Embodied Cognition in Sport Expertise: A Thematic Exploration of Sensorimotor Awareness in Professional Athletes

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore and interpret the lived experiences of professional athletes to identify the core thematic dimensions of sensorimotor awareness within the framework of embodied cognition. This study employed a qualitative research design using thematic analysis grounded in an interpretivist paradigm. Participants consisted of twenty-four professional athletes from Canada, representing both individual and team sports with a minimum of five years of elite-level experience. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews, complemented by reflective journals and researcher field notes to enhance contextual richness and triangulation. Interviews focused on athletes’ perceptions of bodily awareness, decision-making processes, and integration of sensory feedback during performance. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed following a six-phase thematic analysis procedure, including familiarization, coding, theme generation, review, and refinement. Rigor was ensured through member checking, peer debriefing, and maintenance of an audit trail. The analysis revealed four overarching themes: heightened bodily awareness, embodied decision-making, sensorimotor calibration, and embodied emotional regulation. The findings indicated that perception–action coupling and motor refinement through repetition were universally experienced and constituted the core of expertise. Athletes demonstrated strong reliance on pre-reflective, intuitive processes for rapid decision-making, particularly in dynamic environments. Interoceptive and proprioceptive awareness emerged as critical mechanisms supporting performance optimization and emotional regulation. Variations across sport types suggested that closed-skill sports emphasized precision and bodily control, whereas open-skill sports prioritized adaptability and anticipatory action. Overall, sensorimotor awareness functioned as an integrative system linking cognitive, physical, and affective domains. The findings support the central role of embodied cognition in sport expertise, demonstrating that high-level performance is grounded in the integration of sensory perception, motor execution, and emotional regulation. Sensorimotor awareness operates as a dynamic and multidimensional construct that enables athletes to adapt efficiently to complex and changing environments.