Development of SOM algorithm for relationship between roles and individual´s role adaptation in rugby

Victory or defeat in team sports depends on each player´s technique, physical strength, and psychological condition. It follows that team performance depends on the player´s adaptation to (suitability for) a certain role (position in the team) and the relationships between different roles. We assume that team performance is related to physical and psychological features. Many researchers have proposed that physical features determine a player´s suitability for a position. Psychological features have also been researched as factors of position adaptation. However, each feature has been investigated independently. The present research aims to develop a clustering method that considers both physical and psychological features in judging an individual´s role and adaptation in the game. This paper reports the concept of the algorithm and result of psychological data analysis using self-organizing maps and principal component analysis.