Exercise and Sport Psychology is designed to help you build your knowledge of those principles of exercise and sport psychology that you need to know when designing exercise programs or when advising athletes and recreational exercisers. During this course you will gain an understanding of how to relate, motivate, and apply the essential principles of sport psychology to an array of clientele in a variety of exercise and sport situations.

This interactive online course will provide the following benefits:

• An understanding of how personality, self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and other psychological characteristics relate to participation and performance in sports and physical activities
  
• The knowledge to examine costs and benefits of exercise participation and participation requirements for attaining different outcomes
  
• An understanding of motivational bases for sport and exercise participation as well as barriers to participation and special motivational issues in competitive sports
  
• Methods to enhance performance and participation in athletes and recreational exercisers by exploring the core issues and related intervention strategies
  
• An appreciation of the relevance of cognitive styles, attention, and concentration in sports and exercise and practical strategies for assisting people with issues related to these topics

The course is supplemented by the accompanying 60-page student text, Exercise and Sport Psychology. This resource should help you understand the objectives in the course and lead you through the discussions.

Throughout the course, Gail, your virtual mentor, will give you background information, introduce you to a group of virtual clients, and provide you with a variety of learning activities. Before beginning this course, you should already have a basic knowledge that includes

• an understanding of motivations, attitudes, and outcomes related to sport and exercise participation,
  
• principles of effective fitness program development, and
  
• practical experience through participation in sports and fitness activities.

The following are brief descriptions of each unit that you will be participating in throughout this course.

Unit 1: Understanding the Individual
In the first unit, Gail will discuss what personality is and how it may be affected by situational variables. You will learn to recognize the implications of self-concept and personal identity for participation and performance in sports and recreational exercise. And finally, you will discuss the differences among concepts of self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-efficacy, and you’ll appreciate their relevance to sport and exercise participation. Gail introduces you to a group of virtual clients. These clients will help you to understand the concepts and principles of exercise psychology.

Unit 2: Motivation in Sport and Exercise
This unit identifies common motivations and barriers to exercise participation, and it associates patterns of exercise behavior with stages of the transtheoretical model. You should begin to understand the special motivational bases and concerns of athletes and also appreciate the relevance of and distinctions between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in sport and exercise behaviors.

Unit 3: Attention, Concentration, and Cognitive Styles
Unit 3 focuses on appreciating the significance of attention in sports and exercise and the ability to identify relevant components. Discussion includes the identification of cognitive style differences, especially as found in associative and dissociative strategies. You will also learn about psychological skills training (PST) and how to apply it to issues of attention and concentration in exercise and sports.

Unit 4: Psychosocial Benefits of Sport and Exercise
This unit will help you understand the major psychosocial benefits of sport and exercise participation, including physical, psychological, cognitive, and social effects as well as the requisite levels of participation for obtaining benefits. You will identify potential negative effects of sport and exercise participation, including overtraining, burnout, and addiction.

Unit 5: Psychological Interventions
Unit 5 discusses the strategies for managing arousal and anxiety in athletic performance. You will learn values and principles of goal setting as applied to physical activity participation and performance. You’ll appreciate what imagery training is and how it can be applied in sport and exercise settings.

Unit 6: Group Dynamics and Leadership
The final session of the course works with recognizing critical elements of group dynamics in teams, work groups, sports, and exercise settings. You will learn to identify leadership behaviors in relation to coaching, team behaviors, health and fitness center management, and group fitness classes.

Course Test
Now that you’ve learned to apply psychological concepts to sports and exercise and you’ve worked with the design of programs and in discussions with athletes and recreational exercisers, there will be a timed final exam on these concepts.