Introduction to Sport Psychology

Sport psychology involves the study of the psychological factors associated with participation and performance in sport. Introduction to Sport Psychology provides a fundamental understanding of how the various aspects of psychology can be applied to sport participation. Assessment of personality types will be discussed relating to sport participation. This will be expanded to discuss motivation and leadership contribution to sport participation as well as the relationship between anxiety and arousal with respect to enhancing sporting performance. Psychological skills training will then be demonstrated, including goal setting, team dynamics, imagery, positive self-in relation to achieving peak sporting performance. Introduction to Sport Psychology provides a greater understanding of the psychological processes of individual athletes and team dynamics to enhance sporting performance.

Key Outcomes

Demonstrate an ability to collect and interpret sport psychology data
Ability to incorporate sport psychology in an athlete development program
Critically evaluate current sport psychology research and present this in a meaningful way to coaches

Topics

Background to sport psychology
Background to Psychological Skills Training
Personality and skill acquisition in sport
Motivation
Exercise behaviour and adherence
Stress and anxiety in sport
Arousal regulation in sport
Self-confidence and sporting performance
Imagery and concentration in sport
Social skills and team dynamics
Team and individual leadership
Coaching communication

Resources

Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (Eds.). (2007). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology (4th ed.). Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics.
Morris, J., & Summers, J. (Eds.). (2004). Sport psychology: Theory, applications and issues (2nd ed.). Brisbane: John Wiley and Sons.
Williams, J.M. (Ed.). (2006). Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak experience(5th ed.). Sydney: McGraw-Hill.
Burton, L. J. (2007). An interactive approach to writing essays and research reports in psychology (2nd ed.). Milton, Qld, Australia: John Wiley & Sons.
Morris, T, Spittle, M & Watt (2005) Imagery In sport. Sydney. Human Kinetics.

Assignments

Examination of course material
Research report that presents the results of a sport psychology experiment conducted during the course.

Coordinator

Keane Wheeler