ABSTRACT
This chapter describes research on the behaviours of attacker-defender dyads in sports contests from the perspective of ecological dynamics. The main challenge for researchers is to find coordination variables for dyadic systems that accurately describe the mutual interactions between opposing performers that occur in competitive performance environments. In sports, proximity of opponents and teammates means that a significant amount of co-adaptive behaviours can be observed. Ecological dynamics predicts that these interpersonal interactions in competitive performance environments are shaped by self-organizing processes.
