The recall accuracy of play patterns in handball players (U-13)

• Main Authors: Vicente Luis del Campo, Cristobal González Portillo, Jesús Morenas Martín
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Federación Extremeña de Balonmano; University of Extremadura 2020-10-01
• Series: E-balonmano.com: Revista de Ciencias del Deporte
• Subjects: habilidad perceptiva; recuerdo; memoria; toma de decisiones; balonmano; perceptual-cognitive ability; recall; decision-making; handball
• Online Access: http://e-balonmano.com/ojs/index.php/revista/article/view/514

The aim of the study was to address whether the skill to recall play patterns in handball was influenced by the temporal period in which those actions were perceived by the players. The sample of participants was seven U-13 federated handball players. The participants had to observe different play actions of a competition match played previously, and then, they had to judge how these actions ended. The recall tests were performed 1 day (1st test), 15 days (2nd test), and 30 days (3rd test) after the match. Specifically, the players perceived a set of 18 representative play actions, including 6 trials for each test. They had 30 seconds to recall how the play actions finished, selecting one option between several ones available on an observation sheet created specifically for this study. The players decreased their performance recalling the end of the play patterns as more time elapsed since the date that they played the match and the recall test. For example, their recall was significantly worse in the third test compared to the second and the first tests. Keywords: Perceptual-cognitive ability; recall; decision-making; handball.