Description:
In Australian Football, set shot goal kicking is when a player has a shot at goal after taking a mark (i.e., catching a kicked ball) or receiving a free kick (i.e., penalty from an opposing player). In the past two decades, Australian football has improved in nearly all aspects of the game, yet set shot goal kicking accuracy has declined. The purpose of the current pilot study was to investigate whether pressure acclimatization training improves Australian football goal kicking under pressure. Twelve football players assigned to either an experimental (EG) or a control group (CG) completed a pre-intervention test, intervention, and post-intervention test. During the pre-intervention and post-intervention tests, participants attempted 10 goal kicking trials under low pressure (LP) and high pressure (HP) conditions. After five attempts, participants completed an anxiety questionnaire. During the intervention period, the EG practiced under HP, while the CG practiced under LP. These pilot results indicated a significant increase in participants ' anxiety from LP to HP for both groups and a significant decrease in accuracy from pre-intervention to post-intervention. In the post-intervention test, the CG was more accurate under HP than the EG, indicating no significant advantage by practicing under pressure and contradicting other acclimatization studies. These results may ignite a debate about the benefits of acclimatization training, but caution should be exercised when interpreting the results considering the pilot nature of the study. Larger sample sizes should be used to further explore these effects. Future research in acclimatization training is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Description:
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) x 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.
Description:
The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of in-game physical exertion on decision-making performance of Australian football umpires. Fifteen Australian football umpires (Mage = 36, s = 13.5 years; Mgames umpired = 235.2, s = 151.3) volunteered to participate in the study. During five competitive Australian football pre-season games, measures of in-game physical exertion (blood lactate levels, global positioning system [GPS]) and decision-making performance (video-based test) were obtained. There were no significant correlations between physical exertion in a particular quarter and decision-making performance in either the same quarter or any other quarter. Video-based decision-making performance was effected by time in game χ2(3) = 24.24, P = 0.001, with Quarter 4 performance significantly better than both Quarter 2 and Quarter 3. In-game physical exertion (blood lactate) significantly decreased over the course of the game χ2(3) = 11.58, P = 0.009. Results indicate no definable link between in-game physical exertion and decision-making performance. It is, however, presumed that decision-making performance may be affected by the time or context of the game. Future research is warranted to explore the relationship between physical exertion and decision-making performance to potentially inform Australian football umpire training programmes that replicate in-game physical and decision-making demands.