BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching Science

This module will enable you to develop awareness and understanding of the key fundamentals sports coaching, integrating theory with practice and sharing knowledge and understanding through discussion and debate. The practical element of coaching will allow you to gain experience in and an understanding of the cognitive process of coaching. You will learn what a coach needs in order to function effectively and safely in a variety of situations, developing reflective skills and identifying which theories are most applicable when working in a specific coaching context. You will learn how to reflect on and evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses and develop a plan to improve both your technical and behavioural skills relevant to a career in the sports coaching industry.

As a sports coaching practitioner, you will utilise numerous approaches to enhance performance. This module will provide you with the foundation of knowledge to apply scientific coaching principles to effectively support teams and individuals. The module will examine the role of sports science within coaching. As well as the theoretical underpinning, you will gain an understanding of applied practical methods to support teams and individuals effectively. The module will equip you with the confidence to create solutions to the challenges encountered in a real world environment.

In order for you to achieve your university and future workplace goals, you need to be aware of a number of personal qualities and behaviours that can impact your ability to succeed. It is also important that you understand the industry and societal context in which you plan to work. This module aims to introduce you to personal and professional factors relevant to employment in the sport industry, and to enhance your awareness of the industrial landscape. Additionally, it will support you in developing some essential academic skills for higher education (such as academic writing and referencing). The module will introduce you to a wide range of perspectives, philosophies, and principles of critical and ethical thinking which will equip you with the competencies and confidence to achieve your academic and employability goals.

This module will develop your core understanding of sport in community projects and education settings. You will explore the role of community-based youth sport initiatives and how these are conducted in schools. Coaching theory will be applied to age and ability-related practical sessions and you will learn how to support and engage community groups via sport and education. You will also develop a clear understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses, through reflection, specifically in relation to working with diverse demographic groups.

This module introduces you to the fundamental psychological concepts involved in a variety of performance psychology including; sport, exercise, and performing arts. The module will give you preliminary understanding of the conceptual and methodological approaches underpinned by appropriate theoretical knowledge. You will be introduced to the key topics which will enable you to understand the historical context of performance psychology along with important behavioural, emotional and cognitive processes.

You will critique the literature and evidence behind the scouting process and the predictors of talent used across a range of sports. You will evaluate talent identification processes that exist across a variety of different sports and within other countries. Through application of key theories and critical analysis of processes in place within industry, you will review the role of the coach in talent development processes in a chosen sporting field. Furthermore, you will examine the support mechanisms which aid the development of sporting ability and skills needed to help support towards the fulfilment of a young athlete`s potential.

The primary focus of this module is on how to coach strength and conditioning activities within sporting environments. You will be introduced to scientific knowledge so that you can evaluate the specific requirements of an athlete or team, and apply relevant strategies for improving performance. You will also study athlete development and injury prevention. The practical element of this course will give you the opportunity to deliver relevant strength and conditioning training sessions safely and effectively, including the use of recognised fitness testing protocols.

Following on from your previous training regarding personal qualities and behaviours that can impact your ability to succeed, this module focuses on developing your practical skills relevant to a workplace environment. This module will ask you to apply your knowledge and personal skillset to problem-based learning scenarios, and live projects. You will learn project management skills, develop your personal pragmatism, and enhance your industry-based interests and understanding. You will work both as part of a team and independently, developing essential aspects of your emotional, social, and professional self.

As a practitioner in your discipline you will be required to engage in evidence-based practice. This module supports your ability to become an evidence-based practitioner by providing you with an introduction to the processes involved in conducting research within your discipline and equipping you with the skills and knowledge to be able to critically analyse the work of others. This module will build on skills and knowledge which you will have acquired throughout your course so far, and has been designed to prepare you for conducting your own independent project as part of the Professional Project module at Level 6. Specifically, this module will enable you to gain an applied understanding of the research process. This will involve identifying a contemporary industry-relevant issue; developing project aims and objectives; understanding reflexivity and the role you play in the design and execution of a project; understanding methodologies and different methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation; and appreciating the importance of ethical practice. The delivery of this module will be facilitated by your engagement in a research project to investigate contemporary industry-relevant issues.

This module will give you critical insight into how coaching, psychology, physiology, and strength and conditioning impact on performance at the highest level. The module will follow an interdisciplinary approach to high performance coaching across a range of sports, allowing for the application of theory to practice. You will synthesise theory and evidence-based practice to evaluate appropriate training programmes and critically analyse existing approaches to high performance coaching. You will critically analyse (through observation and delivery) current practices in order to develop the skills and knowledge to aid the development of high performance athletes. Furthermore, you will explore the key issues that surround the high performance sports coaching environment.

As a coaching practitioner you will be expected to have a broad knowledge of a number of relevant aspects of performance. These include biomechanics, physiology and psychology. This module will build on these elements with a specific focus on how they can be applied in real-world settings. You will develop specific knowledge of how the body functions and how this impacts on performance in different sports. This knowledge will then be used to develop hands-on experience of applying relevant theories and concepts in applied settings and environments.

This module provides you with the opportunity to synthesise the knowledge and skills you will have developed during the course of your studies and independently design, develop and execute an individual professional project. This project aims to investigate an original contemporary industry-relevant issue and will be a platform through which you will demonstrate the knowledge, skills, understanding and expertise you have developed in your discipline thus far. It is expected that your project output will contribute to industry practice and/or academic and practitioner knowledge. To achieve this, you will investigate an original contemporary industry-relevant issue and make judgments on the basis of sound evidence and therefore, the project will be research- and inquiry-based. The project will be directly relevant to your course and will be produced and disseminated in the format best suited to the project aims and to developing a career of your choice. The project will build on the L5 Research Methods assessment and you will be working closely with a project supervisor who will provide guidance and support throughout your project.

Following on from your previous training regarding personal qualities and behaviours that can impact your ability to succeed, this module focuses on practical application of that knowledge during a workplace visit. Until now, your modules have provided learning opportunities about the industry and societal context in which you plan to work. This module aims to introduce you to a workplace environment. Doing so will allow you to enhance your awareness of the industrial landscape through experience. This module creates a space for you to apply competencies developed in your modules to date to a real-life setting, leading to experiential and reflective learning.

This module will provide you with the opportunity to identify the skills, competencies and experience required for successful development to embarking on their university degree and successfully completing it and progressing on to a range of potential future career areas. Central to the developmental process is for you to cultivate the reflective skills, openness and self- awareness to enable you to assess what you are doing, identify areas for improvement, and confidently receive and give constructive feedback.

This module will provide you with the opportunity to identify the skills, competencies and experience required for employment. This will support you in your ‘transition’ from school, college or the work place towards degree level study. You will begin to recognise the areas for your own personal professional development (including emotional, social, physical, cultural and cognitive intelligences) through taught and workshop activities. This will allow you identify attributes that are important to develop that are important for your career in the sports professional related to your programme.

The module will introduce you to the research processes when undertaking a project within your field of study. You will explore the important ethical considerations when planning and conducting a research project safely to analyse a problem or question specific to your subject area. This will require you to utilise and apply key research skills alongside selecting appropriate methods to collect data and report significant findings regarding your research question.

This module introduces you to many of the challenging and complex contemporary issues faced in the rapidlychanging and demanding, world of sport. It will allow you to build and consolidate knowledge, through understanding of key issues within the broad arena of sport in a discursive manner that will underpin your future work. You will be encouraged to research events, themes and issues that have affected the world of sport and, in some cases, changed the structure and behaviour of the sports industry.

To be an effective sports coach requires you to exercise a wide range of holistic roles and responsibilities within the field of coaching. This module will introduce a foundation of knowledge to explore how coaches utilise significant roles and responsibilities within different contexts. The module will provide you with an opportunity to engage using sports coaching models and theories towards developing your leadership/coaching styles, philosophies and coaching methods to establish an understanding of the coaching principles for your journey within the coaching sector.

This module will introduce the student to the fundamental principles of sports coaching and enables development of skills necessary to plan, deliver and review, to ensure the successful delivery of a sports coaching session. The module will provide knowledge and understanding of the development and evaluation of sports performance through the use of coaching and underpinning sports coaching principles.