Digital tracking and developmental challenges: GPS technology in adolescent elite football

Abstract

The increasing use of GPS-based performance-tracking technologies in elite adolescent sport raises important questions about their psychological and developmental effects. Yet limited research addresses how adolescent athletes interpret continuous digital feedback in relation to motivation, athletic identity, and psychological pressure. This study explored how GPS-based performance monitoring operates as a dual-pathway mechanism, functioning simultaneously as a motivational resource through autonomy support and as a source of psychological strain through social comparison among national-level adolescent football players aged 15–18. Grounded in an interpretative phenomenological approach and informed by Self-Determination Theory, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 players and four coaches; data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to capture nuanced accounts of athletes’ lived experiences. Findings show that when GPS monitoring is interpreted as autonomy-supportive tool, it enhances self-regulation, perceived competence, and athletic identity consolidation. Conversely, the visibility and comparability of performance metrics can intensify social comparison, fostering performance-contingent self-worth and psychological apprehension. GPS technology thus functions as a complex psychosocial regulator whose effects depend on athletes’ developmental stage and feedback climate, underscoring the need for psychologically sensitive implementation of wearable technologies in elite adolescent sport.