Mental Game (eBook)

Cognitive Training, Creativity, and Game Intelligence in Handball

Stefan Konig, Daniel Memmert (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
192 Seiten
Meyer & Meyer Fachverlag und Buchhandel GmbH
978-1-78255-552-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Top handball athletes Andy Schmid, Uwe Gensheimer, and Domagoj Duvnjak not only react to game situations in the moment, but they can also predict the next situations, allowing them to anticipate their opponents and win games. This mental speed sets the foundation to create master performances in extremely complex situations. In this book, handball athletes and coaches are given both a theoretical framework in which anticipation, perception, attention, and memory processes play a big role in training, and diagnostic tools and useful examples for training cognitive abilities. To round out training, the authors also include more than 70 game activities which can be incorporated into practice to train players' cognitive skills and improve their mental game. Handball athletes can take their playing to the next level with The Mental Game: Cognitive Training, Creativity, and Game Intelligence in Handball.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Memmert is executive head of the Institute of Exercise Training and Sport Informatics and a professor at the German Sports University Cologne. His main research areas are movement science, sport psychology, and sport informatics. He holds trainer licenses in soccer, snowboarding, and alpine skiing, and he is the author of books on modern sport training. In addition, he cooperates with national and international professional clubs, the German national team, and DAX companies. He organized the first international master's degree in Game Analysis. Prof. Dr. Stefan König is a professor at the Sports Center as well as director of the Research Center for Secondary Education at the Weingarten University of Education. His scientific work focuses on training science (effects of training processes in school, recreational, and health sports); school sports research (effects of physical education, school sports concepts, sports teacher research); sports game research (mediation concepts, tactics, leadership behavior); and research methodology (mixed methods research).

Textauszug

4DIAGNOSTICS OF COGNITIONS

In literature nowadays, an almost unmanageable flood of cognitive tests exists. They range from scientifically proven to pure software products that do not meet scientific criteria. In the following, no general overview is given. However, selected methods which were developed in the last years at the Institute for Training Science and Sports Informatics and were used in studies and the practice are presented. Four laboratory tests and four field tests are also presented as examples.

Laboratory Tests

In the following, four cognitive test procedures are presented. After the testing, the athletes received a summary of their test results compared to different sport-specific test subject groups (see figure 10).

Figure 10 Presentation of the results of all four elementary cognitions of an exemplary athlete combined with the group mean values of individual other samples (sport discipline, age, expertise).

Attention Window Test

The attention window test (AWT) by Hüttermann, Memmert, Simons, and Bock (2013) can be used to assess the individual’s range of attention. During each test phase, players are instructed to fix a central point and try to detect a gray triangle within circle and square distractors. For several attempts, the target will appear at different distances from the attachment point (10, 20, and 30 degrees), along with one of eight equally disputed radial lines from a square in the center of the display (45-degree distance) (see figure 11). This random display is shown for 12 ms, followed by a colored mask (100 ms). After the masking, the players are asked to indicate how many gray triangles they had just seen in the different locations, depending on the orientation of the objects. The participants must complete 180 attempts. This task measures how well people can handle objects far from fixation (Hüttermann, Simons, & Memmert, 2014). The dependent measure is the point distribution of the diagonal attention window and the division of the total value by the number of dimensions (i.e., three).

Figure 11 Representation of the attention window test (AWT; Hüttermann et al., 2013). The task is to perceive two stimuli peripherally at the same time. The maximum, still perceptible distance between the stimuli in horizontal, vertical, and diagonal direction is measured and a maximum attention window is determined.

Working Memory Span Test

The established working memory span test of Conway, Kane, Bunting, Hambrick, Wilhelm, and Engle (2005) measures the athlete’s ability to draw attention to the task without being distracted by other thoughts. The processing task is to count certain forms between the distractors and then remember the counts for later memory recall. Each task contains randomly arranged dark blue circles, green circles, and dark blue squares (see figure 12). The task is to count out loud the dark blue circles, and then announce the total number of circles at the end. After two to six tasks, a reminder mask appears in which the players have to fill in their memorized totals precisely in the order in which they were displayed (see Kane, Hambrick, Tuholski, Wilhelm, Payne, & Engle 2004, for a detailed description). The simplicity of this counting task permits it to be performed with almost any player. The margin score is a subtotal (see Conway et al. 2005) that represents the sum of all successfully recovered items—where a correctly retrieved item from a set of two items gets 2 points, and a correctly retrieved item from a set of six items gets 6 points—divided by the maximum possible score. The test consists of 15 attempts. The dependent measure is the evaluation of the correctly memorized objects in percent.

Figure 12 Representation of a display of the working memory span test by Conway et al. (2005). The player has to count out loud all dark blue circles between the distractors (green circles and dark blue squares) and then memorize the totals for a later memory recall.

Perceptual Load Test

The perceptual load test by Beck and Lavie (2005) is a measure of cognitive inhibition since it determines the extent to which players are distracted by stimuli that are entirely irrelevant to their task. The players perform the soccer-specific perceptual load task (Furley, Memmert, & Schmid, 2013) which starts with two example blocks (a high and a low cognitive distraction load); they are followed by eight experimental blocks that alternate between low and high load blocks (figure 13). All players start with one block under high load. Before each measurement, a fixation cross of 1,000 ms is displayed in the middle of the screen, followed by the task display with the soccer-specific arrangement and the distraction maneuver. The task indicators are displayed for 100 ms. Players are instructed to ignore the distraction and indicate as quickly and accurately as possible which player is in possession of the ball. The distraction maneuver is always shown at a fixing point (Beck & Lavie, 2005). The participants react to the target stimuli by pressing a key. A new task is triggered by the player’s reaction or omissions within two seconds. After each attempt, feedback on the quality of the answers or omissions is given by means of a computer sound. After each block, the participants are reminded of the critical assignment. The test consists of 160 attempts. The dependent measure is the reaction time of the perceptual stress related to the state of low and high distraction.

Figure 13 Representation of a display of the soccer-specific perceptual load task by Furley et al. (2013). The players have the task to ignore the distraction (0 in the penalty area) and indicate as fast and as accurately as possible which player is in possession of the ball (0 = defense, X = offense).

Multiple Object Tracking Test

The multiple object tracking test for movement tracking measures the velocity at which players are still able to track multiple relevant moving objects (Alvarez & Franconeri, 2005). 3D multiple object tracking training has positive effects on passing decisions (Romeas, Guldner, & Faubert, 2016), but no significant transfer effects on other visual or executive functions (Scharfen & Memmert, 2021).

The players observe the positions of a series of moving circles on a computer monitor. The display initially contains four green and three blue circles. After three seconds in sleep mode, the blue items turn green and are identical to the targets (green circles), and all circles begin to move as players try to track the positions of the initial green items. The test is adaptable so that the speed thresholds and the number of attempts depend on the abilities of the players. After eight seconds, the circles stop and players must mark the three formerly blue circles. Performance is defined by the number of correctly tracked and marked circles. This task shows individual differences in the ability to divide and maintain attention on several independently moving objects (see figures 14a, 14b, and 14c), but no significant transfer effects on other visual or executive functions.

Figure 14 Representation of the Multiple Object Tracking Test (Cavanagh & Alvarez, 2005). The task is to track and recognize several (a) static images for identification, and (b) moving objects at the same time in order to finally identify them at (c) the end of the test.

Field Test

Elementary cognitions are also known as basic tactics in sports games (Memmert, 2004a). Game test situations can make both tactical creativity (Memmert, 2010a, b; Memmert & Roth, 2007) and game intelligence (best solutions) assessable for basic tactical tasks (cf. Memmert, 2010b; Memmert & Roth, 2003; Memmert, 2013). As already described in the chapter on game intelligence, these are basic competencies that are of particular importance in many sports games and form the foundation for later sport-specific (here handball) tactics.

Game test situations can assess both tactical creativity (Memmert, 2010a, b; Memmert & Roth, 2007) and game intelligence (best solutions) in basic tactical tasks (cf. Memmert, 2010b; Memmert & Roth, 2003; Memmert, 2013). The resulting convergent performance indicators can be used for talent diagnostics in clubs or for grading in physical education classes. In the club, it may be useful to use a video camera to record children’s behavior and then use a video and scale to assess tactical behavior. At school, the teacher can also use the developed scale to make the assessment directly. As an example, four standardized game test situations with their scales for the evaluation of convergent tactical performance are presented below. They were comprehensively tested with regard to quality criteria of quantitative research (Memmert, 2004a, b). These diagnostic options use the basic module labels from Memmert (2004a). As these are almost identical in content to the basic modules of Roth and Kröger (2011), they are also listed. Game test situations with the scales for evaluating divergent tactical performances can be read in Memmert (2010a, b) as well as in Memmert and Roth (2007).

Game Test Situation: Moving the Ball to the Goal

In this basic tactic (creating a majority), the players should play the ball in the direction of the goal area. For this purpose, it must be assessed whether the player currently in possession of the ball—if it makes sense—has played the ball in a particular direction of the goal area, and if the most considerable possible...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.8.2024
• Vorwort: Uwe Gensheimer
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Ballsport
• ISBN-10: 1-78255-552-8 / 1782555528
• ISBN-13: 978-1-78255-552-0 / 9781782555520