okansas.blogspot.com
Occassional thoughts about orienteering


Thursday, July 09, 2009

Some notes about a model I'm playing with

 

Think of two beginning orienteers who have equal running ability, but one is a better than average navigator and the other is worse than average. Have them race around a simple course and the better navigator will usually win.

Now, think of two orienteers with different mixes of abilities. One of them is a slow runner and good navigator. The other is a fast runner and poor navigator. Now it isn't obvious who will win.

Now, think about how we first introduce people to orienteering. Does it tend to favor someone with relatively good navigation or relatively good running ability? My gut feeling is that beginner courses tend to favor the better navigators. I think we've all seen examples of fast runners going head-to-head with good navigators on beginners courses, and the good navigator ("the tortoise") wins.

Assuming both orienteers stick with it, and assuming they both improve as runners and navigators, does the running/navigating balance change as they progress through the increasingly technical difficult courses? My gut feeling is that as orienteers progress, the balance shifts and that running becomes relatively more important.

To win a world championship, an orienteer has to be a very good runner and a very good navigator.

But to win a first-timer event, an orienteer with good navigation but slow runner will be more likely to win.

That's enough for now, back to watching the re-play of today's TDF stage.

Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

posted by Michael | 8:36 PM

3 comments


Comments:
Makes me think. People always talk about orienteering as "the map sport with terrain running." Sometimes I wish there was more thinking about "the terrain running sport with maps."

I've sometimes wondered if you could create a good beginner experience by providing physically challenging terrain running, but minimizing the navigational challenge. Maybe with flagged routes, maybe with very obvious control placement.
 
Its interesting to think what implications these inadvertent actions have upon the likelihood of recruiting future elite orienteers.
 
Yes, I think there are lots of inadvertent sorting mechanisms.

For example,when I began orienteering there were very few people my age at events (I was 16). To stick with the sport, you had to be comfortable (and not bored) hanging around with people a good bit older than you. Lots of 16 year-olds (maybe most?) people don't really like that. I'm sure the sport loses lots of people because of that sorting mechanism.

There must be dozens of various sorting mechanisms.

Michael
 
Post a Comment
March 2002April 2002May 2002June 2002July 2002August 2002September 2002October 2002November 2002December 2002January 2003February 2003March 2003April 2003May 2003June 2003July 2003August 2003September 2003October 2003November 2003December 2003January 2004February 2004March 2004April 2004May 2004June 2004July 2004August 2004September 2004October 2004November 2004December 2004January 2005February 2005March 2005April 2005May 2005June 2005July 2005August 2005September 2005October 2005November 2005December 2005January 2006February 2006March 2006April 2006May 2006June 2006July 2006August 2006September 2006October 2006November 2006December 2006January 2007February 2007March 2007April 2007May 2007June 2007July 2007August 2007September 2007October 2007November 2007December 2007January 2008February 2008March 2008April 2008May 2008June 2008July 2008August 2008September 2008October 2008November 2008December 2008January 2009February 2009March 2009April 2009May 2009June 2009July 2009August 2009September 2009October 2009November 2009December 2009January 2010February 2010March 2010April 2010May 2010June 2010July 2010August 2010September 2010October 2010November 2010December 2010January 2011February 2011March 2011April 2011May 2011June 2011July 2011August 2011September 2011October 2011November 2011December 2011January 2012February 2012March 2012April 2012May 2012June 2012July 2012August 2012September 2012October 2012November 2012December 2012January 2013March 2013April 2013May 2013July 2013September 2013
archives
links