Books by Duncan Mascarenhas
Sports officials (umpires, referees, judges) play a vital role in every sport, and sports governi... more Sports officials (umpires, referees, judges) play a vital role in every sport, and sports governing bodies, fans, and players now expect officials to maintain higher professional standards than ever before. In this ground-breaking book, a team of leading international sport scientists and top level officials have come together to examine, for the first time, the science and practice of officiating in sport, helping us to better understand the skills, techniques and physical requirements of successful refereeing.
Papers by Duncan Mascarenhas
Reflective Practice, 2009
The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the integration of reflective practice principles into ... more The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the integration of reflective practice principles into coaching strategies as a means to facilitate performers engaging with their own development. Accordingly, the paper describes a two‐part reflective practice intervention used with elite hockey players. Engagement and empowerment were promoted through a structured system of one‐to one, player‐to‐coach communications. Common principles of play
Reflective Practice, 2012
This paper explores the complexity of developing decision-making skills in elite netball. Using t... more This paper explores the complexity of developing decision-making skills in elite netball. Using the attacking centre pass as a theme, we present a framework designed to develop decision-making capabilities of the coach, performers and the players collectively as a team. The paper exemplifies the integration of reflective practice principles into coaching strategies, as the cyclic link between the ‘off-court’ slow
International Journal of Sport Communication (Vol. 7, Iss. 2), 2014
Communication and player management are integral to effective sport officiating but most research... more Communication and player management are integral to effective sport officiating but most research has focused on physical performance and decision-making. The few previous studies of officiating communication tend to use ‘transmission’ conceptualisations of communication (e.g., decision communication, impression management). Eleven officiating development managers and coaches from seven peak Australian sport bodies were interviewed to explore conceptualisations of communication and player management, the way officials improve, and the role of the sport bodies in improvement. Four salient themes emerged in conceptualisations of effective officiating communication and player management; personal qualities of the official; one-way communication direction-giving and impression management; situation monitoring (interpreting player and context), and skilled interaction (adapting communication appropriately for context). The findings highlight a mismatch between interpretive and interactive communication skills perceived to be most important and challenging, and the training that is currently provided to officials. There was general commonality in practice and training issues across sport codes. The paper makes theoretical contributions to the study of sport official communication and practical recommendations for improving approaches to training skilled communication and player management.
The Open Sports Sciences Journal, 2009
Although researchers have independently investigated the physical and decision-making (DM) demand... more Although researchers have independently investigated the physical and decision-making (DM) demands experienced by sports officials, the combined impact of locomotion and physiological factors upon DM has received little attention. Using an innovative combination of video and Global Positioning System (GPS) technology this study explored the movement, heart rate (HR) and DM of experienced football referees in their natural performance environment. A panel of independent referees analysed incidents (n = 144) taken from five referees in seven games in the New Zealand Football Championship (2005/06). The match-day referees made accurate decisions on 64% of the incidents, although their accuracy levels were not related to variables such as movement speed, HR, and cumulative distance covered. Interestingly, referees were on average only 51% accurate in the opening fifteen minutes of each half compared to 70% accuracy at all other times. This study demonstrated that it is possible to combine new emerging technologies to conduct a comprehensive study of naturalistic decision-making in sport.
Reflective Practice, 2009
The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the integration of reflective practice principles into ... more The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the integration of reflective practice principles into coaching strategies as a means to facilitate performers engaging with their own development. Accordingly, the paper describes a two‐part reflective practice intervention used with elite hockey players. Engagement and empowerment were promoted through a structured system of one‐to one, player‐to‐coach communications. Common principles of play
Reflective Practice, 2012
This paper explores the complexity of developing decision-making skills in elite netball. Using t... more This paper explores the complexity of developing decision-making skills in elite netball. Using the attacking centre pass as a theme, we present a framework designed to develop decision-making capabilities of the coach, performers and the players collectively as a team. The paper exemplifies the integration of reflective practice principles into coaching strategies, as the cyclic link between the ‘off-court’ slow deliberate environment and the ‘on-court’ applied performance environment. Using a five-stage framework adapted from field hockey, we describe various reflective mechanisms which can be used and incorporated into coaching strategies to develop effective team decision making. The paper utilises a period of preparation from a world cup programme to demonstrate how a coach can empower players individually and collectively as a team to reflect ‘on-action’ which, in turn, facilitates the coach, players and team ‘reflecting-for-action’ and ultimately ‘in-action’.
To identify a framework for referee training and selection, based on the key areas of effective p... more To identify a framework for referee training and selection, based on the key areas of effective performance, we conducted content analyses on Rugby Football Union referee assessor reports, referee training materials, performance profiles from a group of English premier league referees, and a review of published research on sports officiating. The Cornerstones Performance Model of Refereeing emerged, overarched by the psychological characteristics of excellence (see and featuring four key areas; (a) knowledge and application of the law; (b) contextual judgment; (c) personality and management skills; and (d) fitness, positioning and mechanics. Focus group interviews confirmed the usefulness of the model as an assessment and training tool, which the RFU now use to develop referees throughout England.
investigation into officiating behavior may be representative of a shift from stress-orientated r... more investigation into officiating behavior may be representative of a shift from stress-orientated research (
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Sport and Exercise Sciences at Gly... more This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Sport and Exercise Sciences at Glyndŵr University Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sport and Exercise Sciences by an authorized administrator of Glyndŵr University Research Online. For ...
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Books by Duncan Mascarenhas
Papers by Duncan Mascarenhas