What can coaches and physical education teachers learn from a constraints-led approach in para-sport?

ABSTRACTBackground: Skill acquisition is still a relatively new and emerging specialist discipline in the sport sciences. Like other disciplines, current service support in Paralympic sport is limited, often based on theory adapted from able-bodied sport, or findings from research programmes that are not representative of elite sport contexts. The application of skill acquisition principles and pedagogical research is an opportunity to support the development of practice task designs in para-sport contexts. Of interest is the individualised nature of athlete impairments, requiring a flexible and imaginative approach, particularly given potential barriers between theory and practice. The Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) provides one potential solution; a functional framework for understanding interacting factors on athlete performance and learning. Despite the advocacy for a broad application of this approach in recent years, this has still had limited impact or research situated in elite sport.Purpose: To b...