TY - ABST

T1 - A Video Ethnographic Study of Youth Football Matches

AU - Due, Brian Lystgaard

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - How do young football players together with coaches, teammates, the layout of the field, and the emerging circumstances, distribute perception to make successful passes and runs? Interactive sports teams have been the focus of various scientific contributions focusing typically on team interdependence and the ability and skills to coordinate shared team efforts, often focusing on shared cognition (Cannon‐Bowers & Bowers, 2006) or applying a wider ecological perspective (Araújo et al., 2006; McNeese et al., 2016). Video-based analysis of football matches is also commonly used, but mostly with a test setup and quantifiable measures to determine e.g. decision-making choices and skills (Farahani et al., 2020; Vaeyens et al., 2007). While many other studies have also focused on coordination and perception in fluid team sport (Steiner, 2018; Steiner et al., 2017), I aim in this presentation to contribute with insights from an ethnomethodological approach to real-world video recordings of youths playing football matches. While ethnomethodologically informed ethnographies of sport typically have studied the role of coaching (Corsby et al., 2024; Corsby & Jones, 2020), demonstrations (Evans & Reynolds, 2016) or embodied instructions (Evans & Lindwall, 2020), I focus in this presentation on the role of distributed perception for the accomplishment of making runs and passings in live, naturally occurring matches. Whereas prior EMCA studies of perception have shown how perception is tied to action (Goodwin & Smith, 2020; Nishizaka, 2000; Smith, 2020) and may be distributed not only to other people but also to technologies (Due, 2021), this presentation contributes with new understandings of perception as inherently a property of an assemblage and an activity, rather than any particular agent (Due, 2023). Data are from ethnographic studies of a Danish team in northern Zealand, Denmark, where an automated VEO camera recorded whole matches with an AI available that tracks the ball. In some matches, I served as the coach while in other matches I did not. In all instances the ethnographies are based on my immersion in this particular culture for seven years, thereby enabling “vulgar competence” (Garfinkel & Wieder, 1992) in these settings. For this presentation, I will show 2 to 3 excerpts and transcriptions from these matches focusing on how players are making successful passes without clear visual access, and hence observably rely on distributed perception for their passing decisions. References Araújo, D., Davids, K., & Hristovski, R. (2006). The ecological dynamics of decision making in sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7(6), 653–676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2006.07.002Cannon‐Bowers, J. A., & Bowers, C. (2006). Applying work team results to sports teams: Opportunities and cautions. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4(4), 447–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2006.9671807Corsby, C. L. T., & Jones, R. L. (2020). Observation, evaluation and coaching: The local orderliness of ‘seeing’ performance. Sport, Education and Society, 25(3), 348–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2019.1587399Corsby, C. L. T., Sánchez-García, R., & Jenkings, K. N. (2024). Ethnomethodological and conversation analytic (EMCA) studies of coaching in sport: A coaching special issue. Sports Coaching Review, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2023.2291252Due, B. L. (2021). Distributed Perception: Co-Operation between Sense-Able, Actionable, and Accountable Semiotic Agents. Symbolic Interaction, 44(1), 134–162. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.538Due, B. L. (2023). Situated socio-material assemblages: Assemmethodology in the making. Human Communication Research, hqad031. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqad031Evans, B., & Lindwall, O. (2020). Show Them or Involve Them? Two Organizations of Embodied Instruction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 53(2), 223–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2020.1741290Evans, B., & Reynolds, E. (2016). The Organization of Corrective Demonstrations Using Embodied Action in Sports Coaching Feedback. Symbolic Interaction, 39(4), 525–556. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.255Farahani, J., Soltani, P., & Rezlescu, C. (2020). Assessing decision-making in elite academy footballers using real-world video clips. In B. L. Parkin (Ed.), Progress in Brain Research (Vol. 253, pp. 59–70). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.06.015Garfinkel, H., & Wieder, D. L. (1992). Two incommensurable, asymmetrically alternate technologies of social analysis. In G. Watson & R. M. Seiler (Eds.), Text in context: Studies in ethnomethodology (pp. 175–206). SAGE.Goodwin, C., & Smith, M. S. (2020). Calibrating professional perception through touch in geological fieldwork. In Touch in Social Interaction. Routledge.McNeese, N., Cooke, N. J., Fedele, M., & Gray, R. (2016). Perspectives on Team Cognition and Team Sports. In M. Raab, P. Wylleman, R. Seiler, A.-M. Elbe, & A. Hatzigeorgiadis (Eds.), Sport and Exercise Psychology Research (pp. 123–141). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803634-1.00006-6Nishizaka, A. (2000). Seeing What One Sees: Perception, Emotion, and Activity. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 7(1–2), 105–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2000.9677650Smith, R. J. (2020). Categorisation practices, place, and perception: Doing incongruities and the commonplace scene as ‘assembled activity’. In R. J. Smith, R. Fitzgerald, & W. Housley (Eds.), On Sacks: Methodology, Materials, and Inspirations (pp. 182–194). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429024849-15Steiner, S. (2018). Passing Decisions in Football: Introducing an Empirical Approach to Estimating the Effects of Perceptual Information and Associative Knowledge. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00361Steiner, S., Macquet, A.-C., & Seiler, R. (2017). An Integrative Perspective on Interpersonal Coordination in Interactive Team Sports. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01440Vaeyens, R., Lenoir, M., Williams, A. M., & Philippaerts, R. M. (2007). Mechanisms Underpinning Successful Decision Making in Skilled Youth Soccer Players: An Analysis of Visual Search Behaviors. Journal of Motor Behavior, 39(5), 395–408. https://doi.org/10.3200/JMBR.39.5.395-408

AB - How do young football players together with coaches, teammates, the layout of the field, and the emerging circumstances, distribute perception to make successful passes and runs? Interactive sports teams have been the focus of various scientific contributions focusing typically on team interdependence and the ability and skills to coordinate shared team efforts, often focusing on shared cognition (Cannon‐Bowers & Bowers, 2006) or applying a wider ecological perspective (Araújo et al., 2006; McNeese et al., 2016). Video-based analysis of football matches is also commonly used, but mostly with a test setup and quantifiable measures to determine e.g. decision-making choices and skills (Farahani et al., 2020; Vaeyens et al., 2007). While many other studies have also focused on coordination and perception in fluid team sport (Steiner, 2018; Steiner et al., 2017), I aim in this presentation to contribute with insights from an ethnomethodological approach to real-world video recordings of youths playing football matches. While ethnomethodologically informed ethnographies of sport typically have studied the role of coaching (Corsby et al., 2024; Corsby & Jones, 2020), demonstrations (Evans & Reynolds, 2016) or embodied instructions (Evans & Lindwall, 2020), I focus in this presentation on the role of distributed perception for the accomplishment of making runs and passings in live, naturally occurring matches. Whereas prior EMCA studies of perception have shown how perception is tied to action (Goodwin & Smith, 2020; Nishizaka, 2000; Smith, 2020) and may be distributed not only to other people but also to technologies (Due, 2021), this presentation contributes with new understandings of perception as inherently a property of an assemblage and an activity, rather than any particular agent (Due, 2023). Data are from ethnographic studies of a Danish team in northern Zealand, Denmark, where an automated VEO camera recorded whole matches with an AI available that tracks the ball. In some matches, I served as the coach while in other matches I did not. In all instances the ethnographies are based on my immersion in this particular culture for seven years, thereby enabling “vulgar competence” (Garfinkel & Wieder, 1992) in these settings. For this presentation, I will show 2 to 3 excerpts and transcriptions from these matches focusing on how players are making successful passes without clear visual access, and hence observably rely on distributed perception for their passing decisions. References Araújo, D., Davids, K., & Hristovski, R. (2006). The ecological dynamics of decision making in sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7(6), 653–676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2006.07.002Cannon‐Bowers, J. A., & Bowers, C. (2006). Applying work team results to sports teams: Opportunities and cautions. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4(4), 447–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2006.9671807Corsby, C. L. T., & Jones, R. L. (2020). Observation, evaluation and coaching: The local orderliness of ‘seeing’ performance. Sport, Education and Society, 25(3), 348–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2019.1587399Corsby, C. L. T., Sánchez-García, R., & Jenkings, K. N. (2024). Ethnomethodological and conversation analytic (EMCA) studies of coaching in sport: A coaching special issue. Sports Coaching Review, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2023.2291252Due, B. L. (2021). Distributed Perception: Co-Operation between Sense-Able, Actionable, and Accountable Semiotic Agents. Symbolic Interaction, 44(1), 134–162. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.538Due, B. L. (2023). Situated socio-material assemblages: Assemmethodology in the making. Human Communication Research, hqad031. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqad031Evans, B., & Lindwall, O. (2020). Show Them or Involve Them? Two Organizations of Embodied Instruction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 53(2), 223–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2020.1741290Evans, B., & Reynolds, E. (2016). The Organization of Corrective Demonstrations Using Embodied Action in Sports Coaching Feedback. Symbolic Interaction, 39(4), 525–556. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.255Farahani, J., Soltani, P., & Rezlescu, C. (2020). Assessing decision-making in elite academy footballers using real-world video clips. In B. L. Parkin (Ed.), Progress in Brain Research (Vol. 253, pp. 59–70). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.06.015Garfinkel, H., & Wieder, D. L. (1992). Two incommensurable, asymmetrically alternate technologies of social analysis. In G. Watson & R. M. Seiler (Eds.), Text in context: Studies in ethnomethodology (pp. 175–206). SAGE.Goodwin, C., & Smith, M. S. (2020). Calibrating professional perception through touch in geological fieldwork. In Touch in Social Interaction. Routledge.McNeese, N., Cooke, N. J., Fedele, M., & Gray, R. (2016). Perspectives on Team Cognition and Team Sports. In M. Raab, P. Wylleman, R. Seiler, A.-M. Elbe, & A. Hatzigeorgiadis (Eds.), Sport and Exercise Psychology Research (pp. 123–141). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803634-1.00006-6Nishizaka, A. (2000). Seeing What One Sees: Perception, Emotion, and Activity. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 7(1–2), 105–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2000.9677650Smith, R. J. (2020). Categorisation practices, place, and perception: Doing incongruities and the commonplace scene as ‘assembled activity’. In R. J. Smith, R. Fitzgerald, & W. Housley (Eds.), On Sacks: Methodology, Materials, and Inspirations (pp. 182–194). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429024849-15Steiner, S. (2018). Passing Decisions in Football: Introducing an Empirical Approach to Estimating the Effects of Perceptual Information and Associative Knowledge. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00361Steiner, S., Macquet, A.-C., & Seiler, R. (2017). An Integrative Perspective on Interpersonal Coordination in Interactive Team Sports. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01440Vaeyens, R., Lenoir, M., Williams, A. M., & Philippaerts, R. M. (2007). Mechanisms Underpinning Successful Decision Making in Skilled Youth Soccer Players: An Analysis of Visual Search Behaviors. Journal of Motor Behavior, 39(5), 395–408. https://doi.org/10.3200/JMBR.39.5.395-408

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

Y2 - 17 June 2024 through 20 June 2024

ER -