BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching and Psychology

This programme allows you to develop a strong theoretical knowledge base and extensive practical and interpersonal skills. The programme comprises four key strands. Sports Coaching Practice strand This enables you to apply theory to a variety of practical coaching situations. You are introduced to generic coaching principles and have the opportunity to demonstrate these in your own areas of interest. We believe coach education and development are important elements of improving sports performance at all levels. Therefore, we aim to enable you to understand the importance of communication from coach to athlete, and examine coaching from learning, teaching and analysis perspectives. You are also involved in coaching consultancy work in the local sporting community to enhance your employment prospects and deepen your understanding of sports coaching in practice. There are opportunities to gain coaching qualifications in tandem with these modules. Sport and Exercise Psychology strand The aim of the psychological strand is to enable you to make an informed assessment of those psychological factors that are thought to influence an individual’s involvement and performance in sport and exercise. You examine ways in which psychological constructs influence sporting and exercise involvement and behaviour. Sports Coaching Science strand This strand is based around the application of aspects of sports science to the world of sports coaching – where this knowledge requires a unique style of interpretation and communication. Certain aspects of applied sports biomechanics (the analysis of movement), physiology (principles of training) and psychology (where the roles of sports psychologists and coaches ‘collide’) are covered to provide you with a science toolkit for sports coaching. Research Methods strand This strand seeks to develop a familiarity with both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and apply these to various sporting and exercise contexts. The acquisition of such skills not only underpins learning from coursework in other strands, but is also a prerequisite for completing the dissertation. The dissertation itself is designed to provide an opportunity to study an area that you are most interested in. You are supervised throughout this process but are expected to take increasing responsibility for the development of this piece of work.