Interpersonal Coordination between Female Soccer Players: Leader-Follower Roles within a Collision-Avoidance Task.
Courtney A Fernandes, Grant E Norte, Sarah M Schwab and 4 others
PMID 38707861WHAT IT FOUND
Previously injured female soccer players were more likely to follow their teammates during a collision-avoidance task.
After an unexpected signal, these injured followers struggled to regain strong movement coordination, while uninjured followers recovered quickly. This suggests injury history may impair reactive coordination.
Key findings
01Participants with a history of lower extremity injury were the follower in 60.8% of trials.
02When injured players were in the follower role, their movement coordination strength remained lower after a perturbation compared to the early stage, whereas uninjured followers recovered.
03Psychological readiness scores did not predict whether a player would be the leader or the follower in the dyad.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small (18 participants), and the secondary analyses were underpowered. The study used a novel analytical method (CRQA) with no prior power analysis for the primary outcomes. The laboratory setting and repetitive nature of the task may not fully replicate the chaotic environment of a real soccer match. The study only included female athletes, so results may not apply to male players. Some participants were already teammates, which could have influenced their coordination dynamics. Participants with a history of injury who were still playing may have fewer psychological barriers than those who failed to return to sport.
Declared interests
The authors report no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that psychological readiness scores alone determine who leads or follows in a team sport. While injured players had lower readiness scores, these did not predict leader-follower status in this study. The observed coordination deficits were linked to injury history and role assignment, not directly to the psychological metrics measured.