The Effect of Decision Training, from a Cognitive Perspective, on Decision-Making in Volleyball: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Over the past few decades there has been great interest in the study of cognitive processes, and specifically decision-making, from a cognitive perspective. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the scientific literature on the effect of decision training interventions/programs, from a cognitive perspective, on the decision-making of volleyball players. The systematic search was carried out in five scientific electronic databases according to PRISMA guidelines Web of Science (WOS), Pubmed (Medline), Scopus, SportDiscus and Google Scholar. A total of eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The main finding of the meta-analysis was that the use of decision-making training programs/interventions led to significant improvements in volleyball players’ decision-making (Standardized mean difference = 0.94 with 95% confidence interval from 0.63 to 1.25), compared to normal active volleyball training. In addition, the heterogeneity of the interventions was low (I2 = 0%). From the results of the studies analyzed, we recommend using decisional interventions or training, both as part of normal active training or complementary to it, to improve the decision-making of the players, thus optimizing their ability to perceive and process relevant stimuli, and then generate quick and effective responses. These findings can be useful in the process of sports training.

The role of domain-specific and domain-general cognitive functions and skills in sports performance: A meta-analysis.

“…Even if these types of skills cannot be used to predict future performance, we suggest that training programs targeting decision-making skills might be beneficial to improve performance. A systematic review focusing on decision-making training in volleyball showed that this type of training (e.g., perceptual training, video feedback) improved decision-making skills in volleyball players (Conejero Suárez et al, 2020). Similar positive effects have been shown for decision-making training programs in other team sports.…”

Relationship between Cognitive Functions and Sport-Specific Physical Performance in Youth Volleyball Players

“…The importance of general cognitive functions in volleyball has been widely demonstrated in previous studies [ 9 , 10 , 21 , 31 ]. The combination of cognitive functions (executive control and perceptual speed) and volleyball-specific skills was found to be useful for discriminating players of different competitive levels [ 10 ].…”

The Effect of Sport Practice on Enhanced Cognitive Processing of Bodily Indices: A Study on Volleyball Players and Their Ability to Predict Hand Gestures

“…Moreover, such a paradigm might be implemented in both training and player selection in future studies. For example, players might be trained, through sport-specific perceptual–vision training [ 71 , 72 , 73 ], to read these motor kinematics primitives to improve their decision-making processes and optimise their ability to perceive and process relevant body features [ 74 , 75 ]. Moreover, the paradigm might be expanded to test an athlete’s ability to distinguish between fake and real attack actions according to the level of expertise.…”