Measuring the Running Performance of College Student Athletes in Simulated Football Games Using Wearable Devices Based on Global and Local Positioning Systems

Wearable devices based on Global Positioning System (GPS) and Local Positioning System (LPS) have been widely used in tracking the running performance of football games, but the consistency of results generated by the two systems has been rarely quantified. Sixteen college students majoring in physical education participated in a 30-minute 7+GK vs. 7+GK simulated game. Each player was equipped with a wearable device based on GPS (20 Hz GPS-system, GPEXE LT, Italy) and a device based on LPS (20 Hz UWB-system, GENGEE INSAIT K1, China) simultaneously to collect data of running performance in game. Standardised change in mean (SCM), standardised typical error (STE), and intra-class coefficient (ICC) were calculated to identify the differences and consistency in measurements of the two systems. Results indicated that GPS and LPS systems showed excellent consistency in all the running performance metrics (ICC=0.88∼0.99), except for sprinting distance (ICC=0.59). Differences in maximum speed, total distance, jogging distance, and low-speed running distance were small (SCM=-0.44 to 0.25, STE=0.14 to 0.40), while moderate to large differences were observed in walking distance, moderate-speed running distance, high-speed running distance, and sprinting distance (SCM=-0.73 to 2.25, STE=0.26 to 0.89). Our results show that GPS and LPS systems exhibit strong consistency in measuring maximum speed, total distance, and distance covered at low to high speed, but not in sprints. Meanwhile, walking, moderate, and high-intensity running distances generated by the two systems showed a relatively high absolute error, advising caution when comparing data from different devices.