Systems Thinking Methods in Sport

Sport is increasingly being described as a complex system. This inherent complexity cannot be understood by examining components in isolation; rather, the system as a whole should represent the unit of analysis. Systems thinking is the answer to understanding this complexity and is gaining traction in sport. Systems thinking provides a philosophy and a set of associated methods which can be used to understand and optimise the behaviour of complex systems, such as those inherent within sport.

This book presents, for the first time, a practical guide to applying contemporary systems thinking methods in sport as well as case study applications demonstrating how their outputs can be translated in practice. The methods described in this book can be used for better understanding the systemic influences in a broad range of sport contexts, including performance, injury, team functioning, decision?making, adverse incidents, sports organisation design and redesign, technology implementation, and proactive risk assessments.

Systems Thinking Methods in Sport provides a practical step?by?step guide for sports practitioners and stakeholders, as well as university students and academics in applying state?of?the?art systems thinking methods to sport.

?Systems thinking in sport is an essential read for all of those interested in understanding complex problems in high performance. The book provides a fantastic outline of the methodological approaches that can be used to both collect and analyse data to create insights from a systems thinking perspective. Each chapter provides content that is easy to understand and use. This makes it a brilliant resource for those like me who are interested in these research approaches but have little experience in the range of techniques that can be used or how to use them. As such, the book is a ?one stop shop? in its ability to provide comprehensiveness in one volume. This is definitely an essential text for those thinking a little differently about research in sport and exercise science.?

Professor Barry Drust, Director of The Graduate School of Sport and Professional Practice. School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences. University of Birmingham.

?Complexity and systems problems exist throughout all aspects of athlete preparation in elite sports. This book provides a brilliant practical guide to understanding the fundamental structure of many of these issues. This book gave me a deeper appreciation for the true cause of problems in sport and signposted ways to solve them.

This is a fascinating and highly influential book from authors with a great breadth of experience within and outside of elite sports.  Having read this, I now see systems problems everywhere. Incredibly useful!?

Patrick Hogben. Head of Strength and Conditioning, Atlanta Hawks, National Basketball Association (NBA).