The Relationship between Tactical Knowledge and Tactical Performance for Varying Levels of Expertise

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between off-the-ball tactical knowledge and off-the-ball tactical performance of college-age female participants' (n = 34) with varying levels of expertise in territorial games. Tactical knowledge was measured using the Tactical Knowledge Instrument (TKI), which assessed participant responses when solving a "maintaining possession" tactical problem on a game board. The Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI) measured participants' tactical performance while they played a directional keep-away game in the gymnasium.Analysis of variance tests revealed a significant difference between the tactical knowledge scores between Expert and Novice participants F(2,31) = 6.09, p = .0059.As the expertise level moved from Novice to Expert mean scores increased.Correlated t-tests were completed to investigate scoring differences among specific components of the GPAI. Tests revealed significant differences (p < .001) with the decision-making; synchronized movement with teammates (DMB) and adjust; eluding a teammate prior to cutting to space (AB) component scores when compared to all other GPAI component scores. The DMB and AB mean scores were significantly lower than other component scores for all expertise levels.Off-the-ball knowledge and off-the-ball performance scores were not correlated among expertise groups. Expertise also did not prove to be an accurate indicator of participants' level of tactical knowledge (other than between Expert and Novice) or tactical performance. These results may have implications concerning the over emphasis of skill versus tactical-based teaching and coaching, and may help select the instructional methods best suited for territorial games.

Differences in Decision-Making Development between Expert and Novice Invasion Game Players

“…These results seem to indicate that along with age, differences between experts and novices involve the defensive, off-the-ball aspects of the game. These require greater explicit attention in the training process, though often training processes and informal learning focus on the on-the-ball and offensive components (Blomqvist, et al, 2005;Auld, 2006;. These findings also lend weight to the suggestion by French, et al (1995) that since the context of the game performance and the underlying factors are changing, the criterion used to evaluate and define expertise can change with age.…”

“…Discussion Previous research has shown that players with higher expertise are superior in cognitive components of game performance. This superiority has been confirmed both in authentic game play through observational instruments that assess decision-making and skill-execution components separately (e.g., French & Thomas, 1987;Thomas, 1989;McPherson & Nevett, et al, 2001;Auld, 2006), as well as in isolated conditions through the use of written knowledge tests, interviews, or video-based situations (e.g., French & Thomas, 1987;French, et al, 1996;Nevett & French, 1997;Garcia Lopez, et al, 2010). The present study suggests that this remains true when the interference of execution ability is minimized.…”

“…Experience influences game performance and is usually linear with age and analogous to practice, performance, and competition time (Blomqvist, Luhtanen, & Laakso, 2000). Other parameters that discriminate between levels of expertise have been the trainer's (French & Thomas, 1987) or teacher's (Nevett, Rovegno, Babiarz, & McCaughtry, 2001) own judgment, the category players compete in (Auld, 2006), or previous skills tests (Campos, 1993). However, according to Abernethy, Thomas, and Thomas (1993), expertise is the result of a complex interaction between different variables such as physical characteristics, talent, knowledge, skill, intuition, and motivation.…”

“…Just a few studies assess decision making in actual game play, notably in tennis (McPherson & Thomas, 1989), baseball (French, Spurgeon, & Nevett, 1995), basketball (French & Thomas, 1987), soccer (Fontana, Mazzardo, Mokgothu, Furtado, & Gallagher, 2009), and modified invasion games (Auld, 2006;Nevett, et al, 2001). Of importance among these studies, French and Thomas (1987) developed an observation method to assess separately decision-making components of performance and motor skill execution components of performance.…”

“…This is the "ability to identify problems that arise while a game is in progress and to select the skills necessary to solve these problems" (Mitchell, Griffin, & Oslin, 1994, p. 21). The second level of decision making, tacticalcontext adaptation, is very important with regard to game performance in invasion games due to the tactical complexity (Auld, 2006) and relational nature of skills in this category of games (MacPhail, Kirk, & Griffin, 2008;Gutierrez Diaz del Campo, Garcia Lopez, & Contreras Jordan, 2009). The purpose of the present study was twofold: first, to examine differences in decision making between expert and novice invasion game players during a real game, and second, to address methodological limitations of previous research.…”