Patterns of information transfer within collective movement simulation: Applications to sport

Collective movements are a common phenomenon that can be seen across a variety of biological systems that range in scale from cells moving within living organisms, crowds of people interacting within thoroughfares, through to herds of large mammals. Interactions between these individual entities and their environment can give rise to spectacular, self-organizing, visual displays that emerge in the absence of any apparent centralized control. Self-organisation and collective movement can be observed in humans within formations exhibited in field sports such as football and rugby. Existing studies have (1) provided strong evidence of both self-organisation amongst movements and interactions of individuals within teams and between members of opposing teams, and (2) demonstrated that teams (as a group of individuals) form collective states that range from un-ordered swarm-like formations through to highly polarised groups that move with high alignment as they engage in play (Welch, Schaerf et al. 2021).