Professor Matt Bridge PhD

Dr Matt Bridge

School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
Deputy Head of School
Professor of Coaching & Applied Sports Science

Contact details

Address
School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Matt has an international reputation for research in coaching and applied sports science.  He investigates the development of sporting skill in applied settings and pathways to expertise in sports people.

Qualifications

  • PhD Sport and Exercise Sciences

  • BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences

Biography

Professor Matt Bridge is the Deputy Head of School of the world-leading School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham.  Working in coaching and applied sports science for over twenty years he is focused on the interaction of coaching and science in applied sport settings.  He leads the School’s International Strategy and is responsible for developing our partnerships with leading global institutions.  Prior to being Deputy Head of School, he was Head of Education and has contributed to degree programme leadership.

Matt has worked with professional and amateur sports teams, coaches and athletes in a range of coaching and consultancy roles and is Chair of British Universities and Colleges Golf.

Teaching

Matt contributes to the delivery of modules across the School’s undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree programmes. He brings an applied sports science and coaching focus to the School’s modules, covering topics including skill development and learning, professional practice in sport, athlete development and movement analysis.

Postgraduate supervision

Matt supervises PhD and Doctoral students working on a number of research projects. He is interested in approaches to study for a PhD in both the projects detailed below and in areas related to his general research interests. Current PhD student projects include:

  • Developmental pathways of elite dancers
  • Effect of practice constraints on football skill development
  • The role of proprioceptive acuity in skill acquisition
  • Use of isolated practice in elite football academies

PhD projects across the school can be found through FindAPhD

PhD opportunities

Research

Skill Development

Interest lies in gaining a greater understanding of what leads to optimal skill development. A lot is known about effect of practice structure on the learning and retention of sporting skills in controlled environments and to novel tasks in these environments. However, these controlled environments are removed from the dynamic interactive ones in which coaches work. This work examines the findings of research in controlled settings by carrying out similar research in real world coaching environments. The greater ecological validity of the research will enable practical guidelines to be given to coaches and performers.

Athlete development

As sport becomes increasingly professionalised there is the need to develop a greater understanding of the developmental processes and pathways that lead to both elite performance and lifelong participation in sport and exercise. These are mulitfactorial and including physiology, psychology and perhaps most importantly sociological influences.

Knowledge exchange and impact

Alongside his academic work Matt has consulted to the British Olympic Association, the European Tour, Icelandic Golf and for individuals and teams in a variety of sports including golf, cycling and triathlon.

Learn more about Matt’s research here

Other activities

Matt is the Director of Golf for University Birmingham Sport which involves the oversight and strategy of the university’s student golf teams. He is also Chair of the Golf Sports Advisory Group for British Universities and Colleges Sport.

Member of:

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Bridge, M & Gearing, N 2024, 'The Current Landscape and Contribution of Isolated Practice in European Professional and Academy Football: A Thematic Analysis of Professional Coaches and Player Interviews', Journal of Sport Behavior, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 24-42. <https://journalofsportbehavior.org/index.php/JSB/article/view/303>

Langdown, BLL, Bridge, MWW & Li, F-X 2023, 'The Influence of an 8-Week Strength and Corrective Exercise Intervention on the Overhead Deep Squat and Golf Swing Kinematics', Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 291-297. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000004254

Langford, B, Wells, J, Graham, S & Bridge, M 2018, 'Acute effects of different warm-up protocols on highly skilled golfers’ drive performance', Journal of Sports Sciences, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 656-664. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2018.1522699

Armour, KM, Evans, G, Bridge, M, Griffiths, M & Lucas, S 2017, 'Gareth: The Beauty of the iPad for Revolutionising Learning in Physical Education', Digital Technologies and Learning in Physical Education: Pedagogical Cases. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315670164-13

Langdown, B, Bridge, M & Li, F-X 2013, 'Address Position Variability in Golfers of Differing Skill Level', International Journal of Golf Science, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijgs.2.1.1

Langdown, BL, Bridge, MW & Li, F-X 2013, 'Impact Position Variability in Golfers of Differing Skill Level', International Journal of Golf Science, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 142-151. <https://www.golfsciencejournal.org/article/4980-impact-position-variability-in-golfers-of-differing-skill-level>

Bridge, MW & Toms, MR 2013, 'The specialising or sampling debate: a retrospective analysis of adolescent sports participation in the UK', Journal of Sports Sciences, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 87-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2012.721560

Langdown, BL, Bridge, M & Li, F-X 2012, 'Movement variability in the golf swing', Sports biomechanics, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 273-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2011.650187

Bridge, M & Bull, M 2012, 'The Effect of an 8-Week Plyometric Exercise Program on Golf Swing Kinematics', International Journal of Golf Science, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 42-53.

Quarmby, T, Dagkas, S & Bridge, M 2011, 'Associations between children's physical activities, sedentary behaviours and family structure: A sequential mixed methods approach', Health Education Research, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 63-76. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyq071

Scarfe, A, Li, F-X, Reddin, DB & Bridge, M 2010, 'A New Progression Scale for Common Lower-Limb Rehabilitation Tasks.', Journal of Strength Conditioning Research. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c7bb0b

Quarmby, T, Dagkas, S & Bridge, M 2010, 'Associations between Children’s Physical Activities, Sedentary Behaviours and Family Structure: a Sequential Mixed Methods Approach', Health Education Research.

Chambers, E, Bridge, M & Jones, D 2009, 'Carbohydrate sensing in the human mouth: effects on exercise performance and brain activity', The Journal of Physiology, vol. 587, no. 8, pp. 1779-1794. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2008.164285

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Armour, K, Bridge, M, Griffiths, M & Lucas, S 2016, The Beauty of the IPAD for Revolutionising learning in Physical Education. in A Casey, VA Goodyear & KM Armour (eds), Digital Technologies and Learning in Physical Education: Pedagogical cases. 1st edn, Routledge, Abingdon.

Chapter

Bridge, M & Middleton, N 2017, Putting: a direction-distance problem. in Routledge International Handbook of Golf Science. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315641782

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Golf; Coaching; how coaching teams are developed and their relationship with sports science; talent selection; identification and development in sport alongside coach education

Alternative contact number available for this expert: contact the press office

Expertise

Coaching; how coaching teams are developed and their relationship with sports science; talent selection; identification and development in sport alongside coach education; Golf

Alternative contact number available for this expert: contact the press office