Measuring (sub) group interaction in team sports – Concepts, challenges and some solutions

Measuring (sub) group interaction in team sports – Concepts, challenges and some solutions

In the last decade, the use of player tracking data has significantly improved our understanding of tactical behavior in football. It also enables the recognition of tactical patterns of individual players, teams, and subgroups. A basic concept of tactical behavior is the organization and coordination of team members with each other and with their opponents. The assumption behind this concept is that optimized coordination improves defensive performance, while attacking teams aim to disrupt this coordination. Until now, methods have enabled us to study coordination patterns of two actors, which did not provide sufficient insight. This talk will present different options to address this issue and provide insights into group coordination in team sports and its relation to success.

The talk was given by Matthias Kempe from the University of Groningen.