Is it possible to trace VR controller movement to cue animations?

What I’m attempting to do is to have the VR controllers (Vive) to recognized traced movement patterns in order to cue animations. An example would be a player lurching the controller in front of them in a straight line and making the actor cue an animated attack that would send them forward (like a spear, or stabbing attack). Is there a way to avoid locking the controllers to the players arms for movements and instead create traceable lines or patterns that could cue an animation?