5 Steps to Improve Decision-Making in Sports By Yourself
If you ask any coach what attributes they look for in an athlete, I can almost guarantee one of them will be “someone who can consistently make good decisions.” This doesn’t mean you’re the most physically or technically gifted; it means you are trying to do the right things at the right times. Several studies have shown that elite athletes can make decisions faster and more accurately than novice athletes. It is well known that technical mistakes can be improved with an abundance of physical repetitions and focused attention, but will this help them make better decisions? Not necessarily. This is because it only improves one element of it (motor execution), and there are 3 core elements involved in every decision:
Perception - The ability to receive information through your sense organs (predominately the eyes and ears)
Cognition - The ability to process this information, give meaning to it, and decide on the appropriate response
Motor execution - The ability to physically execute the movement with speed and accuracy
These perceptual and cognitive elements are often seen as inherent (meaning you’re either born with them or not) or can only be developed by playing games/practices, but this is simply not true. Playing in real games might be the most effective to do this, but the problem is:
a) You typically don't get many repetitions with particular scenarios during games, and
b) During games, you want to focus on helping your team win, not improving your weaknesses
The solution: practice game situation decision-making in a training environment, where you have the luxury of getting many reps, trying new things, making mistakes, learning from your mistakes, and improving. Below, I explain a 5 step process that will help you do this by yourself, using just your mobile device.
“Shooting percentage is just as much about decision making as it is about technique”
- Jeff Van Gundy
Step 1 - Download the switchedon training app (don’t worry, it’s free)
This app provides randomized visual or auditory stimuli (i.e., colors, numbers, arrows, etc.) that you will associate with specific actions or movements. This forces you to use your mental muscles to PERCEIVE an external stimulus, process that information to DECIDE on the appropriate response, and then use your physical muscles to REACT as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Step 2 - Determine what situation you want to work on
What situations do you encounter MOST during competition?
What situations do you struggle with most?
What situations are most important?
Step 3 - Determine the primary decisions (actions, skills, or movements) you would make in this situation and Associate a stimulus with each one
There are likely tons of combinations here. Start simple and then go more complex
Use the most relevant actions to what you would perform in competition
Try to limit it to no more than 7 due to our natural working memory constraints
Step 4 - Choose your transition and duration
Transition: Timed or Touch?
Timed - This is useful when performing a continuous cycle of actions where you try to keep that same pace for the entire training session.
Touch (Touch Anywhere) – This is useful when performing an action that requires you to return to the phone for each rep and when you want to record the speed at which you performed it.
Touch (Make or Miss) – This is useful when performing a drill that requires some accuracy measurement (shooting, aiming at targets, etc.) and also gives you the time to retrieve your equipment if you are limited.
Duration: Countdown or Rounds?
Countdown – This is useful if you want to perform a drill for a specific amount of time
Rounds – This is useful if you only want to perform a certain amount of repetitions, have a certain amount of balls, etc.
Step 5 - Set up the phone where you would be looking during the game
Where is the information that you need to make this decision?
The opposing player’s hips? Their feet? The open space?
Here is a video example for soccer goalkeepers (read the description below for an explanation)
What situation am I working on?
Crosses coming into the box and either a) coming out to collect it or b) getting back on the line to get set and make a save
what decisions (actions, skills, or movements) must I make?
🟦🟥🟩 = Come out and collect the cross
⬅️➡️ = Get back on the line, get set, and make a save in the direction that appears
What transition and duration?
Transition: Timed
Length: 1 sec, Delay: 4 sec
Duration: Rounds
15 Rounds
where would I be looking (where should I place the phone)?
Phone placed towards the end line where the cross would be coming from
The idea behind this is to try to replicate the actual decision-making process as closely as possible because this will give you the best transfer to competition! You can replicate this process for basically any situation in any sport, but with my experience being primarily with soccer (goalkeeping) I used the example above. Let me know if you want me to do one with your sport/situation at contact@switchedontrainingapp.com.
#stayswitchedon