Abstract: Taking the pre-service cultivation of physical education (PE) teachers as the research object, this paper clarifies the significance of PCK guidance to the professionalization of PE teachers by systematically analyzing the connotation and basic properties of the PCK theory. The paper further examines the main problems in current pre-service cultivation of PE teachers in China from the theoretical perspective of PCK and proposes corresponding improvement pathways, which include:changing the conventional mode of ladder education; ensuring that practice education impenetrates the whole cultivation process of PE teachers; strengthening the systematic study of the PCK theory and advocating case-based and practice teaching; actively carrying out teaching-support activities; strengthening teaching reflection, and promoting the practice orientation in thesis preparation. It is hoped that these pathways can be used to solve the problem that PE teachers lack practical teaching ability in the pre-service cultivation so as to lay a solid foundation for the professional development of PE teachers at work.