptions of the ecological theory.
   
4. The role of skill acquisition specialists is becoming increasingly important in professional sports, with a growing recognition that these positions need to be fully integrated into organisational structures.
   
5. You can pick and choose methods but you can't pick and choose thoeries. If one theory is directly opposed the the ideas of another theory - trying to suggest that you can mix the two together is just academic populism.

Three Key Quotes
"Don't throw stones at people that are not throwing stones back at you. I'm just trying to advance the field." - Tyler Yearby
"You can't be a vegan and have the odd bacon sandwich... you can't have your theoretical cake and eat it." - Stuart Armstrong
"It's just their cop-out way of not actually having these types of interactions and instead hiding behind the keyboard and maybe a research journal paywall... that shows the disingenuous nature of what they're doing." Shawn Myszka
Note: This episode was recorded on New Year's Eve 2024 with Shawn Myszka and Dr. Tyler Yearby from Emergence
Emergence website
Shawn and Tyler's Article
The Article
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