NCT07458581

TPCT Underwater Rugby Women

Effects of a Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking (TPCT) on Tactical Efficiency in Elite Women's Underwater Rugby: a Randomised Controlled Trial

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 26 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Federal University of Vicosa · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This randomized controlled trial evaluates whether adding a short, structured team-reflection protocol (Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking, TPCT) to regular elite women's underwater rugby training improves tactical efficiency. Both groups complete the same training content and time; the TPCT group uses brief guided discussion during recovery intervals, while the control group uses the same time for passive recovery. Tactical efficiency is assessed using video-recorded 3v3 scrimmages coded with the RUSTAC checklist at baseline and after 6 weeks.

Detailed description

A parallel, two-arm randomized controlled trial will be conducted in an elite women's underwater rugby squad. Players will be allocated 1:1 to TPCT or an active control condition using a computer-generated random sequence. The intervention consists of 18 sessions over 6 weeks (3/week), 2 hours per session, delivered in an outdoor 4 m pool and a marked 10 m × 8 m underwater area. Sessions include a short coach introduction (\~15 min), constrained small-sided games designed to elicit target tactical principles, and ≥60 min free-play (≥50% of session) to preserve representativeness and transfer. The TPCT condition embeds \~3 min structured reflection between small-sided bouts using a fixed 5-question protocol aligned to critical thinking operations; the control condition uses equivalent between-bout time for passive recovery/hydration.

Conditions

• Tactical Index
• Sport
• Sport Participation
• Teamwork

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Matched Tactical Training Programme (MTT)	Standardized underwater rugby tactical training delivered over 6 weeks (3 sessions/week; 18 sessions), \~2 hours/session. Sessions include structured warm-up and an identical tactical training dose across arms using constrained small-sided game bouts targeting pre-specified offensive and defensive tactical principles through constraint manipulation (e.g., space, numerical relations, rules). Free-play exposure is matched across arms. Between-bout intervals include passive recovery/hydration; any structured reflective questioning is delivered only via the TPCT intervention (when applicable).
BEHAVIORAL	Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking (TPCT) - Structured Reflective Questioning	A structured reflective questioning protocol embedded within regular training during recovery intervals between constrained small-sided game bouts. Delivered across the same 6-week period (3 sessions/week; 18 sessions) as MTT. During each recovery interval, the coach facilitates \~3 minutes of guided team discussion using a fixed set of prompts (e.g., intended objective, what helped/hindered, alternatives, and one collective adjustment for the next bout) to elicit interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and explanation of tactical decisions, supporting collective decision-making.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-05-01
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2026-09-01
• First posted: 2026-03-09
• Last updated: 2026-03-09

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Colombia