Der Sport lebt von Dynamik im Erleben und Verhalten. Sportereignisse, Spiel- und Saisonverläufe stellen Athlet:innen vor besondere Herausforderungen und wissen Zuschauer:innen zugleich in außergewöhnlichem Maße zu begeistern. Unerwartetes und Überraschendes passiert den Sportler:innen trotz jahrzehntelangen Trainings immer wieder. Die Morphologie bietet als psychologische Theorie eine Perspektive, um Phänomene des Sports ganzheitlich und strukturell zu verstehen. Unerklärliche Leistungseinbrüche, auffällige Wiederholungen in Wettkämpfen, kuriose Wendungen oder das Kippen von Spielen stellen Fragen an Theorie und Praxis der Sportpsychologie.
„Es gibt nichts Praktischeres als eine gute Theorie!“ war der Wahlspruch des Gestaltpsychologen Kurt Lewin. Seine Feldtheorie ist ein psychologisches Konzept, das seelische Wirklichkeit in allen ihren Ausprägungen abbilden kann. Daraus entwickelte Wilhelm Salber eine psychologische Morphologie, die von den natürlichen Erlebenseinheiten des menschlichen Lebensraums ausgeht und diese nach den Koordinaten von Gestalt und Verwandlung aufschlüsselt („Wirkungseinheiten“). Die Morphologie folgt der Breite (und Tiefe!) des Alltagserlebens, der Faszination und Bedrohlichkeit der Kultur, sie thematisiert nicht zuletzt die herausfordernden Wirkungsfelder des Sports – als Bewegungsablauf, Spielgestalt, Wettbewerb, im Übergang vom Training zur Performance, vom Leistungsabruf zum Medienereignis.
Diese Keynote führt in die Theorie der Morphologischen Psychologie ein und diskutiert Relevanz für Wissenschaft und Praxis im Sport.
Herbert Fitzek ist Professor für Wirtschafts- und Kulturpsychologie und Leiter des Wissenschaftlichen Beirates der BSP Business & Law School. Der studierte Diplom-Psychologe und approbierte psychologische Psychotherapeut promovierte 1993 zu einem psychologie-historischen Thema und habilitierte sich 2005 über einen Methodenvergleich in der Qualitativen Psychologie. Er lehrt unter anderem an der Universität zu Köln, der ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften und FH Wiener Neustadt in den Bereichen Kulturpsychologie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Methodenlehre, Organisationsentwicklung, morphologische Beratung sowie Kunstcoaching.
Herbert Fitzek verantwortet zahlreiche nationale wie internationale Forschungs- und Drittmittelprojekte mit dem Fokus Kunstpsychologie, digitaler Wandel, Gestaltpsychologie und Psychologie von Führung. Das Spektrum seiner wissenschaftlichen Fachvorträge spannt sich über die Morphologische Psychologie, Kultur- und Gestaltpsychologie bis zur Gegenwartskultur und zum kreativen Management. Herbert Fitzek ist zudem Autor- und Mitautor von über 100 Schriften, war Gastgeber wissenschaftlicher Fachtagungen u.a. in Köln, Berlin, Zürich, Tel Aviv und steht dem Institute for Morphological Psychology in Berlin vor.
Based on technological developments in sensor / video technology, especially in the field of commercial football (Memmert & Raabe, 2024), coupled with changes in media preparation of sports matches, new types of data and performance evaluation have been established. The massive increase in available data makes it possible to calculate more complex performance indicators with ML and AI (Memmert, 2024). Positional / tracking data of the individual players and the ball, allow for significantly faster analyses than with video-based material. Advanced (tactical) metrics (Low et al., 2020) enable to picture the performance of teams and individual players as well as the interaction dynamics between teams.
The lecture will discuss how current approaches / models in sport psychology (e.g., attention, Memmert et al., 2023) may profit from positional data and evaluation metrics to a) study the emergent behavioural dynamics in a real-world environment, and b) extend performance gains from individuals to team performance. Such an experimental (positional data) field paradigm (Memmert et al., 2019) is beneficial, as it allows to generate theory-driven data in representative performance settings (e. g. 7 vs. 7 team handball game, 11 vs. 11 football game), that is reliable, objective (corresponding KPIs), and extremely fast. The lecture will conclude by offering an outlook on how teaching content in ML and AI can be developed to guide and protect work flows in different research fields with these new data.
References
Low, B., Coutinho, D., Gonçalves, B., Rein, R., Memmert, D., & Sampaio, J. (2020). A systematic review of collective tactical behaviours in football using positional data. Sports Medicine, 50, 343-385.
Memmert, D. (Ed.) (2024). Computer Science in Sport: Modeling, Simulation, Data Analysis and Visualization of Sports-Related Data. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Memmert, D., & Raabe, D. (2024). Data Analytics in Football. Positional Data Collection, Modelling and Analysis (3. Edition). Abingdon: Routledge.
Memmert, D.*, Klemp, M.*, Schwab, S. & Low, B. (2023). Individual attention capacity enhances in-field group performances in soccer. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-18.
Memmert, D., Raabe, D., Schwab, S., & Rein, R., (2019). A Tactical Comparison of the 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2 Formation in Soccer: A Theory-Oriented, Experimental Approach Based on Positional Data in an 11 vs. 11 Game Set-Up. PloS ONE 14(1): e0210191.
Daniel Memmert is a Professor and Executive Head of the Institute of Exercise Training and Sport Informatics at the German Sport University Cologne (https://www.dshs-koeln.de/en/institut-fuer-trainingswissenschaft-und-sportinformatik/sportinformatik-sportspielf/ueber-die-abt-1/), Cologne (Germany), with a visiting assistant professorship 2014 at the University of Vienna (Austria). He studied physical education for high school teaching (math, sport, and ethic) and has trainer licences in soccer, tennis, snowboard, and skiing. He received his PhD and habilitation in sport science from the Elite University of Heidelberg. In 2010 he was awarded 3rd place with Germany’s most renowned German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) Science Award. His research is focused on human movement science (cognition and motor activity), sport psychology (attention and motivation), computer science in sports (ML, pattern identification and simulation), talent, children and elite research (Trainings-/PE-Curricula) and research methods. He has received 14 DFG grants, has an H-index of 63 (i10-Index 212), and has authored or co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications as well as more than 35 books.
Achieving true health – a state free from disease, drugs, and despair – is intricately woven into the fabric of what we eat, how we move, our thoughts and aspirations, our social connections (friends, family, and colleagues), and our spiritual identity.
Despite remarkable biomedical strides in the last century, we now confront perhaps the most significant health challenge in human history. Unlike previous threats, it’s not a virus or a natural disaster, but a global surge in chronic diseases linked to insulin resistance. This condition is fuelled by excessive carbohydrate consumption and exacerbated by our stress-laden, sedentary lifestyles.
If we allow current trends to persist, projections indicate that by 2050, one-third of the world’s population will be grappling with type 2 diabetes. The solution, however, does not rest in the hands of Big Medicine, Big Pharma, or Big Food. Recent experiences have laid bare their hindrance of scientific debate and collaboration in finding practical, affordable solutions.
To avert this impending human catastrophe, we must forge collaborations between professions best equipped to guide people towards healthier, more fulfilling lives. The key lies in embracing Real Food, staying physically active, finding joy and purpose, securing meaningful employment, and cultivating contentment within us. We must liberate ourselves from fear and guilt, embracing the courage to pursue our fullest potential. This journey demands a willingness to dare, take risks, face failure, rise again, and view each setback as an opportunity for collective celebration of life.
In this plenary session, Dr Snyman will expound upon the interdisciplinary collaboration necessary to halt and reverse this monumental health challenge. He will illuminate the strategic role of sport psychologists in this endeavour, drawing on examples ranging from the triumphs of rugby world champions to the nuances of tennis coaching at the high school level.
Dr Stef Snyman (MB, ChB; MPhil (HealthScEd); DOM) is an occupational medicine practitioner and health professions educationist. Residing in Cape Town, South Africa, his unwavering passion lies in empowering individuals to break free from the shackles of disease, drugs, and despair through the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.
As the visionary founder of „FIRE for Life,“ Dr Snyman leads an interdisciplinary team in the offering of a groundbreaking programme specifically crafted to aid individuals in reversing diabetes and tackling conditions associated with insulin resistance.
Beyond his clinical practice, Dr Snyman serves as a research associate at the Centre for Community Technologies at Nelson Mandela University. Additionally, he holds a consultancy role at the WHO-FIC Collaborating Centre in South Africa. He serves on the advisory board of Hamburg Medical School.
Dr Snyman is South Africa’s voting member of the World Health Organization’s Functioning and Disability Reference Group. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Interprofessional Care. He was a founding member of Interprofessional.Global, the Global Confederation of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice.
Stef is married to Helena, and they have two kids, Christiaan (14) and Isobel (12).
