Certified Skill Acquisition Specialist (CSAS)

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Certified Skill Acquisition Specialist (CSAS)

What is a CSAS?

A Skill Acquisition Specialist is a sport performance practitioner who specializes in the application of contemporary skill acquisition processes and methods to improve the skill execution of athletes within sport while applying best practices in setting up a learning environment which is tailored to the athlete-environment system.

However, prior to 2025, beyond significant experience and accumulated time in a role, there existed no way to recognize the individuals who are doing it at the highest levels.

The team at Emergence strongly felt that it was time to finally change that!

Thus, the Certified Skill Acquisition Specialist (CSAS) program was created to recognize the practitioners who are the premier exemplars of this work in the field and across the sporting community.

Being the first certification of its kind in the field of skill acquisition, the CSAS program, launched in 2025, will put practitioners to the test, challenging both their understanding of the most pertinent and relevant ideas, as well as their ability to apply these important concepts where it matters most—practically in the field in their work among fellow professionals and athletes alike.

Mission

To pave the way for Skill Acquisition Specialists to become a common role and be given significant responsibility, in and across sport and at all levels, because they are equipped with the education, expertise, and experience that allow them to assess and design practice environments that better facilitate skilled behavior in sport

Objectives

To show CSAS the way(s) to become more attuned, intentional, and adaptable practitioners
To test the dexterity of Skill Acquisition Specialists in the main areas that are needed to channel and guide skill enhancement endeavors of athletes within sport
To help sporting organizations find, recognize, and employ the most qualified Skill Acquisition practitioners

What Does a CSAS Do?

Note: The CSAS program was developed using adapted content from the published paper by Otte, Yearby, & Myszka (2024), The Role of Skill Acquisition Specialists Within Sports, which served as a model and guide. This open-access article can be accessed here:
https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume7_issue3/JoE_7_3_Otte_etal.html

A CSAS (Certified Skill Acquisition Specialist) is responsible for assessing, designing, and refining practice environments to maximize learning and support the ongoing evolution of skill.

Within a sport organization, the CSAS plays a key role in shaping training by helping coaches and athletes engage with variable, problem-based practice tasks. These tasks are designed to encourage athletes to explore and adapt their movement solutions, ultimately promoting skills that transfer effectively across the diverse and dynamic conditions of competition.

More specifically, a CSAS is able to:

Analyze movement behavior by examining the relationship between the problems athletes face and the solutions they coordinate in response
Identify skill and movement gaps, recognizing these as opportunities for growth and continued skill development
Design “alive” and representative practice tasks that appropriately challenge athletes at their individual level
Create environments that promote exploration and discovery, allowing athletes to develop authentic, adaptable, and individualized movement solutions
Deliver coach education workshops and presentations that translate principles of skill acquisition and motor learning into practical, experiential coaching strategies

Practitioner Requirements to test for the CSAS

Applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria:

Hold a graduate-level degree (e.g., Master’s or Doctorate) in a skill acquisition–related field from an accredited university;
Have successfully participated in at least six months of The Movement Academy (Essentials or Graduate level);
Have completed Emergence’s Underpinnings Course and The Practitioner’s Bundle;
Have attended at least three Sport Movement Skill Conference events;
Have engaged in an apprenticeship or mentorship under a current CSAS practitioner for a minimum of three months.

In addition, applicants must:

Be actively working, at least part-time, in a role that involves guiding and shaping athlete skill development at any level;
Submit a formal application to Emergence that outlines their experience in skill acquisition, articulates their perspectives, and clearly expresses their motivation for pursuing the CSAS certification and contributing to the advancement of the field.

Interested in Learning More?

If you’re interested in applying—or simply want to explore whether the CSAS aligns with your current trajectory—schedule a 30-minute informational call with Emergence team member Shawn Myszka by emailing him at shawn@emergentmvmt.com.

Underpinning Competency of a CSAS

Science: Understanding of skilled movement behavior

To identify and describe how complex systems operate within the context of sport
To understand the nature and role of information in the coordination and control of movement behavior
To adequately explain how concepts underpinning a contemporary approach to skill execution and acquisition (i.e., from ecological dynamics) are important in facilitating more functional, skilled movement behavior in sport

Science: Analysis of movement skill execution in sport

To use the athlete-environment system as the main scale of analysis in assessing movement skill in sport (and in the world too)
To be able to study the problem-solving processes of the mover in context
To determine how we may be able to use the concept of affordance perception and selection to assess the current movement skill of a performer and in the subsequent design of practice activities in the learning environment

Art: Creating a learning environment

To conceptualize the CSAS as an environment designer, a problem setter, or a facilitator of movement skill
To understand how constraint manipulation can help us set adequately challenging movement problems to be solved by containing the most relevant information and affordances for the athlete to interact with
To apply important concepts of nonlinear pedagogy (e.g., representative task design, alive movement problems, repetition without repetition) to help increase the skilled movement behavior of our athletes

Art: Guiding a performer to enhanced skill

To determine the various individual differences between performers which will change how they solve movement problems as well as how the CSAS could aim to guide them most effectively
To understand how factors such as instruction and feedback can influence the learning process
To provide a learning environment that prioritizes innovation, creativity, authenticity, and freedom in the movement skill of athletes

Testing Protocol

Attend a live testing event where three certified CSAS members will subjectively grade the skill acquisition practitioner’s ability to solve problems relevant to guiding and facilitating the most skillful and dexterous movement and skill execution of athletes in sport.

A general overview of the various areas that practitioners will be tested on are offered here below. More details regarding the specific tests and grading criteria within each section will be provided to the practitioner upon acceptance of their application.

Section 1: Theoretical/Conceptual Knowledge & Understanding

The testing skill acquisition practitioner will present a 10-15 minute emergent session on a topic related to skill acquisition and enhancement with an additional 10-15 minute Q&A with the CSAS testing board also (30 minute total presentation). The topic will be selected on the spot (drawing from a hat) to test and challenge the skill acquisition practitioner's understanding of a wide variety of pertinent concepts. The practitioner will be graded based on their demonstrated understanding of the concept (and related ideas) based on the clarity and comprehensiveness which was conveyed during their presentation delivery.

Section 2: Movement & Skill Analysis

From the individual’s sport of choice, the certification board will select an athlete for the skill acquisition practitioner to investigate (30 days ahead of the certification event) and present a SWOT analysis on (at the certification event) using the athlete’s film to illustrate who the athlete is as a skilled mover and what implications this would lead to in designing practice tasks which can address their gaps and meet them where they are (sample activity designs and possible constraint manipulations should be provided in the presentation).

Section 3: Learning Environment Design, Problem Setting & Practice Behaviors

Prior to the event, the Skill Acquisition practitioner will record a training/practice session with athletes from their chosen sport. The session should illustrate the practitioner’s ability to design a learning environment which contains relevant and alive problems, the manipulation of constraints during the session, appropriate guidance (e.g., instructions and feedback) to facilitate skill development and execution, and authenticity of the practitioner. The practitioner should be able to be heard clearly during the recorded video of the session.

Section 4: Dexterity in Skill Acquisition Facilitation

The testing skill acquisition practitioner will lead a live session in front of the CSAS certification board and other testing practitioners where they will be given an opportunity to guide and instruct an athlete or group of athletes (from a sport outside of their preferred niche). Information about the SWOT and goals of the athlete will be given to the practitioner 60 minutes prior to the session and they will have the remaining time to appropriately design a session which meets the athlete where they are. At the end of the session, the certification board will have up to 20 minutes to ask the practitioner questions about the choices made about the session design.

Note: Individuals who do not pass may retest at a subsequent testing location for $250, provided spots are available.

Interested in finding out if the CSAS is the right fit for you and the current trajectory for your craft? Schedule a 30-minute informational call with Emergence team member Shawn Myszka by emailing him at shawn@emergentmvmt.com

Upcoming Testing Dates & Locations:

November 7, 2026: Chandler, AZ (Ignite Performance)

List of CSAS Credentialed Practitioners (as of 6/28/25):

Shawn Myszka

Dr. Tyler Yearby

Rich White

Javier Miller-Estrada

Michael Zweifel

Dr. Rob Gray

Garrett Baker

Greg Souders

Scott Sievewright