From Lab to Field: Self-Regulation Mechanisms and Performance Optimization in Sport and Motor Learning

Understanding how athletes and learners regulate their cognitive, emotional, and physiological states is central to optimizing both performance and motor learning. While laboratory-based research has identified key mechanisms of self-regulation, such as attentional control, emotion regulation, neural efficiency, and psychophysiological adaptation. There remains a huge gap in translating these findings into real-world sport and training contexts. Performance in the field is shaped not only by technical and tactical skills, but also by dynamic interactions among cognitive processes, stress responses, fatigue, and situational demands.Recent advances in psychophysiological and neurophysiological methods (e.g., heart rate variability, EEG, fNIRS, and wearable sensors) now enable more precise tracking of internal states during skill execution and learning. At the same time, mental and psychophysiological training approaches, such as attentional focus strategies, self-talk, mindfulness, biofeedback, and neurofeedback, have shown promise in enhancing self-regulation and performance. However, these approaches are often studied in isolation, with limited integration across psychological, neural, and movement science perspectives.This Research Topic seeks to bridge laboratory and applied research by integrating mechanistic insights with ecologically valid training and performance contexts. By bringing together multidisciplinary evidence, we aim to advance a more comprehensive and translational understanding of how self-regulation mechanisms support skilled performance and motor learning across diverse sport settings.This Research Topic aims to advance our understanding of how self-regulation mechanisms support performance optimization and motor learning in sport. We particularly welcome contributions that integrate behavioral measures with psychophysiological and neurophysiological indicators (e.g., HRV, EEG, fNIRS) to examine adaptation to task demands, stress, and competitive pressure, as well as studies employing mental and psychophysiological training approaches (e.g., attentional focus, self-talk, mindfulness, biofeedback, neurofeedback). Experimental, theoretical, and methodological studies are also encouraged, including work that bridges laboratory paradigms with applied training and field-based contexts.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• Psychological, cognitive, technical, and tactical factors in sport performance• Individual differences and interactions among psychological, neural, and physiological factors in performance• Psychophysiological and neurophysiological mechanisms of sport performance and the stress–performance relationship (e.g., HRV, EEG, fNIRS, etc.)• Self-regulation processes and neural efficiency underlying skilled and optimal sport performance• Adaptation to task demands and situational constraints in sport and motor skill contexts • Motor learning and motor performance across skill levels and sport contexts• Mental, cognitive, and psychophysiological training strategies in optimizing sport and motor performance (e.g., attentional focus, self-talk, mindfulness, bio/neurofeedback, brain endurance training etc.)• Interventions designed to optimize skill acquisition, performance, performance under pressure, especially psychophysiological interventions (e.g., bio/neurofeedback).• Training designs that integrate laboratory measures with ecologically valid, field-based performance assessments Topic editors: Kuo Pin Wang, Ming-Yang Cheng, Andrew Cooke, John Elvis Hagan JNR Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77748/from-lab-to-field-self-regulation-mechanisms-and-performance-optimization-in-sport-and-motor-learning