What do students think in physical education?

Based on a interpretative approach, this study aims to shed light on teaching processes within physical education. More specifically, this study explored students' thoughts during physical education classes. The participants were eight students in the ninth grade attending schools located at north of Portugal. Data was collected through interviews. The findings highlight that (a) students have more thoughts connected to the skill being taught before and during a task; (b) thoughts concerning how to execute a skill were more frequent during a task rather than before a task; (c) affective thoughts are more frequent before and during a task and seem to play a crucial role in students success; (d) thoughts non-related to a task are more frequent before students execute it. An increased awareness about students' thought processes may enable a more comprehensive understanding about how to create a favourable climate that is conducive to better learning outcomes.