Detecting hidden patterns in the dynamics of play in team sports

One important area in the field of sports science concerns the need to explain, predict and even control the factors that determine success in competitive team sports. In our view, this is a key aspect when it comes to helping coaches to make decisions regarding the management of both training and competitive situations, as well as for increasing player motivation in high-level performance. Recently, sports performance has begun to be considered as a dynamical system (Davids et al. 2008), and attempts have been made to apply concepts from dynamical systems theory to the study of emergent game structure and tactical patterns in team sport (McGarry et al. 2002). In this regard, understanding profiles of play and how they are learnt cognitively in team sports is a new and interesting approach to the optimization of effective performance.