Causes and Interventions of Collective Collapse in Sport Teams

Introduction Collective team collapse occurs, if a team experiences a sudden and unexpected drop in performance within an important game (Apitzsch, 2006). Only few studies on causes of team collapse have been conducted so far. While Apitzsch (2009) investigated causes of collective collapse in only one team and Hill and Shaw (2013) focused more on causes of individual choking in a team setting, this qualitative study aims to investigate social causes, preventions, and interventions of collective collapse in teams of various types of sport. Method Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with 10 athletes, 8 coaches, and 4 sport psychologists of professional German teams (national teams and 1st to 4th division) of dif-ferent types of sport. Participants were interviewed about perceived causes of collective team collapse, as well as prevention and interventions methods they used in order to pro-hibit team collapse. Interviews were then analyzed separately for the three participant groups (athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists) by using qualitative content analysis. Results Social factors, such as collective error or performance decrease contagion, were found to be more relevant causes of team collapse than physiological factors (e.g. age or experi-ence), or external factors (e.g. referee decisions). Especially social contagion of poor key player performance and negative emotion seem to be essential. Further causes were lack of communication, blaming others for failure, and lack of accountability. Time outs and sub-stitution of players were most common used interventions, while acclimatization training and sensitization for team collapse were most frequently applied preventions. Discussion Partly, results are similar to those reported by Apitzsch (2009) and Hill and Shaw (2013), regarding triggers of collective collapse and individual choking. In addition, social mecha-nisms, such as poor performance contagion and emotional contagion, were identified as causes of team collapse. Furthermore, first insights into possible prevention and interven-tion methods were provided, that should be tested for effectiveness in further studies.      «

Introduction Collective team collapse occurs, if a team experiences a sudden and unexpected drop in performance within an important game (Apitzsch, 2006). Only few studies on causes of team collapse have been conducted so far. While Apitzsch (2009) investigated causes of collective collapse in only one team and Hill and Shaw (2013) focused more on causes of individual choking in a team setting, this qualitative study aims to investigate social causes, preventions, and interventions of collectiv...     »