ABSTRACT

In our daily lives, we often perform movements that require complex co-ordination of our limbs, such as tying our shoes, washing dishes, or walking down a crowded street. Similarly, effective sport performance is often characterized by the production of very specific co-ordination patterns. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of research pertaining to the learning of new coordination patterns and skills. The majority of the research we will summarize involves laboratory-based tasks in which the required co-ordination pattern can be controlled and measured; however we believe the results of these studies can be applied to many sport scenarios where individuals are required to learn or modify a co-ordination pattern. It is our hope that this chapter will aid in the understanding of the production of new co-ordination patterns as well as provide valuable practical information to accelerate the learning process.