Decision-Making In Sport

Below are three of the best YouTube (so free) videos related to decision-making in sport. Below them, I have added my two cents’ worth.

Decision Making in Youth Sport – Mike Ashford

Dr Michael Ashford – Decision-Making Processes in Team Sports

John Brenkus: ESPN’s Sport Science and the Study of Decision-Making

Links Between The Mental And The Tactical

There is debate about the pros and cons of separating competitive sports’ mental and tactical sides.

Our argument is that if you focus on each part as a separate entity, any “crossover” benefit that rubs off onto another area is a bonus to your improvement. Lumping them all together can result in incorrectly assuming you’re doing more than you are. Decision-making in sport is an excellent example of this. In my experience ‘in the trenches’ as a sport psychologist for the last 20 years, decision-making is rarely targeted by itself.

Tactical Wisdom

Recently, several of our one-on-one clients have been asking us for more input into their Tactical Wisdom. TW is very tricky as, in theory, it’s entirely mental, yet coaching these ” in-the-moment” decisions is, and always wants to be, the domain of sporting coaches more than sport psychologists. This is one of the many reasons it makes so much sense for us to work more directly with coaches.

I’m going to use two examples from different sports here to emphasise my point.

First, the decision faced by a golfer about whether to “lay up” short of a creek located just before the green or “go for it” by attempting to hit the ball directly over the creek onto the green. Second, the decision by a striker in football (soccer) when near the penalty area to “have a shot” or pass the ball to a teammate.

Risk Versus Reward

Both of these scenarios have a “risk and reward” element. None of the four options mentioned is terrible, and therefore, the aim is to train your mind to “make the best decision according to the specifics of the competitive situation”. Most decision-making errors occur when the moment’s emotion trumps the competition situation. Here’s a clue about not letting that happen (and yes, it requires a bit of hard work).

First, you’re much more likely to make an unemotional decision if a scenario has been “mapped out” already. The more often it’s been mentally rehearsed beforehand, the better. This is best done by what we call the “If Blank Then Blank” exercise. Let’s go back to our two examples above.

Recently, my colleague Madalyn Incognito here at Condor Performance wrote an entire article on risk and reward. To read more on this topic, click here.

Although there might seem like an overwhelming number of scenarios, there are probably only half a dozen if you think about it. For example:

“If stroke play, then lay up”.

“If match play, then go for green”.

But maybe that’s too simple, so these might be better:

“If stroke play and a par 5, then lay up”.

“If it’s stroke play and windy, then lay up”.

“If stroke play and leading, then lay up”.

“If stroke play and less than 3 shots within the lead, then lay up”.

“If any other situation, then go for the green”.

And for the other example, the footballer:

“If the ball is on/near my right foot with no defender near, then shoot”.

“If any other scenario, then pass”

“If Blank Then Blank”

Human brains are remarkable at learning these “If Blank Then Blank” right from when we’re newborns. Think about it; “If hungry, then cry”. And it carries on all the way to adulthood. “If red or amber light, then slow down and stop”. Certain commentators have and continue to object that this exercise appears to bring “thinking” into what they want to be instinctive actions.

Our answer to this is simple. There’s no escaping that certain moments in certain sports require a lot of decision-making. The “If Blank Then Blank” exercise decreases the chances of a brain explosion while under pressure. In our experience, the greatest benefit of this is the reduction of one of performance excellence’s biggest threats – indecision.

I’m not sure if I’m taking the word too literally, but indecision means delaying a decision due to being “in the decision.” Basically, the decision-making process (risk versus reward) is taking longer as it’s new.

In fact, indecision is so damaging to performance it would be fair to say that you’re better off making the wrong decision quickly and with confidence rather than the right one slowly and full of self-doubt.

Gareth J. Mole (sport psychologist)

If you’d like help improving the decision-making aspects of your sport pr performance areas, fill in this form. We typically reply in less than 24 hours.