Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU)
This approach helps students learn fundamental movement skills, tactics, and key concepts and principals while playing a variety of games. While some of the skills learned might be sport-specific, most of them are transferable to a wide range of physical activities. Rather than focus on a specific sport, activities are focused on a category of games that have key similarities. The games are put into four main categories that share similar structures and concepts.
- Target Games – participants send an object at a target with as much accuracy as possible (i.e., golf, archery, bowling).
- Net/Wall Games – participants send an object towards a space that makes it difficult for an opponent to return it (i.e., tennis, squash, volleyball)
- Striking/Fielding Games – participants send an object into play so that it is away from the fielders (i.e., baseball, cricket, kickball)
- Territory Games – participants need to invade an opponent’s territory to score (i.e., soccer, basketball, rugby).
Target Games
Here are 10 Target Games that you can play at home, click on the file to get each game. If you want to take a photo and send it to me, I will add it to the site. Please get permission from your parents for me to publish it.
Target Games require accuracy and control. Objects can be sent in many ways - bowled, thrown or hit (golf,) for example. Players might have to adjust the force they use based on their previous results. In some Target Games there are obstacles that need to be avoided. You might be competing against other competitors or you might be alone against your own previous results. In some Target Games, you might try to block your opponent from getting closer to the target.
Key Strategies:
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Net/Wall Games
Here are 10 Net/Wall games that should work at home. Click on the file to get a description of each game:
The main goal of most Net/Wall games is to send the object (usually a ball) somewhere that is difficult for your opponent to return it. Obviously, the object must be in the boundaries (the court) of the game. Basically, you want to make your opponent move, while you maintain an advantageous position that will allow you to eventually win the point. You want to use different skills to place shots in open spaces that require your opponent to play defensively. You want to anticipate where your opponent is going to send the object and try to take advantage of that to win the point.
Key Strategies:
Striking/Fielding Games |
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There are two obvious main parts of any Striking/Fielding games – offence and defence. The team on offence “strikes” the ball into the field of play in an effort to score runs. The best way to do that is by placing the ball away from the fielding team. Runs are scored when players on offence safely move around “bases” and score. The team on defence tries to prevent this from happening. That involves defending the field and trying to anticipate where the “batter” might try to place the ball. The pitcher will also try to make it hard for the “batter” to place the ball safely.
Key Strategies:
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Invasion/Territory Games
The concept of Invasion/Territory Games is hard for students to fully understand. The offensive team works together to retain possession of an object (i.e., ball, puck) while trying to invade the defensive team’s territory. Ultimately, the offensive team is moving further into the opposing area to try to score. Meanwhile, the defensive team is trying to protect their “goal” while trying to take over possession of the object. This would allow that team to go on offence.
Key Strategies:
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