Decision Making
Note-Decision Making comes under the headings of Mental Factors and Physical (Tactical) Factors
Definition
Decision-making is ‘the act of choosing between two or more courses of action'.
Information is received via your senses, you must then make sense of this information-realising the
options that are available to you before selecting what you believe to be the most appropriate
option.
Positive Impact on Performance
Quality decision making is a critical skill in sports. The quality of your decisions has a massive impact
on your results. Experience plays a significant part in the decision making process-if I have
experience in an activity I will be used to making decisions in a specific context. Therefore, there is a
greater chance that I will make good decisions more often because I have been in similar positions
before. If you make the right decision on a regular basis you are likely to experience positive
outcomes.
The best tennis players usually select the right return shot to play based on several factors. Due to
their experience and skill and level of performance the decision making process is instant.
Can you think of activity related examples where you have made a good decision? What was the
impact of this good decision?
Negative Impact on Performance
Quality decision making is a critical skill in sports. The quality of your decisions has a massive impact
on your results. Experience plays a significant part in the decision making process-if I lack experience
I will not be used to making decisions in a specific context. Therefore, there is a greater chance that I
will make poor decisions more often. If you make the wrong decision on a regular basis you are likely
to experience negative outcomes. Making poor decisions can often lead to the loss of possession or
loss of points or goals.
In hockey, if the wrong decision is made when passing out from defence it can lead to an
interception and 1 v 1 situation on your goal.
Can you think of activity related examples where you have made a poor decision? What was the
impact of this poor decision?
How is the information gathered?
To gather information on decision making it is possible to use a number of methods. Three methods
have been selected. They are: a self-reflection questionnaire, video (in conj. with self-reflection
questionnaire) and a peer observation sheet.
Self-reflection questionnaire
Video (in conjunction with self-relection questionnaire)
Peer Observation Questionnaire
What is the purpose of using this particular method?
Self-Reflection Questionnaire
Video (in conjunction with the self-reflection questionnaire)
Peer Observation Questionnaire
What are the approaches to performance development?
Recognised Mental approaches to performance developmentVisualisation, relaxation techniques (deep breathing)
Imagery
Mental Rehearsal
Recognised Physical Approaches to performance developmentRehearsal
Opposed and Unopposed Practices
replicating competition environments during training will help to prepare the participant for what
they may face in competition, and by taking what they have experienced through deliberate
practice they are able to transfer to a competition setting.
By implementing a competitive environment during training, competitors are able to recall on
similar experiences (from training) during actual competition.
What tools would be used to monitor improvements?
The methods of gathering data that are used initially to gather information on this factor can be reused as a monitoring tool. Any findings can be compared to previous findings and conclusions can be
drawn.
The 3 methods are as follows:
Self-Reflection Questionnaire
Video (in conjunction with the self-reflection questionnaire)
Peer Observation Questionnaire
Background of decision-making and its relevance in sporting activities
At every instant you're making a decision about what to focus your attention upon, then once your
attention is focused on a particular event or set of circumstances the next decision you make is
"What does this mean? Is it good, bad or unimportant either way?" This is then followed by the
decision about "What do I do now?".
"What do I focus on?",
It's not what you think about occasionally that's important, but what you're consistently and
regularly focusing your attention upon that influences your life, and performance.
In many sports the choices you make in response to your environment or competitor can make a
vital difference to your result. Although you may often use your “gut feeling” or intuition,
decision making is a skill that can be improved
Decision making skills in fast-moving team sports like Basketball are particularly hard to train. There
is just so much involved in making the right choices in a high-intensity game. Skilled performers are
able to encode and retrace sport-specific information more successfully than their less skills
counterparts. This ability enables them to recognise and recall patterns of play more effectively, thus
enhancing anticipation. Experts are also able to detect and locate objects of relevance within the
visual field more quickly than novice performers. This ability allows them to quickly locate important
objects such as the ball from background distractions, thus reducing response time
“The essential factor in intuitive decision making is experience. This is an extremely important point.
Experience is the thing that allows for the situation assessment that is at the heart of intuitive
decision making. Experience allows us to recognize a situation as typical--that is, within our range of
understanding. Although each situation is unique, experience allows us to recognize similarities or
patterns and to understand what those patterns typically mean. If we have sufficient experience (and
have learned by it) we do not need to reason our way through a situation, but instead simply know
how to act appropriately.
Improving Decision Making is one of the holy grails of sports coaching. In many aspects of sports
there are times when players have a number of choices. Good decision making leads to the right
choice being made, while poor decision making leads to the wrong option being selected. There are
obviously varying degrees of how effective or unproductive the decision making process is and
utilising different activities to decrease this margin of error especially in professional or highly
competitive forms of the sports is vital.
There are a number of strategies which need to be considered when thinking about decision making
and how to integrate its focus into your training sessions.
Probably the most obvious statement around coaching and decision making is that if you never give
your players the opportunity to take risks, and then make mistakes then they will not develop the
tools necessary to exercise good judgement. The basis of good judgement within games and during
competition stems from preparation that begins within a team’s training session. By incorporating
decision making elements within training session drills and scenarios, a team will have the
opportunity to practice in multiple-choice situations.
The first step in improving decision making within a team is to outline what the possible options are.
The good as well as the bad options need to be discussed within scenarios. An on-ball screen has a
vast number of different outcomes. Each of these need to be explained so players have a clear
picture about what the desired outcome is from this tactic. Having this knowledge does not mean
that players will be able to perform the skill, but it gives a clear picture of what the goal is and how it
can be achieved.
The next step in building decision making activities into your training sessions is to ensure that there
are tactical elements incorporated. While this should be the case anyway, some coaches depending
at the time in the season will focus heavily technical skill development rather than team activities.
Because the basis of decision making is experience, then tactical elements need to be present as
early as possible to give the most repetitions imaginable to the players on the court when working
together. For example in basketball, ensure that each and every training session is made up of at
least a third of the time with tactically focused drills. Always ensure different drills or activities that
include multiple offensive or defensive players are utilised.
So why is it so important to have activities that feature multiple offensive players and defensive
players? The answer is quite simple, when a number of people are involved in a drill the possibilities
become endless. Some of the options exercised are fantastic and fall into those that a coach wants
to see executed. Others take the activity down a path a coach might see as not being worthwhile
and result in a negative outcome such as a turnover or a poor shooting option. Finally, there will be
another category of options can go either way (positive or negative). It is through experiencing all
three categories that players lean to not take the option that is guaranteed to fail, and learn how to
turn the “either way” option into a positive.
A vital tool to help with decision making in an individual or team sport is the use of video footage.
Video footage provides a very unique opportunity for individuals to view themselves in action and
have finite movements and choices examined. The choices made by each person within the situation
can be explored and alternatives can be discussed. This one exercise can be a very useful avenue and
is vital for the continuous cycle of improvement.