The Use of Position Tracker (GPS) in the Teaching of Games Concept

In recent years, professional football teams are turning to position trackers as they can provide not only positioning and movement measurements but also other performance variables such as players’ speed, acceleration and distance travelled in real time.

The global positioning system (GPS) position tracking device provides information on players’ exact location through the rebounding signals from satellites (Figure 1), which captures real-time data on players’ positioning and movement [1]. The device requires at least three satellites transmissions to triangulate its exact location on the playing area. The location measurements are then transferred to a computer via a wireless network.

Application of Position Trackers in Team Sports’ Performance Analysis

The position tracker can be useful in team sports performance analysis, as the positioning and movement of the on-the-ball and off-the-ball players are vital in ensuring an effective passage of play and successful execution of the team’s tactics. For example, during a two versus two (2v2) attacking situation, the off-the-ball attacker must time his/her movement and be positioned in the ideal area to either receive a pass or drag the defender away from his/her on-the-ball teammate. In the aftermath of the game, the players can better analyse their decision making and performance through visual illustrations (Figure 2) of their positioning and movement using relevant software that supports the chosen position tracking device.

Application of Position Trackers in Primary School Physical Education Curriculum

The position tracker application can possibly facilitate the teaching and learning of games concept, which is part of the primary school PE curriculum. Specifically, the learning of keeping possession when attacking and regaining possession when defending during 2v1 and 2v2 situational games in invasion-based team sports is highly relevant. Table 1 lists some learning objectives that can be greatly facilitated by the application of the position trackers.

Conclusion

Schools are in pole position to take advantage of the position tracker’s affordances and introduce their applications in different ways that can better engage students and provide them with diverse learning experiences. The use of position trackers can certainly extend beyond the situational games described above; it can also be used in outdoor education navigational activities, sports co-curricular activities and other subjects such as Mathematics (e.g. the learning of distance, speed and time).

References

1. Pettersen, S. A., Johansen, H. D., Baptista, I. A., Halvorsen, P., & Johansen, D. (2018). Quantified soccer using positional data: A case study. Frontiers in Physiology, 9(866), 1-6.
2. Ministry of Education. Student Development Curriculum Division. (2014). Physical education teaching & learning syllabus: Primary, secondary & pre-university. Singapore: Ministry of Education.