Running-related injuries, specifically overuse injuries, are complex and multifaceted. A different way of thinking is required to fully comprehend why, and how, these injuries occur. The systems thinking perspective offers tools and techniques to capture system-wide interactions in causal, closed-loop structures which may be studied and quantified in a practical way. The value of systems thinking in sport may only realise when pragmatic models follow descriptive, qualitative models. This article instantiates a qualitative, systems thinking perspective of the runner as a complex adaptive system with a hybrid simulation model. The approach is substantiated with principles from physics and physiology and is partially driven by data from a running watch. Results demonstrate that the scientific, reductionist method may be augmented with dynamic, closed-loop thinking and simulation modelling.
Reference:
Vermeulen, E., Grobbelaar, S., Botha, A. & Nolte, K. 2021. Computational modelling in sport: A hybrid simulation of the runner as a complex adaptive system. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12175
Vermeulen, E., Grobbelaar, S., Botha, A., & Nolte, K. (2021). Computational modelling in sport: A hybrid simulation of the runner as a complex adaptive system. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12175
Vermeulen, E, SS Grobbelaar, Adele Botha, and K Nolte "Computational modelling in sport: A hybrid simulation of the runner as a complex adaptive system." Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science (2021) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12175
Vermeulen E, Grobbelaar S, Botha A, Nolte K. Computational modelling in sport: A hybrid simulation of the runner as a complex adaptive system. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science. 2021; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12175.