In this article, we examine the space-time coordination dynamics of two basketball teams during competition. We identified six game sequences at random, from which the movement data of each player were obtained for analysis of team behaviours in both the longitudinal (basket-to-basket) and lateral (side-to-side) directions. The central position of a team was measured using its spatial (geometric) centre and dispersion using a stretch index, obtained from the mean distance of team members from the spatial centre. Relative-phase analysis of the spatial centres demonstrated in-phase stabilities in both the longitudinal and lateral directions, with more stability in the longitudinal than lateral direction. As anticipated, this finding is consistent with the results of an analysis of individual playing dyads (see companion article, this issue), as well as the more general principle of complex systems conforming to similar descriptions at different levels of analysis. Phase relations for the stretch index demonstrated in-phase attraction in the longitudinal direction and no attraction to any values in the lateral direction. Finally, the difference between the two stretch indexes at any instant showed phase transitions between two stable patterns when the difference was represented in binary form. This result is attributed to the reciprocity between teams in their amounts of expansion and contraction when possession of the ball is won and lost.
Objectives: To characterize the contents of emotions experienced by elite table tennis players during highstakesmatches and the situational elements that contribute to these experiences.Design: A four-case study.
Method:Three top-level table tennis players from the French Men's Table Tennis Team volunteered toparticipate in the study. Four matches were studied.Procedures involved: (a) videotaping high-stakes tabletennis matches, (b) conducting self-confrontation interviews with players after matches, (c) transcribing theplayers' actions and self-confrontation data, (d) decomposing their activity into elementary units, and (e)videntifying typical contents of emotion and typical emotional situations.Results: The contents of players' emotions varied during matches. The pleasant or unpleasant tone ofemotional content was linked to the set result and the interpretations of the unfolding situation. However,other elements of the competitive interaction (score configurations, judgments about the strokes performed)had a strong emotional coloration. Certain similar events (e.g., bad sensations during stroke performance)were frequently coupled with similar emotional content (e.g., displeasure).Conclusions: Until quite recently, the predominant focus in sport psychology has been on pre-performanceemotions, with far less attention paid to the subjective emotional experiences that occur during taskexecution. This exploratory study provides initial empirical support for the notion of bidirectionality inemotion-performance relationships.
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