The Relationship of Decision-Making Style and Reaction Agility Performance Regarding the Type of Stimulus in Handball

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to verify the influence of contextual perception in sports on performance in reaction agility to a specific and non-specific stimulus on a sample of handball players. The object of the research was eleven players of the junior handball team playing in the top league (age: 16.73 years; decimal age 16.46 years). Visual signaling and video projection. and a modified Y-test of reaction agility were used. In this study. two goals were set: a) to compare the performance level in the Y agility test with respect to a simple non-specific and a complex specific visual stimulus in the form of filmed scenes of the opponent's attacking actions. which simulated real situations in performance handball; b) find out the possible relationship between performance in the agility test and reaction time. decision-making competence. anxiety and overload and involvement in decision-making and performance with regard to the nature of the stimulus. A questionnaire (CETD) was implemented in the sample to assess the decision-making style of athletes in a specific area. The results confirm the statistical significance of the differences between reaction times to a simple light stimulus and reaction times to video sequences, especially in activities associated with deceptive activity (p = 0.000), but also without it (p = 0.006). The relationship between performances in the Y Agility test to a video stimulus and reaction time (r = -.272), decision-making competences (0.116), anxiety and overload (r = 0.105) and involvement in decision-making (r = 0-.059) was not demonstrated. Simple linear regression analysis revealed that performance in the agility test to a simple stimulus (Witty; F (1) = 6.52, p = 0.030) is a significant predictor of context-specific agility performance and accounts for 73.4% of the explanatory variable (R2 = 0.734).