Sport and time geography: a good match?

This paper proposes using the rich visual “language” of Hagerstrand’s time geography to represent time-space relationships in sport, in particular within the spatial and temporal constraints of a game of rugby. Despite being applied outside of its traditional social context, it is argued that time geography’s ability to model movements and relationships at the individual level makes it (and its modelling constructs such as prisms and lifelines) a powerful visualisation tool able to provide valuable insights into goal-oriented team sport. The visual tools of time geography are shown in the context of a video information system, SCRUM (Spatio-Chronological Rugby Union Model).