Pol et al.

Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-020-00256-9

CURRENT OPINION Open Access

Training or Synergizing? Complex Systems

Principles Change the Understanding of
Sport Processes
Rafel Pol1, Natàlia Balagué2* , Angel Ric3, Carlota Torrents4, John Kiely5 and Robert Hristovski6

Abstract
There is a need to update scientific assumptions in sport to promote the critical thinking of scientists, coaches, and
practitioners and improve their methodological decisions. On the basis of complex systems science and theories of
biological evolution, a systematization and update of theoretical and methodological principles to transform the
understanding of sports training is provided. The classical focus on learning/acquiring skills and fitness is replaced by
the aim of increasing the diversity/unpredictability potential of teams/athletes through the development of synergies.
This development is underpinned by the properties of hierarchical organization and circular causality of constraints,
that is, the nestedness of constraints acting at different levels and timescales. These properties, that integrate bottom-
up and top-down all dimensions and levels of performance (from social to genetic), apply to all types of sport, ages, or
levels of expertise and can be transferred to other fields (e.g., education, health, management). The team as the main
training unit of intervention, the dynamic concept of task representativeness, and the co-adaptive and synergic role of
the agents are some few practical consequences of moving from training to synergizing.
Keywords: Team synergies, Nonlinear dynamics, Nested organization, Timescales, Diversity potential, Constraints

Key Points Introduction

In recent decades, sports training has rapidly evolved, in
 The fittest are not necessarily the strongest or large part, as a consequence of science-led advances [1].
fastest but the most diverse. However, some core assumptions and methodologies have
 Diversity is developed by creating synergies through remained unchallenged and unchanged despite the fact
the strategic manipulation of constraints. that their underpinning theories have disintegrated [2].
 The interdependence, temporal nestedness, and Recent research suggests that coaches commonly acquire
circular causality of constraints acting at different coaching knowledge from informal, self-directed learning
levels and timescales integrate all dimensions and sources and subsequently approach new information in an
levels of performance in a correlated way inefficient fashion [3, 4], thereby limiting practitioners de-
 Synergizing, instead of training, defines an improved velopment of open-mindedness, self-reflection, and critical
understanding of the process and helps scientists, thinking skills. In fact, when expert coaches’ perceptions
coaches, and practitioners to create safer and and practices are studied, attention is most commonly
effective interventions. placed on what they do, rather than why and how they do
it [3, 5]. The subsequent presumption that practical
experience is more relevant than scientific theories, ac-
* Correspondence: [email protected]
2
cordingly, is commonplace within coaching cultures and
Complex Systems in Sport Research Group, Institut Nacional d’Educació
may in part explain the prevalence of pseudoscience in
Física de Catalunya (INEFC), University of Barcelona (UB), Av. de l’Estadi,
12-22, 08038 Barcelona, Spain professional practice [6]. The methodologies inspired by
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article

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Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 2 of 13

successful practitioners are often perpetuated, yet rarely interventions offer enhanced outcomes. Importantly, un-
questioned. Academic insights, in contrast, are frequently derstanding enables generalization and functional trans-
ignored and discounted. Sports and exercise physiology and fer of the application to different contexts. In fact,
psychology, perhaps the two most influential sports science training interventions are not intrinsically valid or in-
disciplines, are characterized by a strongly reductionist phil- valid but contextually more (in)appropriate or (un)func-
osophy and remain largely impervious to the transdisciplin- tional. For instance, a strict prescription can be adequate
ary and holistic theories emanating from the science of for a stressed novice (e.g., before a penalty kick) but in-
complex systems [4, 6]. This explains why reductionist adequate for an expert player. Recognizing the appropri-
thinking persists across the sports sciences—even in re- ateness of certain interventions demands that sport
cently emerging integrative approaches focused on skill ac- scientists and coaches do not simply rely on personal,
quisition and interpersonal coordination [7, 8]. Eccentric and inevitably biased, interpretations of their own expe-
strength and lactate-based endurance training programs are riences. Effective training judgement and decision-
two well-known examples of reductionist approaches to making require a deep understanding of the properties
sport training. Eccentric exercise programs are based on of the systems (athletes/teams), the principles that dic-
the assumption that high muscle strains, resulting from tate their interactions within the environment, and well-
large tensile forces, drive more advantageous tissue re- defined process objectives. Here, we propose to improve
modelling as shown when testing single fibers in vitro [9]. the understanding of such properties and principles on
This assumption, however, ignores that the critical tensile the basis of complex systems and evolutionary biology.
forces that produce strain in vitro cannot be applied to Under the complex systems framework, we include nu-
muscles in vivo [9]. Nonetheless, despite their low level of merous theoretical and practical approaches of different
evidence and potential adverse effects [10–12], eccentric spectrum (more general and more applied) sharing prin-
training programs are extensively promoted to prevent in- ciples: synergetics, nonlinear science, dynamic systems,
juries [13]. Similarly, lactate-based training prescriptions, coordination dynamics, ecological physics, ecological dy-
which equate blood lactate concentrations to internal load, namics, nonlinear pedagogy, differential learning, etc. To
are commonplace in endurance sports [14]. In this context, avoid confusion, we are not suggesting a new term to
the monitoring and modulation of heart rates, correspond- describe this contribution. It is not a new method or ap-
ing to specific blood lactate concentrations, are used to proach, it is simply an attempt to question old assump-
regulate external loads. Clearly, however, there is a signifi- tions and in so doing to improve the understanding of
cant uncoupling between internal and external loads under sport scientists, coaches, and practitioners. The final aim
the acknowledged influence of multiple ever-varying con- is to promote safer and more efficient interventions
textual interactions [15]. Similarly, the segregation of per- across all sports, ages, and levels of expertise. The basis
formance into distinct dimensions (physical, technical, of these assumptions is rooted in referenced works,
tactical, cognitive) and the consideration of players/dyads as mainly drawing on the evidence base underpinning the
the main training units in team sports, instead of the whole constraints-led approach (CLA). The hypothesized, and
team, are other examples of the strong reductionist influ- novel, principles subsequently provide a background for
ence permeating sports science domains. future experimental research.
Clearly, there is a need to update theoretical training First, we propose a systematization and extended ap-
assumptions on the basis of advances in neuroscience plication of theoretical and methodological principles,
and dynamic complex systems science. However, poten- based on dynamic complex systems [17, 18], biological
tial training innovations frequently encounter a resist- evolution [19], and the CLA [1, 17, 18]. Secondly, we
ance to change within coaching contexts [2, 5]. For emphasize underexplored aspects of the CLA, such as,
instance, one may ask: (a) are complex science based the interdependent and temporally nested organization
methodologies really new? Or (b) if traditional training of constraints, and the classification and focus of task
methodologies are tried and tested [16], why should they constraints. Finally, we highlight the safety aspects of the
be changed? Why adopt methodologies of unknown effi- contribution to promote the integration of prevention
cacy? After all, increasing practice variability, during in- and performance training. Tables 1 and 2 summarize
terventions like small-sided and conditioning games, was and contrast the theoretical and methodological princi-
already a feature of sports practice before complex sys- ples of the process defined as training1 (traditional ap-
tems methodologies were developed. proach) and synergizing2 (complex systems-based
What is relevant to emphasize here, however, is that approach), respectively, developed in the text.
such interventions were typically sporadically used and
for the most part were substantiated only on the basis of 1
The process of learning the skills you need to do a particular job or
experiential and intuitive knowledge, without clear activity
2
insight or academic rationalization as to why such To combine or work together in order to be more effective
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 3 of 13

Table 1 Training or synergizing? Contrast of theoretical principles

Approach Training (traditional) Synergizing (complex systems)
Conception of athletes/teams Machines Complex adaptive systems
Conception of sport Static entity Dynamic entity
Scientific approach Cybernetic Control Theory Dynamic Systems Theory
Relations among components Linear cause-effect Nonlinear dynamic interactions
Integrating mechanisms Control loops Circular causality
Control Internal/external programs Spontaneous synergies
Organization Externally designed Self-organized
Adaptive properties Homeostasis Homeodynamics, synergetic reorganization, degeneracy, pleiotropy
Training goal Maximizing performance attributes Satisficing diversity/unpredictability potential
Training periodization Pre-programmed Co-adapted

Training or Synergizing? Contrast of Theoretical sport practice, many degrees of freedom operating at di-
Principles verse scales (from cellular to social) are continuously re-
Conception of Athletes/Teams. Machines or Complex organized, forming functional goal-oriented synergies,
Adaptive Systems? i.e., coordinative structures that allow the reciprocal
Individual athletes, teams, and sport games have recently compensation of components. These synergies, defined
been viewed as complex adaptive systems (CAS) [20–23] at many levels (e.g., muscular, physiological, psycho-
whose behavior evolves in response to physical and in- biological, see [27, 29, 31–34]), constitute embedded
formational constraints3 (e.g., opponent’s actions) [25]. coalitions of molecules, muscles, neurons, etc. In the
From this perspective, athletes and teams are conceptu- context of the performer-environment system, they
alized as dynamic complex systems interacting non- tend to operate as unitary ensembles constrained by
linearly, i.e., co-adaptively, with the environment. This opponent’s actions or achievement challenges [20]. As
perspective contrasts with the conceptualization of hu- each level is nested in the next one, functions are dy-
man organisms as closed systems (e.g., machines or namically coupled, and there is no need of a template
technical devices) with clearly separable cause-effect re- or plan to rule the relations. In the context of team
lations among components, time-invariant functions, sports, this entails that, from cellular processes (e.g.,
and regulation profiles [26]. Under the framework of dy- biochemical) to collective team synergies (tactical be-
namic complex systems theory, the behavior of CAS havior), all functions are dynamically integrated with-
cannot be understood independently from its context, out the need of internal or external programs.
and the training unit is the performer-environment sys- When imposing constraints (variability) on the system,
tem [27]. the coupled components in the synergy change together,
Due to the multilayer dynamics of environmental rather than independently. Thus, instead of the pre-
and personal constraints evolving and interacting at programmed circuits and feedback loops that control
different time scales [28], sport is a dynamic entity and integrate machine functionality, in CAS synergies
which itself evolves with the transformation of per- emerge spontaneously and have circular causal relations
formers, coaches, equipment, facilities, rules, etc. All with components: thus, components form synergies and
these dynamically interacting and co-modulating fac- those synergies, in turn, govern the components’
tors change the pretended prototypic attributes of behavior [35].
each sport (e.g., conditional requisites, skills, tactics). Traditional training approaches, focused on training
components (e.g., players in team sports, aerobic and
anaerobic metabolic pathways in physical condition-
Integrating Mechanisms. Control Loops or Circular ing), ignore that those components are coupled and
Causality? Pre-programmed Processes or Spontaneous
have integrating properties that feedback, and feed-
Synergies?
forward circuits do not have. The self-assembled,
A key property of CAS is the spontaneous formation of adaptive interactions drive structural and functional
structural and functional couplings among components variability, and underpin robustness-enabling proper-
(synergies) to achieve task goals [27, 29, 30]. During ties of CAS such as degeneracy (structurally different
3
In the CLA, constraints refer to boundary conditions or limitations
that promote the emergence of synergies restricting the degrees of 4
By “fittest” Darwin meant “better adapted for the immediate, local
freedom of teams/athletes [24]. environment.”
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 4 of 13

Table 2 Training or synergizing? Contrast of methodological principles

Approach Training (traditional) Synergizing (complex systems)
Programs Fixed training programs Contextually sensitive methodological criteria
Performers Executers Co-designers of the process
Periodization Fixed, decontextualized Contextually sensitive
Conditioning, skill acquisition, motor abilities Prescription-based Based on nested dependence and circular
training causality of constraints
Training unit Performers and their components Performer-environment system
Players (team sports) Team (team sports)
Short-term training plan Based on stereotyped performance solutions Based on exploration of representative
and movement templates performance contexts
Training tasks Non-representative (through task decomposition) High level of representativeness (through
task simplification) and beyond
Training exercises criteria Right/wrong Contextually (un)functional
Evaluation Fragmented Holistic
Role of the coach Prescribing solutions Co-discovering with the performer

components can produce the same function) and plei- Because CAS competitors co-adapt, the dynamic sta-
otropy (the same components may be assembled to bility of survival over long timescales can only be
produce multiple functions) [35, 36]. Such properties achieved through a continuous process of complexifica-
enable the capacity of CAS to switch between diverse tion, i.e., diversification and specialization of perform-
coordinative states while maintaining metastable dy- ance [19]. This is also true for other sports like
namics [37]. gymnastics, athletics, or cyclic sports, where the environ-
ment is much more predictable. For instance, a gymnast
has more chances to become dynamically stable (i.e.,
Training Goal. Maximizing Performance Attributes or more competitive) by specializing and diversifying the el-
Satisficing Diversity/Unpredictability Potential? ements of his/her floor routine. This process of com-
In the context of biological evolution, when synergies plexification is defined by the athlete/team diversity/
prove to be functionally advantageous, synergistic selec- unpredictability potential [38]. This potential subsumes,
tion and stabilization occurs. To maintain fitness and but it is not equal to, the diverse functional synergies
survive within competitive environments, athletes and (reciprocal compensations) coping with diverse unpre-
teams must have sufficient in-group predictability dictable environments created by the opponent’s behav-
(among support teams and teammates) to maintain co- ior and/or challenging environments (e.g., the height of
herent behaviors, yet, must be sufficiently unpredictable a pole vault). These properties may, or may not, be
to disrupt opponents' strategies [38]. Here, the term based on degeneracy. Degeneracy refers to the capacity
teammates is understood in a wide sense (includes staff of attaining similar outcomes with structurally different
managers, etc.) and thus, is also valid for individual components. However, diversity and unpredictability
sports. Cooperation and competition, the two pillars of also include decision-making processes, e.g., the change
biological evolution that rule living systems behavior of an intended outcome or the space of outcomes
[19], are basic principles in sports. Contrary to common altogether. For example, unpredictability can come from
assumption, the fittest4 are not necessarily the strongest, a player making a pass (that is, outcome) using structur-
nor the fastest, but the most diverse. Developing ally different components (that is, different neuro-
strength or velocity is just a means to gain diversity po- musculo-skeletal components). However, a player may
tential [38]. Particularly in sports like football, where the simply change the desired outcome (shooting or stop-
stability and reproducibility of game situations is rare, ping instead of passing). Certainly, this may arise from
teams/players continuously deal with a highly unstable changes in readiness to act on certain affordances. How-
non-cooperative environment. In such contexts, survival ever, in this case, unpredictability or diversity does not
(in the tournament, championship or league) is defined come from degeneracy. Also, a player can change the
by positive competition results, which are better intended outcome but continue to use the same motor
achieved through a higher diversity potential. pattern to attain the newly intended outcome. For in-
stance, a player runs to intercept the ball (the initially
4
By “fittest” Darwin meant “better adapted for the immediate, local intended outcome), then decides to let the ball pass
environment.” since the teammate attains a better position for scoring
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 5 of 13

(changes the intended outcome), but continues to run b) Have a sufficing diversity/unpredictability potential
(maintains the same motor pattern) to mark a defender with respect to the opponent. Co-adaptivity between op-
that tackles his teammate (third intended outcome). ponents is driven by the principle of sufficing [47, 48].
These and similar cases do not reduce action unpredict- This means that opposing athletes/teams always seek,
ability and diversity to degeneracy alone. On another not necessarily to maximize diversity/unpredictability
level of argument, it is important to emphasize that un- (reaching the global optimum which is typically un-
predictability is also a relational variable that arises attainable), but to develop a sufficiently large potential
within the performer-environment system. For unpre- relative to their opponents (environment), thereby in-
dictability to exist, there must be an opponent striving creasing their chances of winning. Performers seek con-
to anticipate. Without the opponent, the athlete may be text dependent local optima, i.e., best solutions under
diverse, but not unpredictable. Variability, diversity, or local context, that is, local set of constraints.
degeneracy, on the other hand, refer to properties of an (c) Non-decreasing unpredictability potential when
organism or a team alone. constrained by the environment. Robustly degenerate
It is important here to clarify the term potential. This athletes/teams recover fast by increasing the unpredict-
term is used to signify that individuals and teams do not ability potential, when challenged by the environment
always have to exhibit high diversity of actions, if not and/or the opponent’s actions. The level to which they
constrained to do so. They only exhibit such high diver- recover unpredictability is regulated by the second (satis-
sity of actions if the environment requires it [39–43]. ficing, a portmanteau combination of the words satisfy
Accordingly, the diversity potential of actions is distrib- and suffice) principle. Athletes/teams do not use all their
uted within the performer/team-environment system, diversity/unpredictability potential during all competi-
and as such, represents a systemic property. Based on tions. Instead, they suffice to an appropriate level. This
the relation of sport performance in non-cooperative en- sufficing potential enables a level of diversity/unpredict-
vironments with the diversity/unpredictability potential ability that promotes survivability and increases the
of athletes/teams [38], we emphasize that effective inter- probability of winning.
ventions should focus on: The larger degree of diversity potential is individual
a) Increasing the athlete/team unpredictability poten- and realized through diverse actions, which may be de-
tial through the formation of new synergies at all levels. fined at different levels and scales (e.g., neuromuscular,
By forming new potential synergies, and becoming sensi- cardio-respiratory, (multi)joint, emotional, inter-
tive to each other’s affordances, i.e., increasing the personal).5 Due to synergies, one attribute can be com-
organization (predictability) of performers within teams, pensated through the development of others to satisfy
they become more unpredictable for the environment the task goal. Accordingly, the aim of a synergizing
(opponents). The emergence of coordinated behaviors in process is not to maximize performance attributes/di-
sports teams is based on the formation of interpersonal mensions but to develop satisficing diversity potential.
synergies between players resulting from collective ac- This means learning to detect the sufficing threshold
tions predicated on shared affordances [44]. Higher co- promoting survival and/or winning. Detecting the level
ordination means dimension reduction and mutual to which the diversity/unpredictability potential has to
compensation [35, 45], due to the higher co-variation, or be unleashed, depending on the opponent, is of utmost
mutual information, between the players. Higher co- importance to athletes’ and teams’ performance success.
variation or mutual information means less within team High performance teams usually lose against less able
(internal) unpredictability and, consequently, by definition, teams because of this misdetection of sufficing diversity
higher predictability (certainty) due to the mathematical potential engagement. Specific training methodologies
meaning of these measures [35, 46]. This is why sometimes may be needed to develop this specific ability. Due to
teammates train elaborate schemes of actions and passes, in the degenerate properties of CAS [36], there are always
order to create predictable within-team patterns of activity, alternate ways to achieve the task goal constraint. Hence,
which will be not so predictable to opponents. This is while some athletes/teams may gain diversity through
termed functional diversity/unpredictability. Accordingly, the development of physical conditioning, others can do
on average, players’ behaviors are coordinated and more it through the development of coordinative motor skills.
predictable within the team, than to the opponents. From For instance, in achievement sports like 100 m running
the perspective of the athlete/team, the environment be- some sprinters can perform dominantly developing a
comes more predictable. From the perspective of the oppo-
nents (environment), the athlete/team becomes more 5
Please notice that we avoid here to mention the classical performance
unpredictable. Athletes/teams who have more diverse de-
attributes or dimensions (e.g., strength, endurance, velocity), sub-
generate options are more unpredictable and, accordingly, dimensions (explosive strength, reaction speed, etc.), or combinations
have greater competitive/performance potential. of them (agility, strength endurance, etc.).
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 6 of 13

high muscle power and others through more refined co- cannot be pre-programmed. It requires not only varied
ordination patterns. Thus, it does not make sense to challenging constraints but also novel technology to be
train on the basis of a sport’s supposed attribute evaluated [49]. Long-term training forecasts, as per con-
prototypes. ventional periodization models [2], are insufficiently re-
sponsive to flexibly adjust to such continuous and
Training Process. Pre-programmed or Co-adapted? unpredictable co-adaptive performer-environment pro-
It is assumed that individual and collective sport behav- cesses. In such contexts, it is the training process itself,
ior emerges from the performer-environment interaction and not the coach, that leads and shapes the coach-
acting at different timescales [28] (Fig. 1). This means athlete interactions [50].
that when the environment changes, the behavior in-
creases its probabilities to change as well, and when the Training or Synergizing? Contrast of
environment keeps stable (e.g., similar opponents, simi- Methodological Principles
lar constraints), the exploratory behavior ceases, and the Training Programs or Methodological Criteria?
emergence of new synergies too [24]. The diversifica- Fixed training programs assume the existence of decon-
tion/complexification process is self-organized and textualized realities and ideal or prototypic static states

Fig. 1 Nestedness of organization levels interacting at different timescales

Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 7 of 13

in athletes/teams. As neither intrapersonal, interper- amount of high-intensity runs, time of ball possession).
sonal, or environmental constraints are repeated during Thus, individual performance, usually analyzed during
training processes, the replacement of fixed training pro- competition, lacks relevance to the training of collective
grams by methodological criteria based on complex dy- behavior. It is worth pointing out, here, that contrary to
namic principles seems advantageous [42]. The levels of what is usually assumed, task constraints do not neces-
fatigue, the emotional state, or the opponent’s behavior sarily reduce, but may also increase, the degrees of free-
are only a few examples of constraints which demand dom in a CAS [24]. Task constraints form boundaries
continuous adjustments of training plans and which around the exploration of certain action possibilities,
occur at shorter timescales than conventionally struc- while allowing the emergence of other exploration possi-
tured programs [2]. bilities. When constraints reduce degrees of freedom,
Complex dynamic principles (e.g., stability, instability, relevant information that coaches want performers to
constraints, change of state…) are common to processes use is amplified.
defined at multiple levels [42] and can be used as general
methodological criteria. They are the fruit of compres-
sion, without fragmentation, of the huge complexity of Teams or Players As Training Units in Collective Sports?
levels (physiological, psychological, social, etc.) and time- The fragmentation of the body into subsystems, which
scales involved in sports training. Such criteria may em- are trained separately (e.g., cardiovascular or neuromus-
brace continuous, intertwined relationships between cular exercise programs), and the division of perform-
perception and action in different sport performance ance into distinct attributes (e.g., strength, endurance,
contexts. velocity, etc.), which are also trained separately, is a
common practice in traditional training methodologies.
Skill Acquisition. Dominance of Instructional-Based or Similarly, a key assumption in team sports is that col-
Environmental-Based Constraints? lective performance is achieved through the sum of indi-
While technological devices require instructions to vidual behaviors. In fact, soccer schools usually focus on
change the task outcome (program, etc.), CAS orches- training players, rather than training teams. Further-
trate changes without instructions, i.e., as a result of the more, performance evaluation is also predominantly
interaction with environmental constraints. Instructions player oriented [54].
are environmental information provided via social In teams, conceptualized as superorganisms, perform-
systems (e.g., coach) [28]. This information should be ance emerges from the interaction among the individual
acknowledged, understood, and transformed into per- parts [55]. The creation of team synergies requires the
former intentions in order to become a task constraint exposure of the whole set of players to challenging con-
[24]. All task constraints, either informational or instruc- straints. This promotes collective exploration, discovery,
tional, are then distributed between the performer and and stabilization of unique solutions based on intra-
the environment, and thus, they are necessarily emer- team interactions. In such training contexts, changing
gent, either by design (e.g., through instructions) or the set of constraints is the main driver of exploration
spontaneously, i.e., by self-organization. Thus, one can- behavior [56].
not expect the same instruction to have the same effects The emerging collective properties of teams cannot be
on all performers. While some instructions provide dir- assigned to any single player, in a similar way that life, as
ect information on how to perform the action (i.e., what an emergent property of neurobiological systems, cannot
to do or what to avoid), other types of environmental be assigned to any specific subsystem of the organism
constraints (e.g., distance to the opponent, velocity of (e.g., cardiovascular endocrine). In this sense, teams are
the ball) also constrain the performer’s affordances. not part of the context in which players perform innova-
While the former develops the dependency of the per- tively and creatively but are the innovative and creative
former on instructions, the latter promotes the auton- entity targeted by training designs [57]. That is, the tar-
omy of the performer. get in team sports is the team, and the manipulation of
Instructions contribute to skill acquisition only if the constraints is addressed to increase the team’s potential
CAS adequately understands the instruction and accur- diversity. This entails the development of networked
ately transforms this instruction into personal intention. team connectivity, the creation of new team synergies,
In collective sports, both collective and individual per- and thus, the complexification of the team’s functional-
formance is highly constrained by environmental factors ity. Burke et al. [58] define team adaptation as a change
[51–53]. The team's style, changing from match to in team performance that leads to a functional outcome
match as a function of the opponents, match result, lo- for the entire team and manifests through changed
cation (home or away), classification, etc., constrains the structures, capacities, behavior, and goal-directed actions
player’s individual performance (e.g., distance covered, of the whole team. This is distinct from different
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 8 of 13

approaches in team sports, focused on the development the performer’s perceived affordances. From another per-
of individual players’ diversity potential [56, 59]. spective, fixed prescriptions and programs may promote
Due to the nestedness of constraints, there is no need coach’s inattentional blindness to surrounding emergent
to reduce the training unit to individual players in team information [65]. In such circumstances, coaches’ feed-
sports or to a subsystem in individual sports. Team col- back focus is put on the results and not in the execution.
laborative properties like exploration [40, 41], degener- Athletes/teams and coach constitute a learning system,
acy [60, 61], synergies [62], and synchronization [43, 63], in which the coach is not only the manager of the train-
developed through challenging and varied environments, ing environment [50] but also a learning component. As
adequately diversify individual behavior in a correlated long as training is focused on satisficing the diversity po-
way. While individual properties of players are important tential, training should be a co-adaptive process. The
for building specific interactions within teams, these coach co-adapts, continuously adjusting the constraints
properties are best developed while playing in collective to the athlete/team evolution. His or her work is mostly
contexts. These collaborative properties may show up in focused on selecting and designing the problems to be
a variety of game situations which can be defined at dif- solved and providing adapted, varied, innovative, and
ferent levels and timescales, including player’s effectiv- sufficiently challenging tasks to develop the team com-
ities (speed, endurance, strength, etc.), player’s plexification/diversification. Since actions emerge from
motivation, affection, flexibility, and creativity. The same the performer-environment system, athletes/teams must
rationale applied to collective sports can be applied to be co-designers of the training process rather than mere
individual sports. Individual performers are also formed executers. In short, coaches constrain performers, and
by collections of components and processes that interact performers constrain coaches, which being challenged
within them, and with the environment, to satisfy a also enhance their diversity potential [66].
common purpose (survival in competition). Through
challenging environmental contexts such components
create new synergies promoting the development of their Updating Underexplored Aspects by the CLA
diversity potential, as has been shown in studies investi- The constraints-led approach (CLA), based on Newell’s
gating the unintentional or spontaneous interpersonal model [67] and underpinned by the ecological dynamics
synchronization of 100 m speed runners during competi- theory and the principles of nonlinear pedagogy [68, 69],
tion [64]. The use of pacemakers, or rabbits, during long has been widely applied in motor learning and skill ac-
distance running is another example of how individual quisition [17, 18, 25]. More recently, it has been also
athletes increase their diversity potential in competition adapted to skill acquisition in achievement [70], oppos-
and beat their records. ition [71], and team sports [8] to enhance expertise and
sport talent through representative training activities.
Role of the Coach. Prescribing Actions or Manipulating The CLA recommended an integrative approach of
Constraints? sport performance [72] and has been recently upgraded
Assuming that sports are dynamic entities and that sport on the basis of two main characteristics of constraints:
behavior is a product of the performer-environment sys- (1) they act at different nested timescales, and (2) they
tem, which is irreproducible and highly unpredictable in are circularly interdependent (bottom-up and top-down)
competitive environments, the role of the coach, fixing [28, 73]. This means that organismic levels (genes, cells,
task outcomes and prescribing actions, is under ques- tissues, organs, players, teams) are related through circu-
tion. Coaches do not know all possible solutions of a lar causality. In this way, it is emphasized to enlarge the
task. In addition, prescriptions promote a power- skill acquisition and interpersonal coordination of the
dependency based coach-athlete relationship, a CLA, understood under the framework of the
command-action based coupling, and a limited per- perception-action coupling (e.g., decision-making in
former involvement. technical and tactical behavior), to all training dimen-
As previously mentioned, instead of prescribing actions, sions, including strength and conditioning, in a corre-
coaches can manipulate constraints (personal or environ- lated way. Although previous authors have applied the
mental) to promote the creativity (potential diversity/un- CLA to strength and coordination [74], the property of
predictability) and autonomy of the performers. In interdependency, temporal nestedness, and circular
opposition sports, as new intentions and tasks emerge causality of constraints acting at different timescales has
continuously over very short time scales, due to the oppo- yet to be implemented in integrative sport methodolo-
nent’s behavior, performers act according to the newly gies. These properties, interacting bottom-up and top-
perceived affordances and continuously shape new func- down, from social to biochemical and beyond, provide a
tional affordances. In this scenario, coaches’ prescriptions basis to dilute the boundaries between traditional silos
of actions might be counterproductive if competing with of sports training (e.g., technical, tactical, conditional,
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 9 of 13

Fig. 2 Levels of organization interacting through circular causality at different timescales

psychological) and to encourage the correlated develop- synergies and/or stimulating the cover play of the goal
ment of capabilities. For instance, as illustrated in Fig. 2, keeper to compensate faster the overloading of individ-
a longer timescale coach instruction (high pressing), last- ual players. This type of intervention further develops
ing minutes, during soccer matches produces a cascade team synergies and may help the center-back to feel
of effects on shorter timescale processes; it drastically safer. Coaches’ competence is not simply based on
changes team tactics (defence high up the pitch), indi- knowing many recipes to respond to concrete problems
vidual goals (one versus one), strategies (force mistakes but on understanding the principles that may help to de-
to steal the ball), actions (high intensity), emotions cide and intervene effectively in each specific context.
(fears, anxieties), and physiological stress (high anaerobic Complex problems cannot always be solved by simple
activation). These top-down constrained processes are solutions.
also related bottom-up. For instance, the psychobio- The idea of the nested organization of constraints is
logical stress of a single player (e.g., center-back) may fundamental for integrative training methodologies.
change his/her individual emotions (increased anxiety of Independently of its origin (social, physiological, bio-
being beaten by passes into the space behind), strategies chemical, psychological, biomechanical, etc.), con-
(increasing the distance from the opponent), actions straints are related among them through timescales.
(stepping back to protect the goal), changing the whole This means that when the social (team) coordination
team defence actions (withdraw and defend close to the is constrained, all other levels down (dyadic, inter-
own goal), and consequently, the coach instruction. The limb, intermuscular, intramuscular, metabolic, etc.)
tactical anxiety of the center-back player will not be are also constrained in a correlated way. In short, it
solved through individual strength and conditioning is not a requirement to separately train endurance,
training. A coach with a good understanding of the com- strength capabilities, or motor skills in an isolated
plexity of the game and the properties of CAS may de- way. Through representative and contextually based
cide how to intervene effectively. Due to the tasks, such conditional capabilities and skills are
interdependence of constraints, the psychobiological already trained and developed in a correlated way. Al-
stress of one player is related to other constraints acting though the previously mentioned levels and scales
at different timescales. Interventions at long lasting con- (social, psychological, physiological) are taken into ac-
straints (e.g., team tactics) affect shorter lasting con- count as environmental and personal constraints
straints (e.g., technical actions). For instance, instead of within CLA, their properties of interdependence, tem-
recommending strength and conditioning to reduce the poral nestedness, and circular causality have been nei-
physiological stress of the player, or recommend psycho- ther hypothesized, nor elaborated in detail until now.
logical training to reduce his/her fear, the coach may Thus, it is not simply a problem of focusing on an
recommend further development of team defence enlarged spectrum of constraints but emphasizing the
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 10 of 13

practical significance of their interdependent proper- changing property. Clear examples can be found in
ties, temporal nestedness, and circular causation. This the evolution of game dynamics in team sports like
highly important ontology of constraints and its prac- soccer, basketball, or volleyball and the development
tical implications on connecting conditioning of running strategies in track and field.
dimensions (development of strength, endurance, etc.)
was, until now, not addressed within the framework
of the CLA. Integrating Prevention and Performance Training
A different understanding of tasks and task con- Sport methodologies usually distinguish between in-
straints as they are conceived by the CLA has been jury resilience and performance training. This is a
also introduced. They are understood as systemic relevant topic because, even in sports with extensive
properties emerging from the organism-environment resources (e.g., soccer), previous authors have found
interaction that do not exist without performers’ in- evidence of ineffective practices [77]. Accordingly,
tentions [28]. Due to the relation of performer’s in- despite focussed prevention training, injury rates are
tentions/goals, and the interdependence of such goals not necessarily reduced [78]. Previously, researchers
with longer-term personal constraints (personal interviewed 44 professional teams about their injury
values, motivation, fears) through circular causality prevention strategies. Almost unanimously the inter-
[28], an effective selection of task constraints cannot viewees rated eccentric exercise as the most effective
ignore the motivation degree of performer’s inten- modality to prevent injuries [13]. Yet, as already sug-
tions. Performer’s intentions are more stable when gested, looking for a simple and easy answer to a
they are correlated with personal and social values, complex problem remains a common mistake in
i.e., more stable constraints changing at longer time- sports training contexts [79]. The assumption, held by
scales. Although CLA proposes affective learning de- many practitioners, that doing, for example, three
signs [75], it does not refer to their circular series of ten repetitions twice a week, represents a
interdependence with intentions and their mutual sta- meaningful injury reduction strategy illustrates the
bilizing role. The same task, performed simply with simplistic, reductionist view of injury prevention.
the intention of satisfying the coaches’ instructions, as Although a direct relation of injury prevention, or risk
opposed to a task performed with intrinsic motiv- mitigation, with training methodologies is difficult to es-
ation, may exert different effects on athletes/teams tablish [75], some authors have found an association be-
learning, conditioning, and creativity. tween injury rates and training and coaching styles [80].
The increase of the diversity potential of athletes/ These are some of the main benefits that complex
teams, as a main training goal, is achieved through approaches can bring to the safety and wellbeing of per-
the individual/collective exploration and discovery of formers seeking to integrate prevention and performance
functional solutions through challenging constraints. training:
But what it is meant by challenging constraints? In
this context, challenging constraints is representative – Base training methodologies on updated scientific
of sufficiently diverse/unpredictable environments cap- theoretical assumptions, not merely on experiential
able of developing new synergies in teams/athletes. or pseudoscientific proposals. Performers are
The degree of sufficiency can be defined and modified complex, nonlinear dynamic systems, and sports are
in situ for each task. Such new synergies promote dynamic entities. This improved understanding
new task constraints, and through circular causality, facilitates an updated and conceptually valid lens
the continuous complexification of the performer- through which to devise effective targeting the
environment system leading to the dynamic concep- comprehensive care of athletes.
tion of sport, as illustrated in Table 1. Such dynamic, – Methodological criteria should adapt to the intrinsic
highly individualized, and self-organizing processes dynamics of performers and the environmental
cannot be pre-programmed, nor promoted, through context, thereby avoiding the imposition of de-
repetitive contexts. As evident from recent publica- contextualized training programs that may increase
tions, CLA proposes that task constraints should be stress and injury risk [81].
representative of those experienced within a competi- – The coupling between the performers' intrinsic
tive performance environment, i.e., what are called dynamics and the proposed task dynamics
representative learning designs [1, 62, 70, 76]. Thus, it enhances the coordination and efficacy of the
seems crucial to emphasize the diversity of task con- learning process [45].
straints and not only their representativeness. In rela- – Holistic workloads, avoiding fragmentation, may
tion to the development of the sport discipline as a increase the efficiency of the training process and
whole, this representativeness itself is a dynamical or avoid overuse and overloading.
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 11 of 13

– Representative tasks improve coordination and conceived as CAS interacting nonlinearly with their en-
perception-action coupling. vironment, synergizing is best achieved through continu-
– The goal of complexification and diversification, in ously modulating challenging and meaningful
contrast with the maximization of attributes, avoids constraints. As task constraints emerge from personal
excessively monotonous repetitions and overuse. (goals) and a subset of environmental constraints, ath-
– The principle of sufficing diversity avoids the letes’/teams’ values and goals cannot be ignored. Expos-
application of excessive training workloads and ure to challenging and meaningful contexts pushes the
prevents overtraining and injuries. exploration and discovery of new synergies, promotes a
– The role of performers as training co-designers, not co-adaptive process between coaches and performers,
mere executers, may enhance injury prevention [82]. and transforms sports in dynamic entities.
– Being challenged, coaches co-adapt [50, 83], increas- The properties of interdependence, temporally nested
ing their diversity potential and resources. organization, and circular causality of constraints can be
– As there are no fixed performance attributes or used to satisfy integrative training purposes. By manipu-
prototypes and the diversity potential can be lating constraints at team level, a cascade of inter-
developed in many different ways (degeneracy dependent individual constraints acting at many levels
property), overuse and overloading become (cognitive, emotional, systemic, organic, cellular, genetic)
unnecessary. occurs in a correlated way. The intervention on slow
– Synergies can adapt, making compensatory changing constraints (e.g., values system) guarantees
reconfigurations at multiple levels, thereby avoiding more stable effects than the intervention at faster chan-
premature fatigue and overloading [32, 83, 84]. ging constraints (e.g., motivation). Taking into account
– A variety of challenging constraints improves the circular causality among the temporarily nested con-
psycho-emotional factors (e.g., motivation, joy, well- straints, it is possible to integrate not only bottom-up
being and adherence) and the health status of per- but also top-down at all levels of performance (including
formers [85]. physiological and conditional). This integration, transfer-
– The correlatedness and nestedness of constraints able to other fields, suggests a drastic break with the
serve to improve training efficiency and enhance the classical reductionism of sports training and presents
recovery [28]. fertile research opportunities for the future.
– The improvement of decision-making and the devel-
Acknowledgements
opment of performer-environment couplings pre- To Tony Griffin and Miriam Guerra for editing the manuscript.
vent contact injuries [86].
Authors’ Contributions
R.P., N.B., R.H., C.T., A.R., and J.K. conceived the paper and jointly drafted and
Conclusion reviewed the content. The authors approved the final version and agree to
Experiential and scientific knowledge, relating to sports be accountable for all aspects of the work.
training methodologies, has been historically influenced
Authors’ Information
by reductionist models. Based on complex systems sci- Non applicable
ence and theories of biological evolution, we provide a
systematization and update of theoretical and methodo- Funding
No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this article.
logical principles to transform the understanding of the
sports training process. This contribution is not another Availability of Data and Materials
methodology; it simply seeks to promote the critical Not applicable
thinking of scientists, coaches, and practitioners to help Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate
them update or create safer and efficient interventions. Not applicable
Coaches and practitioners usually search for practical
Consent for Publication
recipes, but the only recipe emerging from complex sys- Not applicable
tems principles is that there are no fixed recipes. Func-
tional methodologies and interventions in one context Competing Interests
The authors, Natàlia Balagué, Robert Hristovski, Rafel Pol, Carlota Torrents,
can be dysfunctional in another, and contexts are always Angel Ric, and John Kiely, declare that they have no competing interests.
unrepeatable and inevitably unique. Instead of focusing
on practical recipes, the focus is put on understanding Author details
1
Real Federación Española de Fútbol (Spain), Complex Systems in Sport
the systems (athletes/teams) properties and the princi- Research Group, Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (INEFC),
ples that rule their interactions with the environment, University of Lleida (UdL), Complex de la Caparrella, s/n, 25192 Lleida, Spain.
2
keeping in mind the main aim of the process: developing Complex Systems in Sport Research Group, Institut Nacional d’Educació
Física de Catalunya (INEFC), University of Barcelona (UB), Av. de l’Estadi,
the diversity/unpredictability potential of athletes/teams, 12-22, 08038 Barcelona, Spain. 3FC Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain), Complex
that is, synergizing the system. As athletes/teams are Systems in Sport Research Group, Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de
Pol et al. Sports Medicine - Open (2020) 6:28 Page 12 of 13

Catalunya (INEFC), University of Lleida (UdL), Complex de la Caparrella, s/n, 21. Davids K, Araújo D, Seifert L, Orth D. Expert performance in sport: an
25192 Lleida, Spain. 4Complex Systems in Sport Research Group, Institut ecological dynamics perspective. Routledge Handb Sport Expert. London:
Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (INEFC), University of Lleida (UdL), Routledge; 2015. p. 156–70.
Complex de la Caparrella, s/n, 25192 Lleida, Spain. 5Institute of Coaching and 22. Passos P, Davids K, Araújo D, Paz N, Minguéns J, Mendes J. Networks as a
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Physical Education, Sport and Health, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, j.jsams.2010.10.459.
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