Understanding Sport and Exercise Psychology

Overview

Due to the competitive nature of sport, the role of psychology in supporting athletes’ mental skills has become increasingly relevant, with many sporting systems throughout the world employing sport and exercise psychologists. This module provides an in-depth description and critical evaluation of psychological theories and contemporary issues in sport and exercise psychology. Students are shown how to link theory to practice and get the opportunity to develop practical skills by using a variety of psychological assessment methods and techniques. This module has relevance to students who plan to pursue careers in sport and exercise psychology, health promotion as well as those looking to enhance their own personal sporting performance.
The following themes will be included:
An overview of the historical background of sport and exercise psychology.
An introduction to anxiety and stress in sport, motivation, cognitive processes in sport, the social psychology of sport, motor skills, expertise, and mental health and wellbeing.
Students will be introduced to applied psychological techniques typically used to enhance performance in sport settings, such as goal setting, self-talk, mental imagery, and relaxation. Students will also be made aware of how these psychological skills can be incorporated into potential stressful situations like job interviews and delivering oral presentations.
The exercise psychology content will explore the applications of motivational and dual-mode theories to understand exercise uptake and adherence for improvements to physical and mental health.
This module’s content maps onto the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing; in particular, goal 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being

Learning Objectives

On completion of the module students should be able to:
1. Identify the benefits of sport and exercise psychology to enhance performance and well-being
2. Describe and critically evaluate theories in sport and exercise psychology
3. Critically examine the use of assessment tools in sport and exercise psychology
4. Translate theory and research into practice

Skills

Activities in lectures and seminars will include reviewing case studies, question posing, article reviews, discussions and reflections. Practical activities during seminars will be included to allow students to acquire practical skills used by sport and exercise psychologists, thus aiming to meet the learning needs of a diverse population of students. This will promote a deeper level of learning through further reflection, discussion and critical evaluation of issues covered in the lectures whilst further developing the students interpersonal, communication, employability, practical and dissemination skills. The module content also encourages an independent approach to learning.

Assessment

None