Effects of the Comprehensive and Technical Models of Sports Teaching in Secondary School Students

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different teaching methodologies (comprehensive vs. technical), developed during a unit of ultimate frisbee, on the physical demands, technical-tactical variables, game performance and physical fitness of secondary school children. Forty-seven students were divided into two groups: Comprehensive Teaching Group (CTG; n = 25, Age: 14.5 +/- 0.5 years) and Technical Teaching Group (TTG; n = 22, Age: 14.9 +/- 0.8 years). The teaching models (CTG vs. TTG) were composed of 8 sessions of 55 min. Physical fitness was developed with the Alpha-Fitness method, while physical variables were analysed using GPS; the technical and tactical variables performed during the matches were recorded using Full-HD video cameras. The results showed that the CTG students had greater mean speed (p < 0.001), mean heart rate (p = 0.006) and covered more total distance/time (p < 0.001) than the TTG students during sessions. After the intervention, the CTG students showed greater values in good passes (p = 0.001), good catches (p = 0.001), good decisions (p = 0.002) and game performance (p < 0.001), while the TTG students only showed higher values in game performance (p = 0.039). In conclusion, the comprehensive teaching model is shown to be an effective pedagogical option to learn ultimate frisbee because the students achieved a higher overall development in the physical demands expressed in the sessions and in the management of the technical-tactical actions in the offensive and defensive phases of the ultimate frisbee game.