Developing sport expertise in youth sport: a decision training program in basketball

BACKGROUND: This study has analyzed the impact of applying a decision training program, in which video-feedback and questioning were used, on the development of decision-making, skill execution and procedural knowledge in basketball players. METHODS: Participants were eleven male players aged between 12 and 13 years old (M(age) = 12.75, SD(age) = .65), who were assigned to an experimental or control group within a pre-test/intervention test/retention test quasi-experimental design. The decision training program was applied over 11 weeks. Throughout this intervention, players had to analyze the causes and reasons for the decision made, using video feedback and questioning to this end. Decision-making and skill execution variables were analyzed using the French & Thomas (1987) observation instrument, while a validated questionnaire was used to assess procedural knowledge in basketball. RESULTS: The results reported that sport expertise improved in players from the experimental group, who had significantly higher intervention test scores for successful decisions and skill executions when compared to players in the control group. In the intra-group analysis, the experimental group significantly improved in the intervention test compared to the pre-test, in terms of some of the variables of decision-making, skill execution and procedural knowledge. DISCUSSION: These results reinforce the idea of including cognitive tools in training, such as video-feedback and questioning, to improve sport expertise in players’ formative stages, and presumably to improve their performance whilst maintaining decision training throughout time.