Trend Improving Soccer Professional Referees Performance in West Java Using Psychological Skill Training and Physical Fitness

Abstract

The referee has an important role in football matches. The referee determines the level of fairness in the match so they must be mentally and physically fit. The purpose of this study was to examine the application of psychological skills training and the level of physical fitness to the performance of the referee. Psychological skill exercises used are relaxation, imagery, and relaxation-imagery combination that exist in conditions of high and low physical fitness. This research is quantitative with a quasi-experimental method. The research sample consisted of 48 people who were taken using purposive sampling based on the criteria that the referee had a provincial level referee license (Code C2) and has led a provincial level competition. Data collection techniques are through pre-test, post-test and treatment during the study. The data analysis technique used two-way ANOVA analysis followed by the Tukey test. The findings showed that psychological skill training, both relaxation, imagery, or a combination of imagery-relaxation and physical fitness, had a positive effect on the performance of the referee in leading the match. These results have implications for the concept of psychological training for football referees in West Java, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, who had limited access to training in the field. However, this psychological skill training makes it easier to train the referee mentally.