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Video One

Video one explores non verbal communication used with possession and without possession of the object. Freeze frame one shows Greg pointing to an area of the court in which he wants his team members to cover. This acts as a visual cue for the highlighted players to decode and respond to. However, this results in both Maryanne and Sam responding to the same cue, covering the same area and leaving the top of the D open. Sullivan & Feltz (2003) suggests that the level of cohesion within a team impacts the effectiveness of non verbal communication (Sullivan & Feltz, p. 1694, 2003). In this instance, there is little to no coordination between Maryanne and Sam in deciding who is covering which area, creating a gap in the configuration. To fix this issue, perhaps verbal communication between the two would increase the coordination of positions.  

Freeze frame three shows how an individual can use non verbal communication to inform other members of the team what they are doing. Sam points to an area on the court in which he is going to cover, as a result, Brandon who is running towards goal sees this cue and moves towards the centre of the D. At this moment, a sub team is created and the cohesion here is strong as both Sam and Brandon are coordinated in their differing roles. In freeze frame four, Heather instructs Lucy on where to go and who to cover by directly pointing at the opposition player. Lucy successfully cuts of the pass and creates a turn over. The communication method used by both Sam and Lucy is explained by LeCouteur & Feo (2011) as natural occurring human interaction (gesture) transmitting a message that is instantly decoded by the recipient to perform a desired movement (LeCouteur & Feo, p. 127, 2011).

In freeze frame five there is a number of visual cues which create a chain reaction of movements. When Jason gains possession of the object and moves across the court, Georgie immediately moves to create a pass, getting separation from her opponent. Jason’s movement here acts as a visual cue for Georgie to move. This visual cue uses more than just hand gestures in contrast to the previous examples. Zamfir (2017) uses two categories to explain this. Firstly, the orientation of the subject and the positioning of the body during the process off communication. Secondly, the movements of the body suggest approval or disapproval for the receiver to continue their movement or retreat to another (Zamfir, p. 101, 2017). When using these categories to analyse the play, Jason’s orientation (facing inboard) and his movement (moving inboard) has had a significant impact on when Georgie is required to move to receive the pass although it goes through Claude first.  

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Video Two

In video two there are two focus athletes that have differing level of skill, cognitive map and a different status within their given teams. Focus athlete one (Jade) can be seen keeping within one third of the court almost the entire time. Whilst focus athlete two (Jess) can be seen moving within most areas of the court, often starting from the centre corridor.

Jade can be placed on the more novice end as she has a more generalised response that follows a set pattern (Forrest, p. 3, 2014). This pattern is that when her team is in possession of the object she runs towards her goal and when her team loses the ball she runs towards her oppositions goal while staying close to the sideline. Mitchell (1996) suggests a reasoning for this is that the novice player understands the necessity to maintain possession of the ball and attacking the goal as this is how invasion games are won. However, novice players are not expected to know or understand more complex attacking concepts such as using width and depth in attack, since this understanding comes from experience in playing invasion games (Mitchell, p. 31, 1996).

Jess displays different attacking traits with and without the ball. In contrast to Jade, she moves around the court using both aspects of width and depth. The ability to do this comes from her prior experience transferring from her netballing background. She is not categorised as novice as she displays the ability to select important stimuli to respond to, recognise patterns, use anticipation throughout the play and process information at a faster speed (del Campo, Villora, Lopez, & Mitchell, p. 872 – 873, 2011). The stimuli are gaps in the defensive structure of the opposition, in the first freeze frame, you can see her sprinting through a gap, stopping and then anticipating a pass to the top of the ‘D’. She is continually monitoring relevant current and past responses to build and modify her game status (Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin, p.159, 2005) where Jade only reacts to selected game events.

Although the cognitive map of each of these individuals influences the way they play, so too does the competency network within each of the teams. Jess would have been allocated to run the middle, where as Jade would be allocated a role that requires her to be an outlet on the edge of the play space. These roles are assumed by the players but are also developed though the environment created within the team and the individual status given to both Jess and Jade directly from their team mates. Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin (2005) explain this idea through the notion of roles. Roles are behaviours that convey what a player thinks that he/she is ought to do given the way he/she experiences rapport within the team and how their individual resources are managed (Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin, p.26, 2005).

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Video Three

Video three focuses on the defensive positioning of the green team directly after an attacking shot on goal. Two examples are analysed, both quite similar in nature with some minor differences. The moment the pink team gain possession of the object at their end of the play space, the green players move towards their defensive D. The movement pattern displayed by Greg in the opening scene, cuts off any chance of the pass going to josh ‘over the top’.

At the first freeze frame, it is evident that the green team has completely covered the D. This is a result of the collective strategy of the team. The benefit of this strategy is that the players who are on the more novice end do not have to make a difficult decision for themselves, the decision has already been made. The defensive actions have been organised by establishing an arrangement of field coverage in relation to the situation potential (Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin, p.8, 2005). Gréhaigne, Godbout & Bouthier (2001) suggest that a configuration can be a schema that provides the main characteristics of a given system. During the play, players need to be aware of the shift from one configuration to the next to better understand the evolution of play (Gréhaigne, Godbout & Bouthier, p. 64, 2001). From this example, the configuration shifting point is when the opposition keeper gains possession of the object. At this point, players from the green team produce novel movements through interpolating information from their past experiences and moving to achieve the desired outcome (of covering the D) (Schmidt, p. 236, 1975).

The posture and position of the defensive players force an error in both examples. Firstly, as Josh received the object, Sam tagged him and then covered the inside, meaning Josh’ has no choice but to pass backwards. Secondly, Greg then covered the second outlet. At this point Josh’s attentional focus is narrowed forcing him to lob the ball. When deciding where to pass the ball players need to focus on the ball, the opponents, and simultaneously look for open teammates, and when this focus is narrowed down onto one of these aspects poor decisions are made (Hüttermann, Memmert, & Nerb, p. 160, 2019). However, the lob did not result in a turnover questioning the functionality of the system.

At the second freeze frame, individual resources seem to depict where each of the defensive players are standing/guarding. Maryanne has taken the role of the far left pocket as this is a place in which she feels comfortable. Greg is the centre point directing teammates as his knowledge of the game allow him to do so. Nathan and Brandon are up at the opposition as they are most agile. Renee is in the goals due to her height and length of limbs whilst Sam is anticipating to cut off a longer pass to Simon. Players have been placed in these positions due to their level and range of general motor skills, motor competencies, and sport specific motor skills. (Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin, p.44, 2005). Furthermore, each member is aware of their own role in the structure displaying the competency needed to operate as a successful team (Forrest, p. 2, 2014).

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Video Four

Video four represents the positive force ratio that is created due to a fast transition from defence to offence of the pink team. At freeze frame one you can see the advantageous positioning that the pink team has, as four out of the six green players are forward of the object. As play goes on quickly, a three vs one is forced in the favour of the pink team, this is represented in freeze frame two. Furthermore, the reasoning for the outnumber is due to the green team being stationary at the rear of the play space, this is represented in freeze frame two (b). The passage of play concludes with a goal to the pink team.

When analysing this play using the underlying principles of strategy and tactics, it is clear that the pink team were given an opportunity directly from their oppositions error. A team’s strategy of when to ‘take off’ or slow the play largely depend on where this opportunity is given to them. Sgrò, Aiello, Casella & Lipoma (2012) explore this idea through their study of offensive strategies in European football, suggesting when a path has the potential to lead to a positive outcome (in this case a shot on goal) then a fast play is usually made (Sgrò at el, p. 803, 2012). This creates a relationship between where a turnover occurs and when to use the fast attack strategy.

The positioning of the pink team allows for the force ratio to remain positive at all times with possession. Due to Josh holding his line and keeping the width between himself and Simon, Simon can draw the defender in. The posture and position of Greg in freeze frame two depicts that he has committed to the player with the object, acting as a visual cue for the pass to be made. Simons decision to pass to Josh after drawing the defender gave Josh time and space to have a clear shot at goal, rather than taking the defender on creating a one on one. This force ration is a result of the green team not anticipating the turnover and having no reserve in their strategy (Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin, p.32, 2005).

Shifting the focus to the defensive behaviours of the green team you can see through freeze frame two (b) the location of the green players. The green players were working to a position to receive the object to advance to score, however, the unforced error changed the dynamics of the game switching from offence to defence. When a mistake occurs, some players can find themselves distracted by thinking about the mistake or anticipating its negative outcomes (Tedesqui & Orlick, p.46, 2015). In this case, the distraction of the mistake has outweighed the though to transition to defence. This can be analysed using the bottleneck theory of attentional demand as there is information and stimuli being filtered and the most salient (the skill error) is perceived resulting in the distraction from what they should be doing (Driver, p.56, 2001).

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References

del Campo, D. G. D., Villora, S. G., Lopez, L. M. G., & Mitchell, S. (2011). Differences in decision-making development between expert and novice invasion game players. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 112(3), 871-888.

Driver, J. (2001). A selective review of selective attention research from the past century. British Journal of Psychology, 92(1), 53-78.

Forrest, G. (2014). Definition of Terms - Grammar of Games and Sports. EDPM301, School of Education, University of Wollongong, Moodle. ​

Grehaigne, J. F., Bouthier, D., & David, B. (1997). Dynamic-system analysis of opponent relationships in collective actions in soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences, 15(2), 137-149.

Gréhaigne, J. F., Godbout, P., & Bouthier, D. (2001). The teaching and learning of decision making in team sports. Quest, 53(1), 59-76.

Gréhaigne, J. F., Richard, J. F., & Griffin, L. L. (2005). Teaching and learning team sports and games. Psychology Press.

Hüttermann, S., Memmert, D., & Nerb, J. (2019). Individual differences in attentional capability are linked to creative decision making. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

LeCouteur, A., & Feo, R. (2011). Real-time communication during play: Analysis of team-mates’ talk and interaction. Psychology of sport and exercise, 12(2), 124-134.

Mitchell, S. A. (1996). Improving invasion game performance. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 67(2), 30-33.

Schmidt, R. A. (1975). A schema theory of discrete motor skill learning. Psychological review, 82(4), 225.

Sgrò, F., Aiello, F., Casella, A., & Lipoma, M. (2016). Offensive strategies in the European Football Championship 2012. Perceptual and motor skills, 123(3), 792-809.

Sullivan, P., & Feltz, D. L. (2003). The preliminary development of the Scale for Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS). Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(8), 1693-1715.

Tedesqui, R. A., & Orlick, T. (2015). Brazilian elite soccer players: Exploring attentional focus in performance tasks and soccer positions. The Sport Psychologist, 29(1), 41-50.

Zamfir, M. V. (2017). Verbal and non-verbal communication in sport environment. Marathon, 9(1), 99-106.