BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching (HKU SPACE, Hong Kong)

You will develop your own ability to support the development of athlete potential in a performance focused sport coaching context. You will develop as independent learners, and as coaches. The module features and develops many transferable skills within the developmental processes of performance athletes. These include: reflective practice and learning, performance athlete transitions, decision making, performance moderators, functional training, field based movement assessment and performance analysis. Your role on this module will be to support your athletes as performance focused sport coaches as well as continuing to develop yourself as a coach. You will improve your self-awareness and self-understanding of the personal and professional development needs of both the performance athlete and the coach. You will learn about evaluation and self-reflection in the professional context of performance focused sports coaching. You will get the chance to use performance analysis and reflection tools which will support you with action planning for the future within your coaching role.

This module builds upon knowledge introduced at Level 4 (i.e., SD0409) and Level 5 (i.e., SD0507). You will be given the opportunity to to critically apply the principles of coaching science to aid in the performance improvement of athletes in the coaching process. You will study the adaptations and limitations to physical performance, psychological techniques to regulate behavior and biomechanical principles of movement. By the end of a successful module you will be capable of critically analysing current training techniques and be able to plan a periodised training programme accounting for all facets of performance.

Coaching Skills and Practice’ (SP5010) builds upon concepts introduced in SP0400 - practice skills, practice behaviours - to consider why these are important to the coaching process and how these practices and behaviours can be used to create progressive and transferable outcomes in a series of coaching sessions. This module aims to introduce the concepts of how to create an engaging and positive motivational climate (e.g. self-determination, achievement goals) which influences athletes’ behaviours, engagement, and well-being in sport. Furthermore, you will also develop awareness of how a theoretical understanding of motor skills acquisition can be applied to the coaching process (e.g. cogntive and dynamical systems approaches).

Sport Research in Practice moves you further on in your research enquiry by supporting you to generate a research question, and to learn how to collect and analyse data to answer this.

In order to do this you will be introduced to key concepts, perspectives and activities in social research relevant to your study of sport. You will develop knowledge and understanding about:
- research questions and rationales
- belief systems about what we can know and how we can know it (Ontology and Epistemology),
- how we can go about finding out? (Methodology),
- collecting or generating data (Methods) and;
- analysing and interpreting findings (Analysis).

You will learn how to bring all these elements together by working ethically through a research process and engaging in practical research design using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The module focuses on practical interviewing and questionnaires experience, as well as ethically appropriate data collection and analysis. Ultimately, the module prepares you to cover all requirements of a research dissertation in level 6, in terms of theoretical understanding and practical use of research tools and subsequent analysis.

This module is designed for students to critically analyse the skills required to coach and nurture athletic talent at a high performance level. The module will further explore and critique contemporary long term athlete models, talent Identification and development pathways and their impact on performance, long term participation and well being. Students will have the opportunity to generate, direct and manage the implementation of cutting-edge research informed coaching solutions and practice. The module will also critically examine what is meant by the terms talent and high performance coaching, identify the skills and competencies needed to coach in a high performance setting , investigate the problems a high performance coach may encounter and provide potential solutions to maximise effective coaching practice.

Coaching Concepts and Behaviour builds upon knowledge introduced at Level 4 (i.e., SP0400) and Level 5 (i.e., SP0500) including key coaching skills (e.g., planning, risk assessment), coaching practice behaviours (e.g., questioning, instruction) and athlete outcomes (e.g., wellbeing, skill learning). You will learn to critically appreciate how these skills, practices and outcomes are influenced by the interrelationship of personal, social and contextual factors within the holistic coaching process. In addition, you will learn how to plan, deliver and critically review coaching practice using a range of assessment tools in line with current research findings and UKCC Level 2/3 coaching award criteria.

This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to undertake a tailored programme of professional development activities relevant to your own sport-related career interests and needs. In addition you will develop your knowledge and understanding of the value of professional development activities in enhancing employability within the sport industry. As part of the module you will also be encouraged to develop your critical reflection skills both in reflecting upon your own professional development and your awareness of the wider sport industry. Module content will be based around understanding the meaning of employability within the sport context, exploring professional development and work-based learning, and developing employability based skills such as action planning, reflection and interview skills to enhance your work readiness.

On this module you will learn about and will conduct an applied research project. You will develop in-depth knowledge of a specific area in sport (within the remit of your degree programme) in relation to a research problem of contemporary relevance to the industry or profession. You will do this by conducting and writing up a research project, through independent study, under the supervision of a tutor. As such, you will use the knowledge and skills previously developed in level 5, Sport Research and Practice and multiple-knowledge based modules, to engage in the research process. You will define a research question, critically review previous literature, design and implement an empirical study, after ethical approval. You will learn to design a project that is well planned, coherent, logical and ethical. After this you will learn how to disseminate research in written and poster format. You will learn how to apply the knowledge you create to make practice recommendations.