Perceptual-cognitive skills in offside decision making: expertise and training effects

This two-experiment study aims to investigate the role of expertise in offside decision making (Experiment 1) and the effect of perceptual-cognitive training (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, a video-based offside decision-making task followed by a frame recognition task demonstrated a bias toward flag errors and a forward memory shift for less-successful elite-standard assistant referees that is in line with the predictions from the flash-lag effect. In Experiment 2, an offside decision-making training program demonstrated a substantial progress from pre- to posttest for response accuracy, but not for accuracy of memory in the frame recognition task. In both experiments, no differences were found for visual scan patterns. First, these results suggest that less-successful elite-standard assistant referees are more affected by the flash-lag effect. Second, an off-field perceptual-cognitive training program can help assistant referees to deal with the perceptual consequences of the flash-lag illusion and to readjust their decision-making process accordingly.     

Using web-based training to enhance perceptual-cognitive skills in complex dynamic offside events

In association football, the difficulty in making offside decisions depends on both perceptual and cognitive processes. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to enhance the decision-making skills of assistant referees by further developing their ability to (1) time slice the incoming information flow into series of isolated time frames during an ongoing offside situation and (2) use this information to mentally read off the spatial positions of the key-role players. Training (n = 10) and control groups (n = 10) were exposed to a pre- and post-test, consisting of an offside decision-making and frame recognition test. In the latter, assistant referees were asked to indicate which of five photos best represented the spatial position of the defender and attacker at the moment of the pass. Only the training group received 12 web-based offside training sessions. First, the training group improved in mentally freezing, holding and scanning the mental picture of the offside situation in short-term memory from pre- to post-test, as evidenced by an increased recognition accuracy. Second, the improvement in recognition accuracy resulted in enhanced performance on the offside decision-making task. The benefits of web-based training are highlighted.     

Offside decision making of assistant referees in the English Premier League: Impact of physical and perceptual-cognitive factors on match performance

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the accuracy of offside judgements of assistant referees in the English Premier League. The moment in the match, the position and movement speed of the assistant referee, attacker and second-last defender, together with the angle of view for the assistant referee were all considered to underlie incorrect decisions. The error rate was 17.5% (868 of 4960 situations). As the English assistant referees tended not to signal in doubtful situations (c = 0.91), there was an overall bias towards non-flag errors (773 non-flag errors vs. 95 flag errors). The flash-lag hypothesis could explain all flag errors, whereas the optical-error hypothesis could explain a proportion of the non-flag errors (45.4%). Fatigue, movement speed, and angle of view did not have a detrimental effect on offside decision making. In conclusion, there were fewer flag errors than in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, whereas the number of non-flag errors rose. The increased awareness of factors involved in offside decision making and the instructions to give the benefit of the doubt to attackers could have contributed to this situation.     

Mixing methods in assessing coaches' decision making

Mixing methods has recently achieved respectability as an appropriate approach to research design, offering a variety of advantages (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). The purpose of this paper is to outline and evaluate a mixed methods approach within the domain of coaches' decision making. Illustrated with data from a policy-capturing study on coaches' decisions about an injured gymnast's participation in competition, the approach involves the concurrent collection of quantitative and qualitative data and a three-phase process of data analysis. It is argued that (a) the method described can provide additional insights into the factors involved in coaches' decision making, beyond those provided via quantitative or qualitative methods alone, and (b) mixing methods holds promise for coaching research more generally.     

Effects of neuromuscular fatigue on perceptual-cognitive skills between genders in the contribution to the knee joint loading during side-stepping tasks

This study investigated whether neuromuscular fatigue affects the neuromuscular control of an athlete within a sports context setting and whether these effects were more pronounced in the females. Lower limb joint kinetics of 6 male and 6 female inter-varsity soccer players performing side-stepping tasks in non-fatigue versus fatigue and anticipated versus unanticipated conditions were quantified using 10 Motion Analysis Corporation cameras and a Kistler^? force platform. The Yo-Yo intermittent recovery Level 1 fatigue protocol was employed. Stance foot initial contact and peak forces, and peak joint knee moments of the lower limb were submitted to a 3-way mixed-model repeated measure ANOVA. The results suggested that males tend to elicit significantly higher knee joint loadings when fatigued. In addition, males elicited significantly higher peak proximal tibia anterior/posterior shear force, vertical ground reaction force at initial contact and peak internal rotational moments than females. These findings suggested that males were at greater overall injury risk than females, especially in the sagittal plane. Neuromuscular control-based training programmes/interventions that are designed to reduce the risk of the non-contact ACL injury need to be customised for the different genders.     

A developmental perspective on decision making in sports

The aim of this narrative review article is to provide a developmental perspective on decision making in sports. Although there is extensive research investigating the influence of decision making on sports performance, research examining how athletes' decision making develops is almost non-existent. We take a developmental perspective to advance our understanding of the theoretical foundations, empirical findings, and practical applications of research on decision making in sports. We provide a framework for understanding choices in sports over the course of ontogenetic development. This framework can be used to guide future research and applications.     

Coaches’ perceptions of decision making in rugby union

ABSTRACT

Background: In team games situations, the ability to make fast and accurate decisions is crucial to performance. As such, effective decision making, characterised by the consistent and efficient ability to choose the right course of action at the right moment, is a key component of match performance in team sports such as rugby union. Previous research has identified pedagogical approaches to enhance decision making. However, there is dearth in research to investigate how coaches evaluate tactical decision making and subsequently develop context specific ‘on’ and ‘off-field’ coaching practices to improve it. Further, the value coaches place on decision making is under explored.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore coaches’ perceptions of decision making in rugby union. The specific objectives to meet this aim were to: (i) Explore coaches’ perceptions of the value and importance of decision making in rugby union; (ii) Identify coaches’ opinions of the key decision making moments in games and how to evaluate them; and (iii) Investigate coaches’ on and off field methods for improving players’ tactical and strategic decision making.

Participants: Purposive sampling was used to select five male coaches, whose ages ranged from 25 to 41 years, from a regional rugby union club in Wales to participate in the study. Coaching experience ranged from two years to 16 years.

Methods: The interpretative paradigm was used within the study with data collected through semi-structured interviews with academy rugby union coaches. This type of interview gathered rich, detailed and complex accounts of coaches’ opinions of players’ in-game decision making in rugby union in order to inform practice and theory. Inductive and deductive qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret the data.

Findings: All five coaches agreed that decision making was a crucial part of the modern game of rugby union. There was some disagreement between them about the players’ autonomy to make their own decisions on the pitch and a general lack of clarity between ‘game plan’, ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ amongst the coaches. All the coaches agreed that the process of evaluation of players’ decision making should involve a joint discussion with the players. They also agreed that developing decision making was one of the hardest things to coach. Finally, they used a variety of ‘on’ and ‘off-field’ coaching methods to achieve this including video analysis, questioning and the use of games based scenarios.

Conclusion: This study acquired the coaches’ voice on players’ decision making in rugby union by exploring its perceived importance to them and how they evaluated and attempted to improve it. A clear attempt was made among the coaches to develop a ‘non-judgemental’ atmosphere in the evaluation and improvement of players’ decision making. Future research should consider the use of explicitation interviewing, where the interviewer (coach) aims to get the player into a state of evocation, to relive the key decision making moments in an attempt to improve it.     

足球教练员决策行为的理论研究

足球教练员在训练和比赛的过程中要不断地做出各种决策.足球教练员的决策分为战略性决策和战术性决策.足球教练员决策过程中信息的获取和分析,对决策的科学化程度有着直接的关系.足球教练员自身的综合素养、思维方式、性格特征、经验积累,以及外部环境和条件的制约,决定了足球教练员的决策只能是建立在一种有限的理性基础之上.     

Physical and perceptual-cognitive demands of top-class refereeing in association football

The aim of this study was to examine the physical and perceptual-cognitive demands imposed on UEFA top-class referees and assistant referees during the final round of the Euro 2000 Championship. To investigate the physical workload, the heart rates during matches were monitored by short-range radio telemetry and translated to different workloads expressed as a percentage of maximal heart rate. For measurement of the perceptual-cognitive workload, video-recordings of games were used to obtain the average number of observable decisions taken by a referee. On average, referees and assistant referees performed the matches at 85±5% and 77±7% of their maximal heart rate, respectively. Over the 31 games, the mean number of observable decisions was 137 (range 104–162), 64% of which were based on communication with the assistant referees and/or the fourth official. To optimize the physical preparation of top-class match officials, the results of this study support the application of intensive and intermittent training sessions, which should place priority on high-intensity aerobic stimuli. In addition, video training is discussed as an additional method for improving match officials' decision making.     

Physical and perceptual-cognitive demands of top-class refereeing in association football

The aim of this study was to examine the physical and perceptual-cognitive demands imposed on UEFA top-class referees and assistant referees during the final round of the Euro 2000 Championship. To investigate the physical workload, the heart rates during matches were monitored by short-range radio telemetry and translated to different workloads expressed as a percentage of maximal heart rate. For measurement of the perceptual-cognitive workload, video-recordings of games were used to obtain the average number of observable decisions taken by a referee. On average, referees and assistant referees performed the matches at 85 +/- 5% and 77 +/- 7% of their maximal heart rate, respectively. Over the 31 games, the mean number of observable decisions was 137 (range 104-162), 64% of which were based on communication with the assistant referees and/or the fourth official. To optimize the physical preparation of top-class match officials, the results of this study support the application of intensive and intermittent training sessions, which should place priority on high-intensity aerobic stimuli. In addition, video training is discussed as an additional method for improving match officials' decision making.     

Pattern recall,decision making and talent identification in rugby union

The ability to make fast, accurate decisions is an essential skill for all who play sport. However, measuring this ability has proved difficult for coaches and talent identification practitioners. Pattern recognition (a key factor in decision making) has commonly been measured using pattern recall tasks. This study aimed to understand whether accuracy when recalling rugby union patterns is a valid measure of on-field decision making performance. In Study 1, professional players recalled structured patterns of players from still images (N?=?20) viewed for 5?s. On-field decision-making markers, including coaches’ rankings of decision-making ability, playing position, number of years playing professionally and total number of years playing rugby union, were used as predictor variables of recall accuracy. Results showed that only total number of years playing rugby union was correlated with recall accuracy, suggesting that caution is necessary when adopting these tasks for talent identification purposes. The structured stimuli used in Study 1 were not representative of a true rugby union game, so Study 2 tested novice and expert players on a pattern recall task that included structured, semi-structured and unstructured rugby union patterns. Experts were significantly more accurate than novices when recalling structured and semi-structured patterns; however, there were no differences when recalling unstructured patterns. It was concluded that structured and semi-structured patterns should be used in future studies to test whether pattern recall tasks can be used for talent identification in rugby union.     

广东省退役运动员职业技能培训体系研究

基于国家对职业技能培训的宏观性导向,国家体育总局对退役运动员的政策性扶持和引导,退役运动员就业难的社会背景下,结合广东省退役运动员的实际情况和当前我省劳动力市场的需求导向,采用问卷调查法、实地访谈法对广东省退役运动员职业技能培训现状进行了分析;依据体育行政官员、专家的意见和退役运动员的个人主观需求,提出广东省退役运动员职业技能培训内容,并在此基础上,构建了广东省退役运动员职业技能"三位一体"培训体系.     

网络分析模型在社区体育设施建设决策中的应用研究

在社区体育设施的建设过程中，采用网络分析模型可以对决策进行有利的支持，解决在《奥运争光计划》和《全民健身计划》的执行过程中，进行较大规模的社区体育设施的规划和建设中所出现的问题。     

Video-based training to improve perceptual-cognitive decision-making performance of Australian football umpires

Decision-making is a central component of the in-game performance of Australian football umpires; however, current umpire training focuses largely on physiological development with decision-making skills development conducted via explicit lecture-style meetings with limited practice devoted to making actual decisions. Therefore, this study investigated the efficacy of a video-based training programme, aimed to provide a greater amount of contextualised visual experiences without explicit instruction, to improve decision-making skills of umpires. Australian football umpires (n = 52) were recruited from metropolitan and regional Division 1 competitions. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group and classified according to previous umpire game experience (i.e., experienced; less experienced). The intervention group completed a 12-week video-based decision-making training programme, with decision-making performance assessed at pre-training, and 1-week retention and 3-week retention periods. The control group did not complete any video-based training. Results indicated a significant Group (intervention; Control) × Test interaction (F(1, 100) = 3.98; P = 0.02, partial ?² = 0.074), with follow-up pairwise comparisons indicating significant within-group differences over time for the intervention group. In addition, decision-making performance of the less experienced umpires in the intervention group significantly improved (F(2, 40) = 5.03, P = 0.01, partial ?² = 0.201). Thus, video-based training programmes may be a viable adjunct to current training programmes to hasten decision-making development, especially for less experienced umpires.     

The use of 2D and 3D information in a perceptual-cognitive judgement task

Abstract

We examined whether the use of three-dimensional (3D) simulations in an off-field offside decision-making task is beneficial compared to the more widely available two-dimensional (2D) simulations. Thirty-three assistant referees, who were all involved in professional football, participated in the experiment. They assessed 40 offside situations in both 2D and 3D formats using a counterbalanced design. A distinction was made between offside situations near (i.e., 15 m) and far (i.e., 30 m) from the touchline. Subsequently, a frame recognition task was performed in which assistant referees were asked to indicate which of the five pictures represented the previous video scene. A higher response accuracy score was observed under 3D (80.0%) compared to 2D (75.0%) conditions, in particular for the situations near the touchline (3D: 81.8%; 2D: 72.7%). No differences were reported between 2D and 3D in the frame recognition task. Findings suggest that in highly dynamic and complex situations, the visual system can benefit from the availability of 3D information, especially for relatively fine, metric position judgements. In the memory task, in which a mental abstraction had to be made from a dynamic situation to a static snapshot, 3D stereo disparities do not add anything over and beyond 2D simulations. The specific task demands should be taken into account when considering the most appropriate format for testing and training.     

决策民主化是中国体育场馆发展的必由之路

从公共政策与体育社会学的理论视角出发,以“2010年广州亚运会的民众参与”现状调查为例,发现民众对体育场馆相关决策的认知、参与意向、期望程度等较高,但权利意识与实际行动参与程度较低的情况。分析论证“民主化决策”是中国体育场馆发展的必由之路,并从建立合理的需求调查程序、建立健全场馆决策的民主团体与民众表决制度、完善体育场馆建设的预算监督机制、建设提供公共产品的责任性政府和体育场馆财务决策民主化5个方面探讨其民主决策的行动路线。     

The effects of fatigue on decision making and shooting skill performance in water polo players

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of fatigue on decision making and goal shooting skill in water polo. Fourteen junior elite male players (age 17.2 ± 0.5 years; mass 84.2 ± 7.6 kg; height 1.85 ± 0.05 m) completed four sets of eight repetitions of an approximately 18 s maximal water polo specific drill. Progressively declining rest ratios for each successive set of the drill were employed to induce increasing fatigue and reflect the demands of match-play. A video-based temporally occluded decision-making task (verbalized response to various tactical situations) or goal shooting skill test (qualitative and quantitative analysis of goal shooting) was performed after each set. Heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and blood lactate concentration were recorded. Heart rate (159 ± 12, 168 ± 13, 176 ± 12, 181 ± 12 Deats min^?1; P < 0.001) and RPE (13.1 ± 2.2, 15.5 ± 1.7, 17.3 ± 1.6, 19.1 ± 1.1; P < 0.001) increased with declining rest ratios. At very high fatigue, decision-making accuracy was 18.0 ± 21.8% better than at low fatigue (P = 0.008). Shooting accuracy and velocity were unaffected by incremental fatigue; however, skill proficiency (technique) decreased by 43 ± 24% between the pre-test and high-fatigue conditions (P < 0.001). In conclusion, incremental increases in fatigue differentially influenced decision making (improved) relative to the technical performance (declined), accuracy and speed of the ball (unchanged) of a water polo goal shot.     

The effects of fatigue on decision making and shooting skill performance in water polo players

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of fatigue on decision making and goal shooting skill in water polo. Fourteen junior elite male players (age 17.2 +/- 0.5 years; mass 84.2 +/- 7.6 kg; height 1.85 +/- 0.05 m) completed four sets of eight repetitions of an approximately 18 s maximal water polo specific drill. Progressively declining rest ratios for each successive set of the drill were employed to induce increasing fatigue and reflect the demands of match-play. A video-based temporally occluded decision-making task (verbalized response to various tactical situations) or goal shooting skill test (qualitative and quantitative analysis of goal shooting) was performed after each set. Heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and blood lactate concentration were recorded. Heart rate (159 +/- 12, 168 +/- 13, 176 +/- 12, 181 +/- 12 Deats min-1; P < 0.001) and RPE (13.1 +/- 2.2, 15.5 +/- 1.7, 17.3 +/- 1.6, 19.1 +/- 1.1; P < 0.001) increased with declining rest ratios. At very high fatigue, decision-making accuracy was 18.0 +/- 21.8% better than at low fatigue (P = 0.008). Shooting accuracy and velocity were unaffected by incremental fatigue; however, skill proficiency (technique) decreased by 43 +/- 24% between the pre-test and high-fatigue conditions (P < 0.001). In conclusion, incremental increases in fatigue differentially influenced decision making (improved) relative to the technical performance (declined), accuracy and speed of the ball (unchanged) of a water polo goal shot.     

Match activities of top-class female soccer assistant referees in relation to the offside line

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the match activities of top-class female assistant referees (mean age 34.8 years, s=3.5; stature 1.64 m, s=0.05; weight 58.1 kg, s=7.4; body mass index 21.6 kg · m^–2, s=2.4) in relation to the offside line. Computerized match analyses were performed on 14 top-class assistant referees during 10 matches (a total of 20 observations) from the 2006 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) under-20 Women's World Championship held in Russia. In addition, the position of the second last defensive player of both teams was calculated throughout the matches to determine the distance from the assistant referee to the offside line. The total distance covered during a game was 5594 m (s=473), of which 27% was sideways movements (1492 m, s=135). High-intensity activities (>13 km · h^–1) accounted for 1999 m (s=371). Mean distance from the offside line during the entire match was 1.06 m (s=0.26). Total distance covered, high-intensity activities, and distance from the offside line were not different (P>0.05) between the two halves of the game or consecutive 15-min match periods. Our results show that: (1) the kinematic demands placed on top-class female assistant referees are similar to those of top-class male assistant refereeing except for the amount of high-intensity activities, and (2) assistant referees were able to maintain the distance from the offside line during the match, which suggests an ability to keep up with the pace of the play throughout the match.