The development of decision making skill in sport: an ecological dynamics perspective

In this chapter we introduce a theoretical framework for studying decision making in sport, the ecological dynamics approach, which we integrate with key ideas from the literature on learning complex motor skills. Our analysis includes insights from Bernstein (1967) on the coordination of degrees of freedom and Newell’s (1985) model of motor learning. We particularly focus on the role of perceptual degrees of freedom advocated in an ecological approach to learning. In introducing this framework to readers we contrast this perspective with more traditional models of decision making. Finally, we propose some implications for training decision making skill in sport.