ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the processes of change from an unskilled performer to a skilled performer. When we learn a new skill such as throwing a javelin, or relearn a skill such as riding a bike after an injury, the learning of the skill is a progression. At the autonomous stage the skill is almost automatic, or habitual. The component processes become increasingly autonomous, less directly subject to cognitive control and to interference from other ongoing activities and environmental distractions. When we learn new motor skills we pass through a number of stages on a continuum from novice to expert. There are a number of models that have been presented to explain the stages that a learner goes through, and over the years researchers have attempted to test these models in a variety of contexts in both the sporting and rehabilitation context.
