Decision-making of Spanish female basketball team players while they are competing

Abstract

Decision-making play a very important role in basketball. While the game is taking place, players are constantly choosing what to do. In order to carry out this research work, two questions have been formulated: 1) how do high level female basketball players make a decision while they are competing? 2) which key components do they use to make the best decisions? The twelve players who make up the Spanish female basketball team have taken part in this project. They all participated in the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which took place in Madrid. This tournament allowed them to qualify and take part in the 2008 Olympic Games, where they finished in fifth place. A questionnaire and an interview have been used to make this research possible. The matches of the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament have also been analyzed. Those aspects in terms of the team’s performance in 1x1 and 2x2 attack situations, and more specifically in pick actions, have been recorded and analyzed. In order to include these data, a system of specific categories and variables has been established. The results show that players are expert on making decisions during the competition. In order to come to this conclusion, their opinions, style of decision-making, as well as the way they move in 1x1 and 2x2 situations, were very useful. This research has also confirmed that decisions made by playmakers, forwards and centers are different.