Using a Behavioral Intervention to Improve Performance of a Women’s College Lacrosse Team

The authors worked with a women’s college lacrosse team. Players rarely called out pass names during drills.

Coaches added two things: a quick verbal prompt before each drill and a team rule. If every player said the pass name, the whole team skipped post-practice sprints.

They used an A-B-A-B design. Prompts and the sprint rule were on, off, on, off across four weeks.

When the prompt + skip-sprints rule was in place, pass calls jumped from about 30 % to over 90 %. They dropped again when the plan was removed.

Players liked the faster practice, but some felt the rule was strict. Coaches loved the clear numbers.

Green et al. (1987) showed delayed prompting works in classrooms. DePaolo moved the same idea onto the field with adult athletes.

Timberlake et al. (1987) found data-driven prompt sequences cut learning trials for students with disabilities. The lacrosse study keeps the prompt idea but swaps precision data for a simple team rule, showing the tactic travels beyond special-ed.

Schenk et al. (2019) index lists 101 sport studies; this paper is one of the few to test prompting plus group negative reinforcement, filling a small gap.

You can use a quick prompt and a group reinforcer to sharpen team communication in any sport. Pick a behavior you can see, tie it to something the whole group wants to avoid, and measure. The reversal design gives you clear proof in weeks, not months.