Team Sports Performance Analysed Through the Lens of Social Network Theory: Implications for Research and Practice

Abstract

This paper discusses how social network analyses and graph theory can be implemented in team sports performance analyses to evaluate individual (micro) and collective (macro) performance data, and how to use this information for designing practice tasks. Moreover, we briefly outline possible limitations of social network studies and provide suggestions for future research. Instead of cataloguing discrete events or player actions, it has been argued that researchers need to consider the synergistic interpersonal processes emerging between teammates in competitive performance environments. Theoretical assumptions on team coordination prompted the emergence of innovative, theoretically driven methods for assessing collective team sport behaviours. Here, we contribute to this theoretical and practical debate by re-conceptualising sports teams as complex social networks. From this perspective, players are viewed as network nodes, connected through relevant information variables (e.g. a ball-passing action), sustaining complex patterns of interaction between teammates (e.g. a ball-passing network). Specialised tools and metrics related to graph theory could be applied to evaluate structural and topological properties of interpersonal interactions of teammates, complementing more traditional analysis methods. This innovative methodology moves beyond the use of common notation analysis methods, providing a richer understanding of the complexity of interpersonal interactions sustaining collective team sports performance. The proposed approach provides practical applications for coaches, performance analysts, practitioners and researchers by establishing social network analyses as a useful approach for capturing the emergent properties of interactions between players in sports teams.

Influence of Situational Variables, Team Formation, and Playing Position on Match Running Performance and Social Network Analysis in Brazilian Professional Soccer Players

“…Match Running Performance: After the matches, the 2D reconstruction of the geographic coordinates Network Analysis: Interpersonal coordination was assessed through network analysis (38). Completed passes between teammates can be considered the most consequential form of interaction in soccer matches, and can be used to verify the 'orchestration' of group production (20).…”

“…Here, a total of 3033 passes were subsequently analyzed. Individual metrics evaluated included (7,17,21,38): in-degree, i.e. the number of passes that the player receives effectively; out-degree, i.e.…”

“…Team sports performance is dependent upon the cooperative and competitive interactions between performers, and there is a need to determine the individual and collective contributions to achieve high standard performance (38). The complexity of these interactions emerging between players has been analyzed using novel investigative methods such as dynamical systems (14,41).…”

Quantifying Collective Performance in Rugby Union

“…Regarding team experience indicators, social network analysis (SNA) might help to provide deeper investigations. SNA techniques are increasingly applied to analyse behaviors within teams and inter-player interactions during games (Grund, 2012;Araújo and Davids, 2016;Cintia et al, 2016;Pina et al, 2017;Ribeiro et al, 2017). Bipartite structure of complex networks as described in Guillaume and Latapy (2004) might be an interesting tool to deeply scope the evolution of players' interactions through time and successive games, and might reveal individual or specific positions influencing the entire team evolution.…”

Is Football players’ performance influenced by the quality of opposition? Application of the Golden Index formula in Club Atlético de Madrid 2016/2017

“…Notwithstanding the lack of literature regarding the abovementioned issues, researchers have already started to implement social network analysis to characterize the interactions displayed during competitive performance 3,5 . Network approach addresses the interdependencies underlying team structures, in which intra-group interactions are fundamental for the development and maintenance of collaborative behaviors, and includes aspects like cohesiveness, individual roles and hierarchies among players 5 .…”