Strumenti per la valutazione dell’attenzione sul campo di calcio ed esercizi allenanti delle abilità attentive in età evolutiva

The existing literature clearly shows the high attention level requested by any sports activities. Both in so called “open skill” and “closed skill” disciplines, the athlete has to use a flexible attention to face continuous and fast environmental changes, and the numerous information arriving both from inside and outside himself. The success of an athlete’s action strongly depends on his accurate management of the attention processes, based on the correct and quick information collection and processing. Especially in “open skill” disciplines, and in particular in football, it’s evident in literature the importance of anticipation, accompanied by a short time analysis, for the accomplishment of a successful performance. The purpose of the research is the design and experimental set-up of original on-field tests for attention assessment, and the following design and experimental evaluation of original attention training circuits for young football players. Method Most of the available tests for the attention evaluation in football are lab-tests in “off task” conditions. The need for “on task” tests is nearly unanimously indicated by football scientists as extremely important for a more reliable data collection and a deeper attention mechanisms comprehension. The difficulty of those on-field tests is highlighted as well, due to the given incertitude of the football pitch. The experimental activity has been organised in two phases (experimental phase 1 – on-field tests for attention in football; experimental phase 2 – attention training in football) with the design of original tests for both attention assessment and attention training, in collaboration with football experts, sport psychologists, motor scientists, pedagogues. Results The proposed on-field attention tests validity and reliability has been statistically analyzed. The tests have demonstrated their statistical validity. The level of validity has been investigated with the ICC – Intra-class Coefficient of Correlation. The availability of valid and reliable tests for the on-field attention assessment has allowed the set-up of the on-field experimental phase on attention training for young football players. Specific on-field activities have been designed for the attention abilities training in collaboration with football experts, sport psychologists, motor scientists, pedagogues. The statistical analysis of the experimental group, compared versus the control group, has shown an improvement in response time, and in qualitative aspects too. Where qualitative aspects have been related to the technical action execution. Conclusion The research has shown, at experimental level, the possibility of assessing the attention level of young football players through original on-field tests. It has been also shown the possibility of attention training of young football players through on-field original exercises.