ABSTRACT
In the field of sport and exercise, major challenges concern the understanding of how motor performance is achieved and how it can be promoted, either after setbacks or during development and training. A fundamental action situation in sport settings consists of the following components: person, task, and environment; these factors are related to each other and the action taking place. This chapter addresses neurophysiological and cognitive/mental modules in sport and, furthermore, the neurocognitive architecture of action in sport. It discusses the action-relevant relationship between goals, perception, and memory before examining the cognitive architecture approach. This is followed by the presentation of some findings from neurocognitive methods and from the area of neuroinformatics. It is clearly advantageous for a real or a virtual coach to know how mental structures form, stabilize, and change in sport action. Such a coach is better able to address the individual athlete on his/her current level of learning and shape instructions to maximize training and performance.
