Teaching games for understanding using progressive principles of play

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to suggest progressive principles of play that extend existing work in the teaching games for understanding approach (Spackman, 1983; Thorpe, Bunker, & Almond, 1986; Werner, Thorpe, & Bunker, 1996) . Spackman (1983) defines principles as primary elements of play such as possession, invasion and scoring in games like football and rugby. The primary elements of play are formed by the physical properties and primary rules of games as defined by two game classification systems (Ellis, 1983; Thorpe, et al., 1986). These game classification systems identify four game forms-target (e.g., curling, lawn bowls, golf), court or net/wall (e.g., tennis, squash), field or striking/fielding (e.g., baseball, cricket) and territory or invasion (e.g., rugby, football, basketball). Figure 1 summarizes progressive principles of play based on the game classification systems. For territory/invasion and striking/fielding games the principles are considered in relation to players when they are trying to score (attacking or batting) or trying to stop the opposition scoring (defending or fielding).