Differences between Championships of Football 5-a-Side for Blind People

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The topic is very interesting and important. However we think that a comparative study between a World Championship in the middle of an Olympiad and the Olympic Games has to be more justified by the authors because we know that the significant adjustments of any sport are made at the beginning of each Olympiad, and in the last 2 years they are not expected major changes.

It seems to us that the study should have been carried out with the national teams participating in both competitions.

The introduction focuses almost entirely on comparisons (and justifications) with other realities, when it would be essential a brief presentation of the technical-tactical characteristics of the modality in question, and the way in which the clearance for the Olympic Games is done.

This way can be decisive or highly explanatory of the results obtained in the study.

There is no guarantee that all the results obtained in this study have not been “contaminated” by the performance of the lower level teams that participated in the World Championship but did not participate in the Olympic Games. We have 12 teams in the World Championship, 1,497 shots and 34 games, while in the OJ we only have 8 teams, 730 shots and 18 games.

All these questions must be very well justified in the first part of the article, so that they do not become doubts for the reader during reading.

Author Response

Specific comments

Specific comments

The topic is very interesting and important. However we think that a comparative study between a World Championship in the middle of an Olympiad and the Olympic Games has to be more justified by the authors because we know that the significant adjustments of any sport are made at the beginning of each Olympiad, and in the last 2 years they are not expected major changes.

Thanks for your suggestion. However, the study of several championships is common in observational analysis to know the evolution in the game. Example:

Ibáñez, S.J.; Feu, S.; García, J.; Parejo, I.; Cañadas, M. Shot differences between professional (ACB) and amateur (EBA) basketball teams. Multifactorial study. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 2009, 18, 313-317.

It seems to us that the study should have been carried out with the national teams participating in both competitions.

Thanks for your suggestion. The main reason for studying all the teams participating in the competitions was to learn about the game model. On the contrary, if the teams participating in both competitions had been analyzed, it would have been a study of specific teams.

The introduction focuses almost entirely on comparisons (and justifications) with other realities, when it would be essential a brief presentation of the technical-tactical characteristics of the modality in question, and the way in which the clearance for the Olympic Games is done.

This way can be decisive or highly explanatory of the results obtained in the study. 

Thanks for your suggestion. In the introduction, a new paragraph has been incorporated explaining the sporting modality under study.

The Fa5 and its differentiation from other sports focuses on the low score in terms of types of advances, blocks, and game systems [5], that is played outdoors to provide the athletes with optimal acoustics. It is played by two teams of 5 players (one goalkeeper and four field players) and has become one of the most popular sports among this population.

There is no guarantee that all the results obtained in this study have not been “contaminated” by the performance of the lower level teams that participated in the World Championship but did not participate in the Olympic Games. We have 12 teams in the World Championship, 1,497 shots and 34 games, while in the OJ we only have 8 teams, 730 shots and 18 games.

Thanks for your suggestion. To avoid contamination, the launches were recorded by the same expert coders. For this, they were trained as in the study of:

Gamonales, J.M.; Muñoz-Jiménez, J.; León, K.; Ibáñez, S.J. Reliability and inter-coders training in the analysis of football for blind persons. RETOS, Nuevas Tendencias en Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación, 2018, 34, 155-161.

For this, the procedure has been improved:

There was an improvement in concordance between coders during the Fa5 training process, with inter-observer reliability using Cohen's Kappa greater than 0.85 in all variables [4-36]. The data obtained by coders show substantial levels of validity and reliability, and therefore can be applied in research focusing on observational analysis of Fa5 [4].

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

An interesting article about sport that I didn't even know existed.

The introduction of the article is too brief, I recommend adding so that the reader can better orientate himself in the issue.

Parts 2, 3 and 4 correspond to the requirements for a scientific article.

I also recommend expanding section 5, in particular the recommendations (stakeholders) for the development of this sport in the future. 

Author Response

Specific comments

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

An interesting article about sport that I didn't even know existed.

Thanks for your suggestion.

The introduction of the article is too brief, I recommend adding so that the reader can better orientate himself in the issue.

Thanks for your suggestion. A paragraph has been incorporated explaining the sport modality.

The Fa5 and its differentiation from other sports focuses on the low score in terms of types of advances, blocks, and game systems [5], that is played outdoors to provide the athletes with optimal acoustics. It is played by two teams of 5 players (one goalkeeper and four field players) and has become one of the most popular sports among this population.

Parts 2, 3 and 4 correspond to the requirements for a scientific article.

Thanks for your suggestion.

I also recommend expanding section 5, in particular the recommendations (stakeholders) for the development of this sport in the future. 

Thanks for your suggestion. The paragraph has been incorporated: For this, it is recommended to use new methodologies applied in research in Sports Sciences.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx