Relatedness as a contextual catalyst in motor learning: the socially embedded motor learning framework

Motor learning research has predominantly modeled the learner as an isolated information processor, yielding robust insights into practice schedules and feedback design while leaving the social conditions of skill acquisition comparatively underexamined. This article applies Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to reframe motor learning as a socially embedded process and advances the hypothesis that relatedness—understood here as the learner’s sense of being cared for, respected, and connected to rel