Investigation of decision-making strategies in curling athletes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8394866Keywords:
Chess on the ice, tactic, performanceAbstract
Decision-making plays a crucial role in determining athletes' performance and can directly or indirectly affect the outcome of a sport event. The purpose of this study is to examine decision-making strategies in curling athletes. The study included 104 curling athletes who participated in the World Mixed Curling Championship organized by the World Curling Federation (WCF) in Aberdeen, Scotland, from October 10th to 17th, 2022. The Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire - II, developed by Mann et al., was utilized to evaluate the athletes' decision-making styles. Data collected via Google Forms was analyzed using the JASP 0.15.0.0 statistical analysis software. Since the obtained data showed a normal distribution, independent sample t-tests and ANOVA were applied. When participants were compared based on their championship performance, a statistically significant difference was observed in favor of successful athletes in the total average scores of the MDMQ-II sub-dimensions: vigilant, hypervigilant, procrastinating, and buck passing styles (p<.01). The research also revealed that the total average scores of the scale sub-dimensions differed significantly in favor of athletes who have played curling for more than ten years based on their experience (p<.01). In conclusion, in a target sport like curling, which requires intensive cognitive processes and the ability to make quick and accurate decisions, it can be stated that athletes with a high success level and more experience tend to use the vigilant decision-making style more often, while using the hypervigilant, procrastinating, and buck passing decision making styles less frequently.
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