Expand+Who should complete this course?

•Students who wish to receive an internationally recognised certificate at QQI level 6 in Sports Psychology.

•People involved in the Sports and Leisure Industry looking for an understanding of Sports Psychology...

Hide-Who should complete this course?

•Students who wish to receive an internationally recognised certificate at QQI level 6 in Sports Psychology.

•People involved in the Sports and Leisure Industry looking for an understanding of Sports Psychology and its applications in sporting environments.

•Coaches looking to complete a qualification to enhance their learning in the Sports Psychology field.

•Coaches looking to complete a qualification in the area of Sports and Sports performance.

• Interested Sports and Leisure participants.

Entry Requirements / Prerequisites:

•Leaving Cert or equivalent, and/or relevant life or work experience.

•As this programme is delivered through distance learning, students must be capable of studying on their own initiative.

•If you take this course by eLearning you will need basic IT skills and have access to broadband.

Expand+This newly validated QQI Level 6 Sports Psychology 6N4665 programme is designed to assist learners in understanding the psychological aspects of sport. It aims to equip learners with the skills and knowledge to understand and help change the behaviou...

Hide-This newly validated QQI Level 6 Sports Psychology 6N4665 programme is designed to assist learners in understanding the psychological aspects of sport. It aims to equip learners with the skills and knowledge to understand and help change the behaviours of athletes in order to improve performance.

Sports Psychology is continually growing in Ireland. This has been aided by the success of Irish sports teams and individuals who have employed the services of sport psychologists being well documented e.g. Tipperary hurlers and Dublin footballers winning their respective All Ireland Finals.

This programme will introduce you to the discipline of sports psychology. It will focus on the key topics of sports psychology, and how they are applied to aid performance in sport.

Programme Aims

•Understand the role of the sports psychologist

•Understand the relationship between sports psychology and performance

•Know how to design and deliver intervention strategies to improve sports performance (e.g. how to deal with anxiety)

•Evaluate different approaches to motivation in sport

•Understand the Influence of leaders and role models in sport.

The course is ideal for:

•Students who wish to receive a nationally recognised certificate at QQI level 6 in Sports Psychology.

•People involved in the Sports and Leisure Industry looking for an understanding of Sports Psychology and its applications in sporting environments.

•Coaches looking to complete a qualification to enhance their learning in the Sports Psychology field.

•Coaches looking to complete a qualification in the area of Sports and Sports performance.

•Athletes and Leisure participants.

This distance learning, QQI accredited course means that Students can study flexibly at home, or at any convenient place and time, and can gain an Internationally Recognised Qualification.

Students receive a comprehensive Course Manual, Assignments, Project Management Tools and Templates, Efficient Studyguide, and unlimited one-to-one Tutor Support for the course duration. The course documentation for this QQI certified course is detailed and easy to read.

Expand+Topics to be Covered

•The Development of Sports Psychology
•Sports Psychology and Performance
•Arousal, Stress and Anxiety
•Concept of Motivation in Sport
•Goal Setting
•Leadership and Coaching.

Topics covered include:

Unit 1: Introduc...

Hide-Topics to be Covered

•The Development of Sports Psychology
•Sports Psychology and Performance
•Arousal, Stress and Anxiety
•Concept of Motivation in Sport
•Goal Setting
•Leadership and Coaching.

Topics covered include:

Unit 1: Introduction to Sports Psychology. General Aims of the course

Learners who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

•Explain and understand the function of the Sports Psychologist.
•Explain how the role of Sports Psychology can effect change with an athlete.
•Demonstrate an understanding of motivation and how athletes are motivated.
•Name and understand strategies for using Sports Psychology to effect change in sports environments.
•Demonstrate understanding of Sports Psychology and how it can improve performance.
•Execute strategies to improve sporting performance.
•Demonstrate an ability to understand how different individuals can lead and motivate a group.
•Demonstrate knowledge of the different approaches required for different athletes.
•Demonstrate skill in understanding the different motivational needs for different athletes.
•Use knowledge of health and safety to ensure safety of athlete and sports psychologist during interactions and interventions.

Unit 2: Sports Psychology and emotional responses in Sporting Performance

Learners who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

•Demonstrate an understanding of motivation in Sports.
•Demonstrate and understanding of the positive and negative influences aggression can have on Sporting performance.
•Demonstrate an understanding of individual attitudes and needs in a sporting environment.
•Demonstrate understanding of the principles underlying individual perfomance such as trait theories, attribution theories and personality on Sporting performance.
•Demonstrate understanding of the theories of mental rehearsal, imagery and self-talk in improving sporting performance.
•Demonstrate understanding of the role of the Sports Psychologist in a team.
•Demonstrate understanding of the importance of good communication skills in relation to motivation of clients through Sports Psychology methods.
•Explain and understand the role of self-confidence and how to enhance self-confidence through Sports Psychology

Unit 3: Sports Psychology. Theories and application of theories with athletes in Sport

Learners who successfully complete this unit will be able to demonstrate:

•Understanding of the importance of Sports Psychology in a sporting environment.
•Understanding of the principles underlying Sport Psychology.
•Understanding of the practical benefits of these theories to a group or individual.
•Understanding of the possible negative effects of the Sports Psychologist and how to address these issues.
•Understanding of the importance of good communication skills in relation to motivation of clients through Sports Psychology methods.
•Skill in individual and group instruction for different client groups.
•Explain the importance of observing and reporting to the athletes changes in sporting behaviour.
•Demonstrate understanding of aims and goals of Sports Psychology and how to train and improve these through psychological skills training.
•Industry applications of Sports Psychology and career opportunities.
•The growing role of Sports Psychology in the future of Sport.

Unit 4: Coaching and Leadership in Sports Psychology and its effect on team and individuals Sporting

Learners who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

•Describe how communication affects leadership and performance.
•Explain the different models of leadership and their effects on performance.
•Demonstrate an understanding of individual atitudes on leadership.
•Demonstrate understanding of positive leadership and performance.
•Contract different leadership styles on performance.
•Understand what makes a leader in a sporting context.

Unit 5: The effects of Motivation on Sporting performance

Learners who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

•Demonstrate an understanding of positive and negative motivations.
• Demonstrate an understanding of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
•Explore the use of goal setting in sports and the effect of goal setting on motivation.
•Demonstrate understanding of individualistic motivation and the effect of individual characteristics have on motivation.
•Understand the motivation for general sports participation.
•Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the Sports Psychologist in controlling motivation.
•Demonstrate anunderstanding of the role of the Sports Psychologist in improving motivation.
•Demonstrate an understanding of the general theories of motivation in Sports.
•Demonstrate and ability to communicate these theories to a group of individual.

Unit 6: Emotion responses in Sporting Performance

Learners who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

•Demonstrate an understanding of different emotional responses in sport.
• Explain how anxiety, stress and arousal can affect sports performance.
•Explain how anxiety, stress and arousal can negatively affect sports performance
•Demonstrate understanding of pre performance routines and imagery.
•Understand the effect and measurement of stress indicators in sports performance.

Unit 7: Essential Goal Setting and its effect of Sporting Performance

Learners who successfully complete this module will be able to:

•Demonstrate an understanding of goal setting in sports performance.
•Demonstrate an understanding of long and short term goals.
• Explain the principals of goal setting.
•Demonstrate an understanding of performance and outcome goals.
• Understand the effect of poor performance goals.
•Understand how to measure performance and goals.
•Understand how to communicate goals and their importance to Sports performance.

Expand+Assignments x 2 – 60%
Examination 40%

Assignment (1) – Each learner will need to present a study of the theories being examined. These theories will then have to explain how they affect emotional responses and sporting performance.

• Is goal ...

Hide-Assignments x 2 – 60%
Examination 40%

Assignment (1) – Each learner will need to present a study of the theories being examined. These theories will then have to explain how they affect emotional responses and sporting performance.

• Is goal setting required for optimum sports performance. Explain the use of and positive effectives of goal setting in sport.

•Give a Comprehensive description of leadership. How does leadership affects sports training and performance for both teams and individuals.

•Role models and leaders improve sports performance.

Assignment (2) – Learners will need to present a study of the theories of Sports Psychology. These theories will then have to explain how they affect emotional responses and sporting performance.

•Detail a comprehensive overview of the main theories of Sports Psychology.

•Show a comprehensive understanding of these theories and how they can effect individuals and performance.

•Explain how motivation is affected by these theories.

•How can arousal, stress and anxiety affect sporting performance.

•Can too much aggression affect sports performance.

Examination: The internal assessor will devise a theory based examination that assesses candidates’ ability to recall, comprehend and apply the theory learned in the module by answering 11 short questions and 4 long answer questions.

The examination will be based on a range of specific learning outcomes from each of the units in the module. The examination will be 1.5 hours in duration.

As part of our quality assurance, student assessment work will be marked by an Internal Assessor, validated by a Verifier with an independent QQI External Authenticator to complete the process.