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.
An evaluation of video-based training programs for perceptual-cognitive skill development. A systematic review of current sport-based knowledge
- Authors: Larkin, Paul , Mesagno, Christopher , Spittle, Michael , Berry, Jason
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport Psychology Vol. 46, no. 6 (2015), p. 555-586
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- Description: In this review we identified sport-based perceptual-cognitive training literature to systematically evaluate current video-based methodologies and their resultant effectiveness to improve perceptual-cognitive performance (i.e., decision-making). A comprehensive literature search of electronic databases from 1994-2013 was conducted to identify relevant studies. We identified 139 articles, of which 25 met all the inclusion criteria. Study design and test measures of the 25 articles were assessed against a classification scale to rate methodological quality. The methodological quality of the 25 studies varied, with quasi-experimental the most common design. Additionally, studies varied in the skill level of participants and the amount of video-based information presented during the training. We conclude that videobased training programs can be used to enhance perceptual-cognitive performance and outline several recommendations for future video-based perceptual-cognitive training programs particularly with respect to the validity and reliability of the instruments used to measure perceptual-cognitive performance.
Development of a valid and reliable video-based decision-making test for Australian football umpires
- Authors: Larkin, Paul , Mesagno, Christopher , Berry, Jason , Spittle, Michael
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 17, no. 5 (2014), p. 552-555
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- Description: OBJECTIVES: To develop a valid and reliable video-based decision-making test to examine and monitor the decision-making performance of Australian football umpires. DESIGN: Validation assessments with test re-test reliability. METHODS: A video-based decision-making test was developed from a pool of 156 video-based decision-making situations. Australian football umpires (n=56) and players (n=45) participated in two separate phases of analysis. In phase one, players completed a test re-test reliability assessment with a 100 video-clips. Results indicated 24 clips were a reliable measure of decision-making performance. In phase two, umpires completed a test re-test protocol with 80 clips, 24 of which were the reliable clips identified by the player cohort in phase one. These 24 clips provided a measure of construct validity. Face and content validity were assessed by skill acquisition specialists, expert umpire coaches, and umpires. RESULTS: From each of phase one and two of the reliability assessment, 24 clips were found to have a kappa value greater than 0.30, providing a total of 48 reliable video-clips. Construct validity was supported, with the umpire group performing significantly better than the player group on the 24 clips presented to both groups on each testing occasion. Face and content validity were also demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: This investigation demonstrated the ability prospectively to determine reliability and validity of the video-based decision-making test designed specifically for Australian football umpires. Establishing the validity and reliability of the video clips ensures future investigations can accurately and consistently measure the decision-making performance of Australian football umpires.
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.
Choking under pressure : A review of current debates, literature, and interventions
- Authors: Mesagno, Christopher , Geukes, Katharina , Larkin, Paul
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Contemporary Advances in Sport Psychology : A review p. 148-174
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- Description: Athletes who "crumble" under the pressure of competition are often defamed, embarrassed, and sometimes ostracized from the sportinf community. One Australian elite rower, Sally Robbins, was heavily shunned and vilified by the media and rowin community for a potential choking under pressure episode. Sally was a member of the Australian Women's Eight rowing team competing in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. With 500 meters to complete the race and the team in medal contention, Sally stopped rowing, collapsing in the lap of one of her teammates, with her oar dragging in the water because of intense exhaustion, with the team finishing in last place. This episode may have been exacerbated by the reported intense anxiety she was experiencing prior to the well-publicized Olympic final. In fact, this was not the first time extreme anxiety and concomitant exhaustion had befallen on Sally with reports suggesting perhaps it happened up to nine times previously (Wilkins, 2008). After that event, "Lay down Sally (as she was quickly labeled by Australian media and public) ... was derided as a quitter and labeled un-Australian.... The lay down Sally affair ended in misery, defamation lawsuits and recriminations" (Davis, 2008, p.98). This type of incidence has led to media speculation about choking so often that Davis (2008), an Australian magazine editor and newpaper reporter, wrote a book explaining many potential choking incidences from elite international competitions. Some choking incidences are more easily detectable than others. For example, tennis player Jana Novotna played Steffi Graf in the 1993 Wimbledon women's final, led the match 6-7, 6-4, and had a game point at 4-1 in the third and final set. Novotna lost the game and Steffi Graf won the final five games of the match and the Grand Slam title. Professional golfers Jean Van de Velde and Greg Norman also squandered leads to lose major championships, but in different ways. Van de Velde drastically "lost the plot" in the 1999 British Open after leading the tournament over 71 holes with a 3-shot lead going into the final hole. Off the tee, each of his shots went into the rough, hit the grandstand, in a water hazard, into the greenside bunker, on the green and finally in the hole for a triple bogey and tie for the lead. Van de Velde eventually lost in a three-person playoff. Greg Norman's 1996 U.S. Masters choking episode was similar because a large lead (i.e. six strokes) diminished, however, this occurred in a round-long (rather than an acute one-hole) collapse and eventual loss to Nick Faldo by five strokes. One reason these situations could be classified as choking episodes is they were based on the person's normal standard of play, rather than on other's success. For example, Novotna's performance deterioration was credited for the choking incident and not because Graf played exceptionally well in the last set to win the tournament. Nevertheless, some researchers (e.g. Buszard