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This course is designed to provide students with an appreciation of the psychological factors related to sport and sports coaching; to introduce relevant theoretical frameworks, current sport and coaching literature and pertinent measurement instruments employed in the sport psychology and sport coaching domain. Students will develop an expertise and skillset in:

• key psychological theories and models from the area of sport psychology.
• psychological techniques which can be employed to improve performance and support athletes wellbeing
• how psychological theory can be applied with various athlete populations.

Who is the course aimed at?

It is targeted at anyone interested in understanding how people behave and compete within sport settings, this course is ideal for athletes, coaches, sport managers, parents of athletes and sport scientists of all kinds who work with athletes and performers on a regular basis.  This course serves to introduce the student to the role of psychology in optimising performance in sport. Specifically, applied psychological issues faced by sports performers will be explored in conjunction with specific performance enhancement techniques.

After undertaking this course, students should have further developed their understanding of relevant theoretical perspectives and methods necessary to assess and manage selected psychological challenges within a sport setting. This course will not enable graduates to practice as a sport psychology service provider.

Delivery

  • Monday 6.30pm – 8.00pm.   Classes will be delivered online
  • The programme will follow the SETU Waterford academic calendar

Award

This course will lead to level 7, 10 credit "Certificate in Applied Sport Psychology" and will be delivered on a part-time online basis. 

Fees

The course fee is €600

Sport Coaching Psychology - 5 Credits

  • Personality in sport
  • Motivation in sport -  self-determination and achievement motivation theory
  • Self-confidence in sport -  the self in sport (Bandura;Vealy)
  • Arousal, stress and anxiety in sports performers 
  • Team building and cohesion 
  • Attributions - interpreting success and failures 
  • Attention, concentration and focus in sports performance 
  • Psychology of injuries  - defining injuries and affective cycle of injury
  • Burnout, over training and the UPPs syndrome 


Performance Psychology for Coaching - 5 Credits

  • Creating an effective coach athlete relationship
  • Optimising pre and post-game analysis and evaluation 
  • Building resilience through mental skills training
  • Energy management and emotional control for coach and athlete
  • Aggression in sport
  • Managing transitions for both athletes and coaches
  • Psychology of injuries and helping athletes to overcome injury

The entry requirement will be a minimum of 30 ECTS qualification at Level 6 or equivalent in any discipline. 

Applicants with a Leaving Certificate but without a 30 ECTS Level 6 qualification or equivalent can be considered as part of the SETU RPL process which may include completion of a written task. 

A background and interest in sports performance or coaching is desirable.

Fees:

€600