Jason Williams

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• Jason Williams
• IRB Game Analysis Centre
• School Of Sport
• UWIC
• Rule changes in sport

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Presentation Outline

• Why are new rules introduced in sport?
• The use of notational analysis in answering
  these problems
• Proposal for research

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• Any sporting event is defined and played within
  a framework of laws or rules
• Must be adhered to if the game is to be played
  in a fair manner
• Once defined, rarely remain the same, so they
  need to be altered to accommodate the changes in
  the game
• Presently, very little in the way of measuring
  these changes

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• Hammond etal (1999) and their work on netball
  attributed rule changes to three main factors
• Player performance
• Technological advancement
• Commercial pressures

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• Kew (1987) stated that games change their rules
  frequently, but little is known of the processes
  through which such changes are impelled
• Defined two reasons for rule changes
• A concern to re-establish and re-emphasise the
  key characteristics of that specific game
• A shared concern about what must be preserved,
  enhanced or enabled in order to sustain the
  viability of the game

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• Gardiner et al (1998) stated that rule changes
  are required to try and
• Re-establish the vitality and balance in a
  particular sport
• Introduce new skills and strategies to confront
  these new rules
• Concluded that coaches and players are under
  increasing pressure to succeed and therefore
  exploit the limitations of existing rules

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• Implications and ramifications need to be
  carefully thought out before implementation
• Research has shown there may be a number of
  factors that lead rule changes in a particular
  game
• Safety
• Entertainment and media pressure
• Game development/progression

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• Notational Analysis has been used to examine the
  effects of rule changes
• Hughes and Knight (1994) examined a new scoring
  system in Squash
• Would make the players attack more, with shorter
  rallies
• An attempt to make the game more attractive to
  viewing audiences
• Concluded that there was no significant
  difference in the length of rallies
• The perceived theory and the desired outcomes
  from the new scoring system differed considerably

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• Hughes Sykes (1994) used a computerised
  notation system to analyse the effects of the
  1992 back-pass rule in soccer
• Significantly fewer back-passes to the goalkeeper
  as a form of time-wasting
• No significant difference in corners and
  throw-ins in defending third
• Reluctance to pass the ball in defending third of
  pitch

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• More passing in middle of pitch
• No increase in shots or goals as expected
• Back passes reduced but a more congested mid
  field area
• Unforeseen areas of the game were being effected

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• Doggart etal (1993) analysed the game of Gaelic
  football
• Changes introduced to increase the games
  ball-in-play time
• Free kicks and goal kicks and the way they were
  taken
• Their work discovered that the time that the
  ball-in-play increased by 2

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• The intended increase introduced other changes
  within the game
• A noticeable increase in the number of
  possessions gained and tackles made
• Highlighted some important issues that
  authorities need to be aware of when changing
  the rules of their sport

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• Howells (2000) investigated the one-day game in
  cricket
• Introduced a 30-yard circle which all except two
  fielders must be positioned
• This led to the tactics in this period of play
  becoming more important and varied
• New strokes previously redundant were once more
  introduced to the game
• This example of the effect of new rule changes
  highlights the positive contribution that may be
  introduced to sport

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• In 1992-3 the International Rugby Board made
  changes in the rules with the intention of
  making the game more attractive (Hughes and
  Clarke, 1994)
• New rules promoted a more open style of play
• Ball was released to the backs more frequently
  more passes per possession
• This would suggest that the rule change was
  effective in creating a more attractive game

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• No significant differences in the number of
  tries scored per game were found
• What is more attractive?
• This raises questions in terms of both the
  initial aims of the rule changes, and the use of
  notation to assess them

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• Rugby union has undergone a number of changes
  over the last few years
• Change from the amateur to professional code in
  1995
• The changes range from the way in which the game
  is administered to the way the game is coached
  and played
• The move from one status to the other has been
  met with criticism of the players, administrators
  and the way that the game is being played

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An investigation into why rule changes are
introduced within sport and their intended and
unintended effect on the game, with particular
reference to rugby union.

• Stage 1 - Critical review of literature
• Initial investigation will focus on establishing
  conceptual frames empirical evidence related to
  factors connected to rule changes
• Stage 2 - Identify key performance indicators for
  data analysis
• Draw on the findings of other similar work
• Develop a series of key performance indicators  

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• Stage 3 - Develop and evaluate notational
  analysis system, which may include a critical
  analysis of the existing tools
• Involve the use of a pilot study to evaluate the
  design and development of software systems
• Pilot study will examine matches in the 1999 and
  2000 season for the Tri Nations (n 12) and the
  Six Nations (n 24)
• Delineate and analyse the key performance
  indicators
• Initially a hand notation system will be used
• Visual Basic and an Access database
• Define the number of games

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Stage 4 - Identify changes in the Six-Nations and
Tri-Nations competitions in conjunction with the
tier below these competitions, currently known as
the Super 12 and European Cup

• Comparative analysis between individual teams,
  competitions, and levels of competition
• Start after the 1995 world cup and before the
  1999 world cup
• a) professionalism was introduced
• b) the introduction of a number of law changes
• c) the IRB playing charter was introduced
• Data will be analysed using Chi squared,
  Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis and other
  non-parametric tests

 
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• Stage 5 Derive and - evaluate model
• Contextualise and evaluate the current model
• Enable comparisons to be made with regards to
  the robustness of the derived model
• Indicate areas for further investigation and
  refinement

• Stage 6 - Further application
• Refined model will be tested on other sports
• It is anticipated that initial application will
  be to similar sports
• As robustness and generalisability is confirmed
  then sports along a continuum of increasing
  variable contrast will be introduced

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• Jason Williams
• IRB Game Analysis Centre
• School Of Sport
• UWIC
• Rule changes in sport