Attention and the role of verbal calls in soccer

Abstract

It is traditionally held that verbal calls have a positive effect on the ball holder in soccer. According to some local soccer coaches and players, off-the-ball players need to help the ball holder in making decisions by talking to him/her and giving him/her verbal instructions (calls). While there is no literature available to support or falsify this claim, there is an abundant number of studies (in other sports) which suggest that athletic performance decreases when subjects are placed in situations where they must concurrently process various types of information in a limited time (Abernethy, 1993). It has also been found in other studies that expert athletes are less susceptible to distracting information than novices.

Understanding the relationship between processing verbal information and performance in soccer is the main objective of this study. However, there is a lack of behavioural measures which can be adopted to examine this relationship. Most existing studies of information processing and performance in soccer have been criticised for relying on experimental methods that are remote from the natural playing or competitive environments. They often use small subject samples, static slide representations and pen and paper techniques (Williams et al., 1994). Furthermore, most studies of attention in sports are about closed skills tasks (e.g., free throw in basketball and penalty kick in soccer). There are very few studies that examine attention in open play (Williams et al., 1994).

This study sought to develop an instrument, the 'Verbal Calls Reaction Test' (VCRT), to measure the effects of verbal calls on the ball holder. Elite (n=27) and social (n=27) subjects were asked to execute a test (VCRT) in which they had to score as many points as possible within 32 seconds. The test requires the subjects to carry on some open tasks (dribbling, shooting and visual scanning) under two conditions that are similar to those existing in natural game situations. In one condition, the subjects were given verbal instructions (by four assistants) during the test to help them in scoring. In the other, subjects had to canyon their tasks without any verbal assistance.

The subjects scored significantly (t-test analysis) more points without the use of verbal calls than they did with the calls. This was due to the fact that listening to verbal calls and processing them slowed the subjects' reactions. It also attracted their attention to irrelevant information in some instances.

Both the social and elite subjects increased their scores by similar margins when they performed the tests without the use of calls. This finding contradicts some of the existing literature which suggest that elite players are less affected by distractors than novices. This difference can be explained by the fact that social subjects participating in this study may have varying degrees of skill level even though they compete in social grades.