Football coaches’ perceptions of decision-making: A multi-method study

This study aimed to explore the football coaches’ perceptions of decision-making, as well as to identify the phases in which players demonstrate the greatest strengths and weaknesses, and to assess their overall decision-making level. This study employed a multi-method, integrative, non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional design. A phenomenographic interpretative approach was followed, a quantitative and qualitative analysis was conducted. The study population comprised 1174 Colombian football coaches who enrolled in regularization courses to obtain official coaching licenses, the sample size was 233 coaches. The data were collected through a semi-structured survey. The characteristics of the participants were: age M = 42.71 years (SD = 11.11), experience as former players M = 15.73 years (SD = 10.34), coaching experience M = 16.41 years (SD = 8.87). The coaches’ conceptions of decision-making in football revealed three key trends: 1) most frequently identified categories, which included choice, process, ability, problem-solving, and technique; 2) less frequently identified categories, which included game understanding, game situations, efficiency, and speed; and 3) indeterminate category, which included some responses that did not fit into the established categories. In addition, the coaches perceived technical skills to be the greatest strength of players while perceiving game comprehension and interpretation to be their greatest weakness. Overall, the coaches rated the decision-making abilities of players as moderate. Decision-making is closely linked to other key concepts recognized by sports theorists and researchers. The primary components of decision-making include choice, cognitive and deliberate processing, ability, problem-solving, and technique. Additional factors such as game understanding, situational awareness, efficiency, and speed also play a role.