Enactive approach in sports pedagogy

Abstract

The work is characterized as theoretical research aimed at the possibility of re-attributing to the educational relationship the original ability to elevate itself to an enactive function of the training processes for self-expression in the psychology of sports field, for the purpose of revealing self-awareness. We are indeed convinced that collaboration between sports philosophers, psychologists and pedagogists could produce a fruitful re-interpretation of the existing theoretical models in this area, advancing a high-profile understanding of the embodied sporting practices. In fact, by building on the ‘radically enactive approach to cognition’ we de-emphasize the role of mental representations and motor imagery training to characterize the ecological dimension of perceptual and motor skill acquisition. We also argue that the «enactive paradigm» could explain some kinds of high-level cognition, such as those that underlie transformative learning of some among the best performances in sports.