A Case Study of Forms of Sharing in a Highly Interdependent Soccer Team During Competitive Interactions

Optimizing Performative Skills in Social Interaction: Insights From Embodied Cognition, Music Education, and Sport Psychology

“…This involves an effort to “disconnect” from the present moment and project oneself into a previous situation. The athletes are able to describe how they managed their interactions with the environment and how they created their own situations (Hauw and Durand, 2007; Villemain and Hauw, 2014; Mohamed et al, 2015; Antonini Philippe et al, 2016; Gesbert et al, 2017; Gesbert and Durny, 2017; Rochat et al, 2018). Videos or other traces of past activity are thus very useful for maintaining the markers that preserve the dynamics of an activity.…”

“…The patterns of coordinated behavior occurring between sport teammates or members of a music ensemble are not fully preestablished; instead, they are constantly being shaped by the environmental contingencies that agents learn to master and exploit during performance (Fuchs and De Jaegher, 2009; Di Paolo et al, 2010; Araújo and Bourbousson, 2016; Schiavio and van der Schyff, 2016). Gesbert and Durny (2017), for example, highlighted how the objectives pursued by soccer players in competition (i.e., trying to score a goal while maintaining the team’s defensive balance) are constantly open to interpretative processes that emerge from their interactions with the environment. Depending on the musical score, the feedback from the audience, the moment in the match, the teammate with the ball, the positioning of opponents, the area where the ball is situated, and so on, each musician or player can constantly reinterpret the unfolding situation in ways that are meaningful for the whole ensemble or team.…”

“…Mutual sensitivity to these fluctuations in experience is therefore considered as one of the main characteristics of collective expertise (see e.g., Saury et al, 2010). Gesbert and Durny (2017), moreover, described how two players sharing the same objective during a soccer counterattack (quickly attacking the opposing goal) were able to develop highly specific expectations on how to attack the opponent goal. As they drew closer to the opposing goal, one of them (Phil) became sensitive to the quick decrease in the distance that separated his ball-carrying teammate (Andrew) from the opponent (situated in front of him), understood that he did not have the same expectations as Andrew, and sought to adjust his behavior.…”

“…In a recent paper, Gesbert and Durny (2017) described how soccer players can regain ball possession by exploiting specific and independent goals. According to their position on the pitch (forward, axial midfielder, side-offensive midfielder, etc.…”

Commentary: Interpersonal Coordination in Soccer: Interpreting Literature to Enhance the Representativeness of Task Design, From Dyads to Teams

“…This sensitivity to environmental information was linked to what was relevant to the players at a given instant in relation to their activity. In another example, a soccer player who wanted to make a quick counterattack on the opponent's goal was sensitive to the opponent's poor positioning and perceived an opportunity to forward pass to a teammate (Gesbert and Durny, 2017). Within this framework, the players were actively adjusting the conditions for their exchanges with the environment, highlighting the autonomy of their activity (Froese and Di Paolo, 2011).…”