Sports Science (Level 5) Course

How is the course structured?

The Level 5 Diploma in Sports Science course is divided into sixteen comprehensive units:

Unit 1: Using information, communication and technology ICT in the study of Sports Science

Information, communication and technology (ICT) comprises core skills for learning. In this distance learning course utilisation of methods, tools and strategies of ICT is important in order to establish and maintain a sound working relationship with tutors and the college.

Students will need to develop ICT skills in order to communicate effectively and maximise their study progression.

The first unit explains how to set up an ePortfolio which students will use during the lifetime of the course for storage of all their files including coursework, self-assessment activities, independent research notes and reflective journals. The ePortfolio may be requested from time to time by tutors and moderators. Students will be asked at various points in the course to upload files for this purpose. The ePortfolio will not only provide students with a structured system of unique information but once completed can be used as a resource for continuing professional development (CPD), and a body of revision for future studies.

Unit 2: Essential anatomy and physiology part 1

Homeostasis can be described as a basic principle of biological order in which a constant condition of balance between opposing forces within the body can be maintained. The body’s internal environment is rigidly controlled and this state needs to remain as constant as possible within certain ranges. The process of homeostasis is controlled by sophisticated mechanisms which are sensitive to changes that affect the body’s internal environment, and they respond accordingly

The unit also examines the structure and functions of the musculoskeletal system, incorporating relevant discussion of homeostatic maintenance

Unit 3: Essential anatomy and physiology part 2

The central nervous system detects and responds to internal and external environmental changes in, and out on the body. Together with the endocrine system, the CNS works to maintain a stable internal environment (homeostasis).

This unit examines the structure and function of each of these organs and explains the processes by which energy transfer occurs f

The endocrine system consists of several unconnected glands. These glands contain groups of secretory cells which are surrounded by dense networks of capillaries, allowing the diffusion of the hormones they produce, into the bloodstream.

Unit 4: Essential anatomy and physiology part 3

The skin is the largest organ of the body. The skin protects underlying structures and organs from injury, and the invasion of foreign material and microbes. It contains the sensory nerve endings for touch, pain and temperature.

The unit ends by explaining the anatomy, physiology and homeostatic mechanism of the organs of special sense

Unit 5: Introduction to sports psychology

The first dedicated sports psychology facility was started in the early 20 th century (called the Griffith era after its founder Coleman Griffith, psychologist). This allowed detailed studies of sports performances, skills, and associated psychology to be conducted and analysed; the result was a working model for sport and exercise psychology.

The essence of psychology is to look at behaviour, and this can be contextualized within all areas of life and living. Therefore it makes sense to separate various elements of psychology which is why there are numerous branches: clinical, nutritional, child, behavioural etc. In addition you then get the allied psychological fields of counselling and coaching etc.

It is accepted that anything theoretical is wholly different when put into practice; sports psychology is no different in this respect. Anything that is based on scientific evidence tends to have even more theoretical components and this can make implementation quite difficult considering the uniqueness of individuals

Unit 6: Cognitive approaches in psychology

Cognition is the process of knowing, in other words, knowing something about an object, person or event in terms of structure, form or purpose. Cognition also can be described as the perception of the object, person or event. For example the recognition of another person by knowing certain characteristics about them from previous encounters and memories that are laid down.

They are obviously only suggestions, and are flexible according to individual requirements.

- The development of a stable working partnership between you and the individual and you must continually explain the underlying principles of treatment, thus expressing transparency
- Identification and assessment of the cognitive problem and associated behaviour patterns which will be a collaborative process
- To challenge irrational beliefs and thoughts in order to focus on objectives and positive outcomes
- Reframing suggestions.
- Allowing the individual to set the goals which should be transparent and achievable.
- Skills training if necessary.
- Homework tasks and the practice of new behaviours between sessions.
- Consistent and regular monitoring of progress and readjustment of goals if necessary.
- Regular follow ups to ensure continued reinforcement of new behaviour patterns.
This unit explores each of these concepts and relates them to sports psychology and behaviour

Unit 7: Competitiveness and cooperation

When we think about the term competition perhaps envisage a contest against ourselves, others or a group; and this would normally relate to some kind of activity where others would be completing the same task in order to provide a standard or benchmark against which to compare our own performance.

There are many ways to view the competitive process but the most holistic way is to view it as a social one, with many contributing factors underpinning it

Competitiveness and cooperation are complimentary characteristics and usually individuals will fall more into one ‘type’ or the other, In many sporting environments one or other may be established, for example in a school situation a non-competitive strategy may be adopted where everyone’s a winner, therefore this would be termed a cooperative environment.

As a sports psychologist these concepts will feature in assessing personality type and will have a bearing on how you design the programme. Sometimes, for example an individual who has been used to a cooperative environment might find it difficult to perform in a competitive one and may need appropriate assistance in order to develop competitive skills.

Unit 8: Communication

Communication is a cyclical process which relies on interaction and responses creating a flow or exchange of information between individuals or groups. There will be assumed accepted behaviours and boundaries which facilitate this flow, and depth or richness of the communication depends on each individual’s characteristics, personality type and the social and environmental settings that the ‘conversation or communication’ takes place in. If it is a group scenario, the facilitator will be key in how the discourse progresses and therefore perceived attitude and approach are crucial to success.

The cyclical process depends on how we interpret what messages are received and conveyed; therefore this depends on various senses such as hearing, sight, speech, touch and understanding or cognition.

It may be necessary in a professional role as a sports psychologist or trainer, to undertake special training for skills that enable communication with specific groups, for example whose first language is not English, or perhaps team members who have physical impairment such a hearing impairment. The unit will explore some of these isseus and present strategies for resolution

The unit ends with exploration of group communication

Unit 9: Performance dynamics

In this unit we look at improving performance through skills training, arousal regulation and imagery. There will also be discussion about self-confidence and how to address issues within this context, especially building self-confidence in order to improve training etc.

The unit will explore the concepts of goal setting and bring into these issues of cognitive behaviour – in other words how we can change behaviour in order to promote performance enhancement.

Unit 10: Improving performance

Psychological skills training (PST) is a system by which the following are components:

- Practice of psychological skills to enhance performance
- Increased personal satisfaction and enjoyment
- Promoting greater physical activity and achievement
These skills are acquired through behaviour modification, cognitive therapy, goal setting, relaxation and desensitization, in addition to all the other skills and concepts we have spoken about to date. PST may be related to one skill in particular or a whole raft of them, depending on the issue or problem defined.

In order to identify an athlete’s needs you will have to assess these through a skills audit which will take into account their own and others’ opinions and observations.

Unit 11: Introduction to sports nutrition

All living organisms, including humans, need food and water, for the following reasons:
- To stay alive and to carry out the key activities of ingestion, digestion, absorption, respiration, movement and co-ordination, circulation, excretion and reproduction.
- To control and regulate our metabolic processes.
- To build up our resistance to, and fight, illness and disease.
- To enable growth, repair and maintenance of our muscles, bones, organs and tissues.

Good nutrition can also protect our bodies against common health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. It provides us with sufficient amounts of the right type of fuel and fluid to enable us, not only to go about our daily lives, but to also take part in regular physical activity. It can also improve our levels of concentration and even our mood!

Without adequate nutrition, we may feel tired and lethargic, short of breath, out of sorts or depressed, our gums may bleed, and our bones may become brittle. So, we can see that a good daily diet is essential. But good nutrition can mean different things to different people. There are those that wish to maintain a healthy weight, those that wish to lose weight, and those that wish to gain weight, and in doing so adopt different types of diet.

This unit explores all the above and looks briefly at the psychology of eating as well as gustatory coding.

Unit 12: Dietary nutrients

The nutrients in our food provide energy, promote growth and development and regulate our bodily functions. A variety of these nutrients are needed to keep fit and healthy particularly if you are generally active. Our body depends on these nutrients, as it is unable to produce sufficient amounts on its own.

There are six major groups of nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils (otherwise known as lipids), vitamins, minerals and water.

They all work together in our bodies to provide good nutrition to enable us to achieve optimal health, with each nutrient performing a specific function. If just one of these nutrients is missing from our diet, then, our bodies are at a disadvantage.

The unit presents explanation of the structure of major food groups and nutrient molecules as well as discussing how nutrient balance contributes to homeostatic maintenance.

Unit 13: Energy expenditure during training

Physical activity contributes 20-30% to our body’s total energy expenditure. The example below shows the amount of energy a person weighing 60kg would use in 30 minutes depending on their chosen activity.

Active people naturally have higher energy needs so the more active you are, the more energy you burn off and as muscles burn more energy than fat, by using and developing them you will burn more energy when using the muscles and when they are resting

The final thing to look at is the way your body manages the food it receives. The increase in the energy needed to digest food is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF) and is easy to work out. Alternatively, we can use the Harris Benedict Equation, which is a formula that uses your BMR and then applies an energy factor to determine the number of calories you need to eat in order to maintain your weight.

The unit looks at the nutritional requirements of athletes and what happens if deficiencies occur such as dehydration. It also looks at nutritional strategies for optimum energy usage

Unit 14: Nutrition for different sports

Extracts from some of the sports activities covered in this unit

A lot of runners find that the typical western diet does not provide enough energy for their sport, particularly marathon running. If you train daily and twice daily, then you need to restore muscle glycogen levels quickly.

Swimmers, who undertake heavy training sessions and fail to consume sufficient quantities of iron, may suffer from an iron imbalance. Those particularly at risk are female swimmers on weight loss diets. Your iron levels should be checked regularly whilst you are training heavily and you need to consume an abundance of iron-rich foods.

Swimmers who do not consume sufficient carbohydrate will not be able to recover fully between training sessions and this will result in fatigue, loss of body weight and poor performance

In general, cyclists tend to be muscular and lean with low body fat levels. It is worth pointing out that some cyclists consume large amounts of foods when they are in heavy training, but fail to cut back when they are doing less training, which will increase their weight. Whilst carbohydrate intake is important, many recreational cyclists overestimate their carbohydrate needs and consume too many sports drinks, bars, gels and powders.

Unit 15: Sports coaching

Throughout this unit it will become evident as you progress through this unit that the role of the sports coach is almost indefinable, and can be flexible depending on the requirements of clients and other allied sports professionals. There may be occasions where the sports coach is required to be simply a trainer and there will be others where the total wellbeing of an athlete will be their responsibility; for example within professional sports clubs.

Coaching can be described as a method and technique which can be used for guiding an individual to new or different knowledge or behaviour with in defined time frames or boundaries. In this unit we will be looking at generic contexts of coaching but at the same time integrating sports coaching into the discussion.

Unit 16: Levels of coaching

Primary level: Cognitive and constructivists approaches (which this material conveys) involve the recognition of maladaptive behaviour patterns and the consequential behaviour, also keeping the programme client-centred; the coaching programme on the initial level aims at replacing these thought and behaviour patterns with more acceptable or realistic ones.

Secondary level: This level explores deeper issues of motivation, personal beliefs and drivers of behaviour. It attempts to uncover contributing factors from the client’s subconscious that influence their expectations, behaviour and outcomes

Group level: Coaching within a group setting is a powerful and dynamic process. Whether the clients are part of a team, or part of a group which meets regularly to work on a particular project, performance, individual skills and team dynamics can be radically improved through using coaching programmes, for example listening and questioning skills and leadership abilities.

In addition coaching can help leaders to successfully disseminate top down, and also integrate with other team members so that there is equity and parity.