- Title
- Video-based training to improve decision-making performance of Australian football umpires
- Creator
- Larkin, Paul
- Date
- 2012
- Type
- Text; Thesis; PhD
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/62549
- Identifier
- vital:4899
- Abstract
- Highly refined perceptual and decision-making skills are fundamental to the umpiring process in all sports although there has been little applied research which considers ways to improve umpires‟ perceptual and decision-making skills. Contemporary research has shown that video-based decision-making tests reliably separate highly skilled Australian football umpires from their lesser skilled counterparts. To date however, no studies have considered whether video-based protocols can be used as a training tool to enhance perceptual-cognitive learning for Australian football umpires. Consequently, in this dissertation, three interconnected studies were undertaken to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based training program to improve Australian football umpires‟ decision-making. Video-based methods of assessment have been commonly used to evaluate perceptual-cognitive performance of sports athletes and officials however, a major limitation of these studies is that they have not indicated whether their decision-making test had good reliability and/or validity. Study 1 of this PhD project sought to address this issue, by developing a valid and reliable video-based testing tool to monitor Australian football umpires‟ decision-making performance. The video-based decision-making test was developed from a pool of 156 video-based decision-making situations that were extracted from 23 Australian Football League games. The individual video-clips presented between 6-15 seconds of game play and all audio information was removed to ensure this did not influence participant responses. Face, content and construct validity were demonstrated, which indicated that the testing instrument was a representative measure of decision-making skill in Australian football umpires. The reliability study also provided evidence that 48 clips consistently measured decision-making skill over a two week time period. This investigation provided evidence of a reliable and valid decision-making test which can be used (pre and post) to detect improvements in decision-making following the implementation of a video-based intervention (Study 2). Study 2 investigated whether a 12-week video-based training intervention improved umpire decision-making. Metropolitan and regional Victorian Division One Australian football umpires were assigned to an intervention and control group. The intervention group completed one 20-minute video-based decision-making session per week, which presented between 60 and 225 decision-making situations. In total, 1040 different decision-making scenarios were presented over the duration of the program. In contrast to previous video-based training, the current investigation provided no explicit instruction or feedback. The control group only completed the pre and post decision-making tests. Decision-making performance of the intervention group significantly improved over time (p < 0.01), however no significant differences were observed in the control group (p = 0.94). The significant improvement of the intervention group mirrors the findings of other perceptual-cognitive research however, this study extended previous work by incorporating a greater number of decision-making trials and a discovery learning style. Findings indicated that decision-making skills can be improved without explicit instruction and in game experience. In addition, when separated according to umpire experience, participation in the video-based training program assisted less experienced umpires achieve the same decision-making standard on the video-based retention test as experienced umpires who did not complete any decision-making training (p = 0.85). Furthermore, decision-making performance of experienced umpires also showed significant improvement following participation in the video-based program (p = 0.02). Study 3 implemented a case study approach to investigate whether decision-making skills trained via video-based methods transferred to in-game performance. In-game performance of three participants from Study 2 (intervention group) were monitored (video-recoded and coded) during the Australian football season. In addition, qualitative methods were used to provide an understanding of the cognitive decision-making process of the three umpires. During the five monitored games each participant wore a voice recorder and were asked to „think out loud‟, providing a verbal report of their in-game decision-making process. Following the assessment of all five games, semi-structured interviews were conducted to provide further understanding of cognitive processes associated with each umpires‟ decision-making. Findings identified six themes that related to the in-game decision-making process (e.g., decision evaluation, player intention during game-play) and in-game umpire performance (e.g., anticipation, game-play instructions, player education, knowledge of game-play). Results supported the notion of skill transfer between video-based training and in-game decision-making performance, with all three participants improving their in-game decision-making performance from the first two games to the last two games analysed. This study provides initial evidence that video-based decision-making training can enhance in-game decision-making performance. Therefore, confirming that there is potential for skills developed through video-based training to transfer to in-game decision-making performance. As this was the first study to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based training program to improve Australian football umpires‟ decision-making, this PhD makes a significant and meaningful contribution to empirical knowledge. This study provides insight into the need for valid and reliable decision-making tests, and consideration of these constructs in future research will ensure a comprehensive approach to investigate the potential transfer of decision-making skills from video-based training programs to in-game performance. From a practical perspective, the findings from this study highlight the value of video-based decision-making activities to accelerate the decision-making performance of umpires without the need for extensive time commitment and/or in-game experience. This has important implications for the development of future Australian football umpires, particularly as the current video-based program can be modified and/ or used in current umpire training without the need for large time investment by umpire coaches. Furthermore, positive transfer from video-based training to in-game performance was evident, thus, confirming the potential for video-based training to improve in-game performance. Whilst further research using high quality research designs is required, this dissertation serves to guide further video-based training research across multiple decision-making domains in sport (i.e., umpires/referees, players).; Doctor of Philosophy
- Publisher
- University of Ballarat
- Rights
- Open Access
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- Video-based training; Decision-making performance; Australian Football League umpires
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