1. AS / A Level Sport and Physical Education
Group Dynamics

2. In the context of interactive sports it is said that a champion team will defeat a team of individual champions and therefore the study of how groups operate as a unit is important Can you think of an example of when this has happened?
2006 – Ryder Cup, Europe had one player in the top ten rankings yet won against America!

3. So what is a group?
Although a group can be described as comprising three or more individuals, this is not an adequate definition.
The important factor in the formation of a group is that individuals interact. Group members should be aware and relate to each other by having a shared objective, which will bring about interaction.
“Groups are those social aggregates that involve mutual awareness and the potential for interaction” (McGrath) -

4. What makes a good Group? Watch the following clips of these teams,
write down what you
think makes them so
successful?

5. What makes a successful group/team?
have a strong collective identity
members have an opportunity to socialise
have members who share goals and ambitions
and share ownership of ideas
have members who are able to communicate effectively (on the same wavelength)
have strong cohesion (see later slides)
have members who value relationships within the group
have a successful coach or leader (see later slides)
who ensures that members’ contributions to the group are valued

6. GROUP COHESION According to Carron, a group will form a
“bond” if the following characteristics are in
place:
A collective identity
A sense of shared purpose
A clear structure for communication
The term given to describe the degree of
successful bonding or the strength of a
collective group co-operation is called
GROUP COHESION

7. Group cohesion: two dimensions
TASK COHESION
Relates to the way in which team members work
with each other to successfully complete a task.
2. SOCIAL COHESION
Involves personal relationships within the group
And relies on individuals enjoying social interaction

8. TASK COHESION
To develop task cohesion the group will be given an overall team goal which is accepted and valued by all team members. To achieve the long-term goal there must be a collective affiliation to team tactics and strategies of play. e.g. A football team may set out to win the league by adopting an attacking policy at home and away matches. Task cohesion is most important in interactive games, e.g hockey

9. SOCIAL COHESION
To develop social cohesion the group leader would create opportunities for social development. An environment would be created where players could interact positively by relaxing and making friends. e.g. A touring team often develops strong social bonds. Social cohesion is most important in Co-active sports, e.g track and field

10. TASK - Identify a successful sports team or organisation
By applying the terms of McGrath and Carron, discuss in pairs how well the team operates as a unit
Identify outstanding individuals, key pairings or sub-groups that operate in the context of the whole group
Identify an occasion when the cohesiveness of the unit had broken down and suggest reasons for this
Discuss how cohesiveness was restored

11. CARRON’s MODEL FOUR factors affect the development of cohesion
ENVIRONMENTAL
factors binding members to a team
contracts, location, age, eligibility
avoid star system, provide opportunities for socialising
PERSONAL
factors which members believe are important
motives for taking part
develop ownership feelings and social groupings within the team
LEADERSHIP
the behaviour of leaders and coaches
TEAM
factors relating to the group
team identity, targets, member ability and role
creation of team short and long-term goals
rewarding of individual and team efforts

12. SOCIO-GRAM
One way to gather information about the dynamics of a group is to compile a socio-gram. In a socio-gram, each player nominates players with whom they could best work within a team situation

13. TASK - identify the following:
Who is the most popular and would possibly be captain?
Who is an exclusive group. The term given to a sub-group.
Who are reciprocal pairs. Friends who vote for each other.
Who would be a reject? Making nominations but receiving none back.
Who is an Isolate, someone who made and received no nominations.

14. SOCIO-GRAM C K L E J H D I F B G A

15. COHESION - Breakdown
Most team sports rely on units within a team working closely together and individuals performing tasks that may remain unnoticed by spectators. The potential of the team to function as a cohesive unit is affected when co- ordination between team players fails and motivation of the individual drops.

16. STEINER’S MODEL
Actual Potential Losses due Productivity = Productivity – to Faulty Process (AP=PP-FP) Actual productivity is the team performance at a given time during the game. Potential productivity Is the maximum capability of the group when cohesiveness is strongest. Faulty processes relate to the factors that can go wrong in team performance, which will affect the group cohesion and collective potential.

17. There are two faulty processes that bring about losses in potential productivity:
Co-ordination losses
These losses occur because the effectiveness of
the group as a unit cannot be sustained for the
duration of a match. Even the most carefully
planned and rehearsed strategies may fail
occasionally because of a positional error or an ill
timed move.
Any breakdown in teamwork is regarded as a
co-ordination loss and is termed the RINGLEMAN
effect.

18. Ringleman effect: Ringleman stated that problems in team co-ordination are more likely to occur as the team numbers increase. Research was done where a team of eight in a tug of war did not pull eight times as hard as solo performers!! 2. MOTIVATION LOSSES These relate to an individual who suffers a reduction of motivation during performance causing the player to withdraw effort and coast through a game. This relaxation of effort is called “social Loafing”

19. TASK – Analyse a game you last played for the school, Identify the following:
Situations when group cohesion facilitated good play.
Circumstances when team play broke down due to the onset of faulty processes
The faulty processes
How could a coach prevent the
Ringlemann effect and Social loafing
from occurring?