Assessment of decision-making performance and in-game physical exertion of Australian football umpires
- Authors: Larkin, Paul , O'Brien, Brendan , Mesagno, Christopher , Berry, Jason , Harvey, Jack , Spittle, Michael
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sports Sciences Vol. 32, no. 15 (2014), p. 1446-1453
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- 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.
Video-based training to improve perceptual-cognitive decision-making performance of Australian football umpires
- Authors: Larkin, Paul , Mesagno, Christopher , Berry, Jason , Spittle, Michael , Harvey, Jack
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sports Sciences Vol. 36, no. 3 (2017), p. 239-246
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- 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.