Self-regulated learning and expertise development in sport: current status, challenges, and future opportunities

In sport, athletes engage in large amounts of practice to reach higher levels of performance. Self-regulated learning (SRL) could be critical for optimizing training conditions and maximizing training amounts. Our purpose was to review literature concerning SRL in sport training contexts. We focused on articles taking a practice-enhancement orientation from a social-cognitive perspective. Thirty-four articles met search criteria. Most articles used a conceptual model guided by Zimmerman's work. We identified six emergent lines of inquiry: (a) descriptions of SRL; (b) SRL as characteristic of athletes; (c) skill group differences in SRL; (d) interventions with SRL as a focus or an outcome; (e) relations among SRL processes, beliefs, and other variables; and (f) measurement of SRL. Based on reviewed research in sport and drawing on research on SRL from education, we highlight four issues that provide opportunities for quality empirical research and conceptual development related to SRL and sport practice. In addition, we emphasize the potential role that SRL plays in sport expertise development.