Scott McLean

Bio: Scott McLean is an academic researcher from University of the Sunshine Coast. The author has contributed to research in topics: Football & Cognitive work analysis. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 44 publications receiving 336 citations.

What's in a game? A systems approach to enhancing performance analysis in football

Abstract: Purpose Performance analysis (PA) in football is considered to be an integral component of understanding the requirements for optimal performance. Despite vast amounts of research in this area key gaps remain, including what comprises PA in football, and methods to minimise research-practitioner gaps. The aim of this study was to develop a model of the football match system in order to better describe and understand the components of football performance. Such a model could inform the design of new PA methods. Method Eight elite level football Subject Method Experts (SME’s) participated in two workshops to develop a systems model of the football match system. The model was developed using a first-of-its-kind application of Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) in football. CWA has been used in many other non-sporting domains to analyse and understand complex systems. Result Using CWA, a model of the football match ‘system’ was developed. The model enabled identification of several PA measures not currently utilised, including communication between team members, adaptability of teams, playing at the appropriate tempo, as well as attacking and defending related measures. Conclusion The results indicate that football is characteristic of a complex sociotechnical system, and revealed potential new and unique PA measures regarded as important by SME’s, yet not currently measured. Importantly, these results have identified a gap between the current PA research and the information that is meaningful to football coaches and practitioners.

What's in a game? A systems approach to enhancing performance analysis in football

Abstract: Purpose Performance analysis (PA) in football is considered to be an integral component of understanding the requirements for optimal performance. Despite vast amounts of research in this area key gaps remain, including what comprises PA in football, and methods to minimise research-practitioner gaps. The aim of this study was to develop a model of the football match system in order to better describe and understand the components of football performance. Such a model could inform the design of new PA methods. Method Eight elite level football Subject Method Experts (SME’s) participated in two workshops to develop a systems model of the football match system. The model was developed using a first-of-its-kind application of Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) in football. CWA has been used in many other non-sporting domains to analyse and understand complex systems. Result Using CWA, a model of the football match ‘system’ was developed. The model enabled identification of several PA measures not currently utilised, including communication between team members, adaptability of teams, playing at the appropriate tempo, as well as attacking and defending related measures. Conclusion The results indicate that football is characteristic of a complex sociotechnical system, and revealed potential new and unique PA measures regarded as important by SME’s, yet not currently measured. Importantly, these results have identified a gap between the current PA research and the information that is meaningful to football coaches and practitioners.

A Systems Approach to Performance Analysis in Women’s Netball: Using Work Domain Analysis to Model Elite Netball Performance

Abstract: Netball is a newly professional women’s sport, as such there has been little research conducted investigating performance analysis (PA) in elite netball. The aim of this study was to develop a model of the elite netball performance system to identify the complex relationships among key performance indicators. Eleven elite subject matter experts (SMEs) participated in workshops to produce a systems model of the netball match performance. The model was developed using the work domain analysis (WDA) method. A model of the netball match performance system was produced showing the interrelated objects, processes, functions, values, and purposes involved in elite level netball matches. The model identified the components of elite level netball performance and the interactions and relationships between them. The output of this research has identified novel PA measures including passing and possession measures, measures of cognitive performance, and measures related to physical activity. Netball is a complex sport, involving multiple dynamic and interrelated components. Consequently, there is an opportunity to develop holistic PA measures that focus on interacting components, as opposed to components in isolation.

Methodological issues in systems Human Factors and Ergonomics: Perspectives on the research–practice gap, reliability and validity, and prediction

Abstract: The changing nature of work and society, and a proliferation of complex global challenges, is increasing the need for systems Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE). The discipline is well equipped to respond, but there remain a number of longstanding issues preventing systems HFE from realizing its full impact. There is a research–practice gap, a lack of reliability and validity evidence associated with systems HFE methods, and a shortage of methods that can predict behavior. In this article we revisit each issue, with each co‐author providing their own perspective on the extent and causes of each issue, and their resolution. The perspectives reveal a consensus that the issues exist and are problematic but are challenging, multifactorial, and require various solutions. The findings are subsequently synthesized to form an agenda for the wider discipline.

Complex systems

Abstract: Every organisation from the scale of whole countries down to small companies has a list of system developments which have ended in various forms of disaster. The nature of the failures varies but typical examples are: cost overruns; timescale overruns and sometimes, loss of life. The post-mortems to these systems reveal a wide range of reasons all the way from hardware failures, through software errors right to major system level mistakes. More importantly a large number of these systems share one attribute: complexity. This paper presents a fresh look at the nature of complexity in the building of computer based systems.

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

Abstract: Hardcover: 352 pagesYear: 2014Publisher: Oxford University PressISBN-13: 978-0199678112“The first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine i...

What Performance Analysts Need to Know About Research Trends in Association Football (2012–2016): A Systematic Review

Abstract: Evolving patterns of match analysis research need to be systematically reviewed regularly since this area of work is burgeoning rapidly and studies can offer new insights to performance analysts if theoretically and coherently organized. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of published articles on match analysis in adult male football, identify and organize common research topics, and synthesize the emerging patterns of work between 2012 and 2016, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The Web of Science database was searched for relevant published studies using the following keywords: ‘football’ and ‘soccer’, each one associated with the terms ‘match analysis’, ‘performance analysis’, ‘notational analysis’, ‘game analysis’, ‘tactical analysis’ and ‘patterns of play’. Of 483 studies initially identified, 77 were fully reviewed and their outcome measures extracted and analyzed. Results showed that research mainly focused on (1) performance at set pieces, i.e. corner kicks, free kicks, penalty kicks; (2) collective system behaviours, captured by established variables such as team centroid (geometrical centre of a set of players) and team dispersion (quantification of how far players are apart), as well as tendencies for team communication (establishing networks based on passing sequences), sequential patterns (predicting future passing sequences), and group outcomes (relationships between match-related statistics and final match scores); and (3) activity profile of players, i.e. playing roles, effects of fatigue, substitutions during matches, and the effects of environmental constraints on performance, such as heat and altitude. From the previous review, novel variables were identified that require new measurement techniques. It is evident that the complexity engendered during performance in competitive soccer requires an integrated approach that considers multiple aspects. A challenge for researchers is to align these new measures with the needs of the coaches through a more integrated relationship between coaches and researchers, to produce practical and usable information that improves player performance and coach activity.