Game-Based Training for Improving Skill and Physical Fitness in Team Sport Athletes

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of the relevant literature on game-based training, and summarise the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to training. At present, studies investigating the effectiveness of game-based training are limited, with many of the suggested advantages and disadvantages of game-based training based on anecdotal evidence. Of the studies that have been performed, most have reported that game-based training offers a specific method of conditioning for team sport competition, but game-based training may not simulate the high-intensity, repeated-sprint demands of international competition. Game-based training has been reported to offer a safe, effective method of conditioning for team-sport athletes that results in comparable (and, in some cases, greater) improvements in physical fitness and performance than traditional conditioning activities. While technical instruction training has been associated with a higher volume of skill executions (i.e., more ‘touches’), game-based training has been associated with greater cognitive effort – an important condition for skill learning. Indeed, studies investigating skill learning have reported comparable (and, in some cases, greater) improvements in skill execution and decision-making following game-based training than training involving repetitious technical instruction. Collectively, these findings demonstrate the value of game-based training for improving skill and physical fitness in team sport athletes. Further studies investigating the long-term skill and physical benefits of game-based training are warranted.