Performance, learning, and expertise in sport

Ecological dynamics focuses on the self-organization of action and perception under constraints in sport performance and practice. It addresses the sociomaterial constraints that enhance and diminish the coupling of perception and action directed by athletes and teams toward achieving task goals. How performers learn to attune to information and constraints is key to understanding the dynamics of behavior. Performers explore to learn, and learn to explore, which finally leads them to better perceive opportunities for action available in the environment and relative to their action capabilities. This chapter proposes testable hypotheses in accordance with principles of ecological dynamics along three timescales: (1) behavior and performance; (2) learning, transfer, and expertise; (3) “talent” being developed in sport. Finally, we conclude the chapter by providing implications of these ideas for movement practitioners.