Overview

The course is delivered by a Talent Development scientist that works with leading sports organisations (e.g., UK Sport, The England and Wales Cricket Board). Broadly speaking, the module will introduce students to an often overlooked body of literature within the performance domain. That is, students will gain first-hand experience of how motor control and learning can be applied to the high performance domain to ensure effective sports strategies and movement efficiency are achieved during the performance arena. In addition, literature surrounding skill acquisition will be proposed that will directly aid understanding of how one can effectively manipulate the practice and performance environments such that learning and expertise attainment is accelerated.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Threshold (C to C-)•reasonable grasp of research principles in effective coaching and an understanding in applying theoretically driven interventions for different performers in different situations.C+: Some sound understanding of most of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes some fairly sound explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be good in places. The proposed intervention will be based upon a somewhat sound and clear theoretical rationale with perhaps an inconsistency. Supporting evidence will be made fairly clear. The description of the intervention will be clear in places and less clear in others; some detail will be missing. The writing style will be fairly clear, with some imprecision and some errors. C: Some sound understanding of many of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes some fairly sound explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories with some inconsistency and/or errors. The referencing of this research will be fairly good in places. The proposed intervention will be based upon a somewhat sound and clear theoretical rationale with perhaps some inconsistency and/or errors. Supporting evidence will be made fairly clear with some redundancy or imprecision. The description of the intervention will be clear in places and less clear in others; some detail will be missing and the rationale may be tenuous in places. The writing style will be fairly clear, with some imprecision and some errors. C-: Some reasonably sound understanding of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes some reasonably sound explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories with some inconsistency and/or some errors. The referencing of this research will be fairly good in places with perhaps some reliance on a secondary source. The proposed intervention will be based upon a somewhat sound and clear theoretical rationale with some inconsistency and/or errors. Supporting evidence will be made fairly clear with some redundancy or imprecision. The description of the intervention will be clear in places and less clear in others; some detail will be missing and the rationale will be somewhat be tenuous in places. The writing style will be fairly clear, with some imprecision and errors. -good -Good (B- to B+)•good knowledge and understanding of research principles in effective coaching, showing good capacity to address and formulate applied interventions.B+: Sound understanding of most of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes some detailed explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be good and draw on primary sources for the most part. The proposed intervention will be based upon a fairly sound and clear theoretical rationale, with supporting evidence where possible. The description of the intervention will be fairly clear albeit lacking in some detail. The writing style will be fairly clear and precise, with a few errors. B: Fairly sound understanding of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes fairly sound explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be fairly good and draw on many primary sources. The proposed intervention will be based upon a largely sound and clear theoretical rationale, with some supporting evidence. The description of the intervention will be reasonably clear for the most part. The writing style will be fairly clear and precise, with some errors and imprecision. B-: Some sound understanding of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes some sound explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be largely appropriate and draw on some primary sources. The proposed intervention will be based upon a fairly clear theoretical rationale, with some supporting evidence. The description of the intervention will be clear in some places and somewhat unclear in others. The writing style will be reasonably clear, with some errors, imprecision, and verbosity. -excellent -Excellent (A- to A)•deep knowledge and understanding of research in effective coaching and has an excellent capacity to address and formulate suitable theoretically driven interventions.A: Very in-depth understanding of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes a detailed explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be extensive and exclusively from primary sources. The proposed intervention will be based upon a very sound and very clear theoretical rationale, with supporting evidence where possible. The description of the intervention will be very detailed and very clear. The writing style will be clear and precise, with hardly any errors. A+: In-depth understanding of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes a detailed explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be extensive and largely from primary sources. The proposed intervention will be based upon a sound and clear theoretical rationale, with supporting evidence where possible. The description of the intervention will be detailed and clear. The writing style will be clear and precise, with very few errors. A: In-depth understanding of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes a detailed explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be fairly extensive and largely from primary sources. The proposed intervention will be based upon a largely sound and clear theoretical rationale, with supporting evidence where possible. The description of the intervention will be detailed and mostly clear. The writing style will be clear and precise, with very few errors. A-: Reasonably in-depth understanding of the theories used to explain the scenario. The demonstration of this understanding includes a fairly detailed explanation and critical analysis of the research that has supported (or otherwise) these theories. The referencing of this research will be fairly extensive and largely from primary sources. The proposed intervention will be based upon a largely sound and clear theoretical rationale, with supporting evidence where possible. The description of the intervention will be fairly detailed and mostly clear. The writing style will be fairly clear and precise, with only a few errors.

Learning Outcomes

• Critically review the research literature within the defined area

• Explain and critically evaluate principles of best practice

• Recognise, through the findings of empirical research, the principles of best practice and potential threats to effective coaching

• Recommend appropriate applied implications based on theoretical rationale; from both a sports strategy and skill acquisition approach