Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Dr David Piggott
Senior Lecturer
David is currently course leader for the MSc in Sport Coaching. He received his PhD from Loughborough University in 2008 and spent 2018-2020 as Research Lead in the Performance Insights Department at the English FA.
David's first job in HE was at the University of Lincoln, where he spent 7 years leading the undergraduate programme in Sport Development and Coaching. He moved to Leeds Beckett in 2013 and spent the next 5 years teaching across the degree and leading the MSc in Sport Coaching. In 2018 he moved to the FA to become Research Lead in the Performance Insights Department, where he led and commissioned research projects on Talent ID and Development working with the English national teams. He returned to Leeds Beckett in 2020.
David’s main research focus is effective coach development. He has delivered several funded research projects for diverse sporting bodies, including the ECB, UEFA, The FA, Premier League and UK Sport, whilst also publishing widely in this field. Most recently, David was part of the team that devised and delivered the first postgraduate course in Coach Development for the FA’s Professional Game Team. David has also been a practicing coach developer and coach educator (for Basketball England) and has consulted widely in the UK, for NGBs such as England Handball, The FA, The Premier League, GB Sailing, Cycling and Taekwondo.
David’s other research interests lie in curriculum development in sport, understanding peak experiences and flow states, and talent ID and development (stemming from his work at the FA). He also has a side interest in the philosophy of science and sociology of knowledge leading to the co-authoring of a recent book entitled ‘Rethinking Sport and Exercise Psychology Research’ (Palgrave Macmillan).
Current Teaching
- MSc Course Leader
- MSc Understanding and Analysing Sport Performance
- BSc Model-Based Coaching (Level 6)
Research Interests
David's current research focusses on understanding coach learners (with Gary Hodgson) coach development strategies (with Bob Muir) and athlete to coach transitions (with Alex Blackett). This research informs the ongoing delivery of our work with the FA's Professional Game Team, who support coaches working across 92 professional football clubs. This work also informs programmes and consultancy work conducted with UK Sport and the EIS.
David is also part of an international research group that is trying to understand the nature of flow states (and other optimal states) in sport. Specifically, he is interested in how coaches can help to promote, or create the conditions for, flow states in their sports.
Ask Me About
- Coaching
- Talent Development
Selected Outputs
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North J; Piggott D; Lara-Bercial S; Abraham A; Muir B (2019) The professionalisation of sport coaching. In: Thelwell R; Dicks M ed. Professional advances in sports coaching: Research and practice. London: Routledge, pp. 3-21.
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Fletcher TE; Piggott D; North J (2017) Problems at the boundary’? South Asians, Coaching and Cricket. In: Sport, Leisure and Social Justice.
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Fletcher TE; Piggott D; North J (2016) South Asian cricket coaches. In: Long J; Fletcher T; Watson R ed. Sport, leisure and social justice. Routledge,
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Piggott D (2015) An(other) conceptual model for coach learning. In: International Coaching Conference, 9 September 2015 - 10 September 2015, Manchester, UK.
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Piggott D; Fletcher T (2015) Exploring the barriers to South Asian cricket players’ entry and progression in coaching. In: PSA Sport SIG, 6 January 2016 - 8 January 2016, Durham, UK.
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Piggott D; Bishop D; Willmott A (2012) Reflecting on the use of wikis and blogs as summative assessments.
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Piggott D; Leslie G; Poller G (2012) Widening participation in English golf clubs.
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Piggott D (2012) Creating an open, online TGfU learning community: the example of WikiCoach.
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Piggott D (2010) The grounded theory debate in sport psychology: essentialism, anarchism or critical rationalism?.
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Piggott D (2010) Open Societies in coach education: from theory to practice?.
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Piggott D (2009) New insights on youth football in England: a grounded theory of socialization experiences.
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Piggott D (2009) Governing knowledge in coaching.
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Piggott D (2008) Popper’s evolutionary epistemology as a meta-structure for teaching undergraduate research methods.
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Piggott D (2008) Stress, creativity, enjoyment and learning in youth football.
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Piggott D (2006) Young people’s experiences of soccer in England: a grounded theory.
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Piggott D; Weed M (2005) Innovation in evaluation: methodological considerations in researching young people’s perceptions of youth sport policy.
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Piggott D (2005) Doing grounded theory research in youth soccer.
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North J; Piggott D; Rankin-Wright AJ; Ashford M (2020) An empirical examination of UK coaches’ issues and problems, and their support and advice networks. International Sport Coaching Journal / ISCJ
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Dohme L; Piggott D; Backhouse SH; Morgan G (2019) Psychological Skills and Characteristics Facilitative of Youth Athletes’ Development : A Systematic Review. Sport Psychologist, 33 (4), pp. 261-275.
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Till KA; Muir R; Abraham A; Piggott D; Tee J (2019) A Framework for Decision-Making within Strength & Conditioning Coaching. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 41 (1), pp. 14-26.
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Dohme L; Bloom G; Piggott D; Backhouse SH (2019) Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Athlete-Informed Mental Skills Training Program for Elite Youth Tennis Players. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology
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Tee JC; Ashford M; Piggott D (2018) A tactical periodization approach for rugby union. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 40 (5),
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Swann C; Piggott D; Schweickle M; Vella S (2018) A Review of Scientific Progress in Flow in Sport and Exercise: Normal Science, Crisis, and a Progressive Shift. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 30 (3), pp. 249-271.
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Blackett AD; Evans A; Piggott D (2018) "They have to toe the line": a Foucauldian analysis of the socialisation of former elite athletes into academy coaching roles. Sports Coaching Review, 8 (1), pp. 83-102.
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Dohme L; Backhouse SH; Piggott D; Morgan G (2016) Categorizing and Defining Popular Psychological Terms Used Within the Youth Athlete Talent Development Literature: A Systematic Review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10 (1), pp. 134-163.
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Evans AB; Piggott D (2016) Shooting for Lithuania : Migration, national identity and men's basketball in the East of England. Sociology of Sport Journal, 33 (1), pp. 26-38.
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Swann C; Keegan R; Crust L; Piggott D (2016) Psychological states underlying excellent performance in professional golfers: "Letting it happen" vs. "making it happen". Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 23 pp. 101-113.
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Blackett AD; Evans A; Piggott D (2015) Why ‘the best way of learning to coach the game is playing the game’: conceptualising ‘fast-tracked’ high-performance coaching pathways. Sport, Education and Society, 22 (6), pp. 744-758.
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Swann C; Piggott D; Crust L; Keegan R; Hemmings B (2015) Exploring the interactions underlying flow states: A connecting analysis of flow occurrence in European Tour golfers. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 16 (P3), pp. 60-69.
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Swann C; Moran A; Piggott D (2015) Defining elite athletes: Issues in the study of expert performance in sport psychology. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 16 (P1), pp. 3-14.
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Piggott D (2015) The Open Society and coach education: a philosophical agenda for policy reform and future sociological research. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 20 (3), pp. 283-298.
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Swann C; Crust L; Keegan R; Piggott D; Hemmings B (2015) An inductive exploration into the flow experiences of European Tour golfers. Qualitiative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 7 (2), pp. 210-234.
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Swann C; Keegan RJ; Piggott D; Crust L (2012) A systematic review of the experience, occurrence, and controllability of flow states in elite sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13 (6), pp. 807-819.
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Piggott D (2012) Coaches' experiences of formal coach education: A critical sociological investigation. Sport, Education and Society, 17 (4), pp. 535-554.
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Lee C; Keegan R; Piggott D; Swann C (2011) Walking the walk: A phenomenological study of long distance walking. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 23 (3), pp. 243-262.
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Piggott D; Swann C; Keegan R; Smith M; Crust L (2011) Exploring Flow Occurrence in Elite Golf. Athletic Insight, 4 (2),
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Swann C; Piggott D; Keegan R; Crust L; Smith MF (2011) Exploring flow occurrence in elite golf. Athletic Insight, 4 (2),
https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=31260
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Piggott D (2010) Listening to young people in leisure research: the critical application of grounded theory. Leisure Studies, 29 (4), pp. 415-433.
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Piggott D (2008) The psychology of “managing mistakes”: some implications for coaches and managers. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 22 (4), pp. 20-23.
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North J; Piggott D; Lyle J; Lara-Bercial S; Muir R; Petrovic L; Norman L; Abraham A; Shaw W (2016) Research study on the UEFA Coaching Convention: A research report for UEFA [Online].
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Fletcher TE; Piggott D; North J; Hylton K; Gilbert S; Norman L (2014) Exploring the barriers to South Asian cricket players’ entry and progression in coaching [Online]. England and Wales Cricket Board.
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Piggott D; Leslie G; Poller G (2011) Widening Participation in Golf: Barriers to Participation and GolfMark [Online]. English Golf Union.
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Hassmén P; Keegan R; Piggott D (2016) Rethinking Sport and Exercise Psychology Research. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
