Contributing factors to the development of shared understanding within football teams

Shared understanding can be defined as two or more people thinking similarly in specific situations¹² .³ Team members who share similar thoughts are positively related to an effective performance .⁴ Within team sports like football, shared understanding between team members facilitates a more coordinated performance .⁵ For example, shared understanding between team members is crucial to defending an opposition corner kick, with each team member requiring an understanding of all team roles and likely actions, rather than just their own. Williamson and Cox and Gershgoren et al. emphasize the importance of shared understanding that underpins a team’s ability to perform effectively together .⁶ This would give the team the best chance of defending the corner (e.g. performing effectively together) and not conceding a goal. Having shared understanding between team members is an important component of an effective team,⁷ however shared understanding between team members is not instantaneous .⁸ Due to its complex nature, there are several factors that contribute to the development of shared understanding between team members⁹ with some of these being considered previously in different team sports - such as tennis doubles,¹⁰ field hockey¹¹ and basketball .¹² The focus of this study is therefore to outline how the different contributing factors interact to develop shared understanding between team members within football.