The Effect of Different Levels of Arousal and Training Intensity on Decision Making of Expert Female Football Players

Skillful performance in soccer requires not only sound techniques but also quick and accurate decision making. These decisions are usually made in various intensities of practice and performance. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different levels of arousal and training intensity on decision making (speed and accuracy) of expert female soccer players. For this purpose، 16 expert female soccer players (mean age 22. 4±3. 8 yr) with 8 or more years of competitive experience were voluntarily selected from Tehran women''s premier league. Soccer related photographs on a computer monitor were used to evaluate the decision making task; participants had to decide which action they would undertake (shoot، pass، dribble). Three different levels of arousal (low: with no spectators، medium: with silent spectators and high: with cheering spectators) in three different levels of intensity (resting، 40% of HRmax، 80% of HRmax) were designed. To measure the accuracy and speed of decision making، parametric method of MANOVA، 3 (training intensity levels) in 3 (arousal levels)، was used. To totally compare the groups، one-way analysis of variance، ANOVA with repeated measures and Tukey post hoc test were used at α=95%. The results showed no significant difference in the speed of decision making among different arousal levels (P>0. 05) while a significant difference was observed in the accuracy of decision making among different arousal levels (P˂0. 05). The speed of decision making improved in the low and medium arousal levels through an increase in training intensity while no significant difference was observed in the speed of decision making in high arousal level among different intensity levels (P>0. 05). Furthermore، the accuracy of decision making showed no significant difference in low and high arousal levels among different intensity levels (P>0. 05). The accuracy of decision making improved in low arousal level through an increase in training intensity. These finding showed that training intensity and arousal separately influenced each decision making component.