The effectiveness of decision-making training in team-sport officials: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Michael Spittle, Aden Kittel, Riki Lindsay, Paul Larkin, Ian Cunningham

Journal: Psychology of sport and exercise 2025;79():102841

PMID: 40107585

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Abstract

PURPOSE

Decision making is a critical skill for sports officials, often directly influencing the flow and fairness of a match. While this topic has received considerable interest in the literature, a synthesis of current evidence to understand the effectiveness of decision-making training interventions remains unexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of decision-making interventions in team sport officials.

PRINCIPAL RESULTS

A total of 14 studies were identified, with a random-effects meta-analysis revealing an overall moderate positive effect of decision-making training on decision-making performance outcomes (g = 0.68, p < .001) compared to control conditions. Notably, decision-making training was more effective in Soccer (g = 1.05), Rugby Union (g = 0.90), but not for Australian Football (g = 0.24). Video-based (i.e., 2-D footage) showed significant improvements, especially for objective decision-making outcomes like offside identification (g = 1.48, p < .001). However, our findings indicated that decision-making training tends to be less effective for subjective decision-making outcomes that requires higher levels of interpretation. Furthermore, shorter interventions (4-6 weeks) were found to be most effective, with performance improvements reducing as interventions increased in time.

MAJOR CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the need for further research to explore alternative technologies such as virtual reality to understand how to better replicate game scenarios and assess the transferability of decision-making training to real-world officiating contexts. Additionally, this review highlights the need to investigate sports beyond Soccer, Rugby, and Australian Rules Football to develop our understanding further into optimising decision-making training in sports officials.

Address: School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; Centre for Sport Research, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Education, Arts and Community, Federation University, Ballarat, Australia.; Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia; Maribyrnong Sport Academy Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia.; Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.; School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, UK.

DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102841

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MeSH Terms: Humans, Decision Making, Team Sports, Soccer, Athletic Performance, Football