Welcome to Motor Behavior and Skill Acquisition. The goal of the book is to provide guidance for university undergraduates pursuing professions that involve teaching movement skills to patients, clients, or students. The book provides a balance between the scientific study of human movement and the practical application of fundamental principles to interventions designed to teach individuals how to move effectively. The targeted readership is future physical educators, rehabilitative specialists, and sport trainers; however, the topics addressed in the book are of value for everyone. At some point in our lives, we all take on the role of a being a teacher of movement skills.

The book is unique in several ways. The first half describes how skills are learned from the academic perspectives of psychology, neuroscience, and kinesiology. In these chapters, the authors provide information drawn from five decades of cross-disciplinary academic study and research. The second half focuses on pedagogy and factors that are central to the art of teaching movement skills. In these latter chapters, the authors draw upon practical experiences and focus on conditions that are central to effective instructional interventions. The central themes that emerge from an academic study of skill acquisition and their application to real-world instructional settings are reinforced by providing the reader an opportunity to develop his or her own individualized motor-skill training program.