Sports psychology is an interdisciplinary science that focuses on the relationship between human psychology and athletic performance, taking insight from subjects such as biology, physiology and kinesiology. Sports psychologists usually work with athletes, coaches and referees from amateurs to those at an elite level.
Learn with sports psychology experts and leading organisations with one of our highly-rated sports psychology courses designed to give your career a boost.
List of The Best Sports Psychology Online Courses
1. Fully Accredited Professional Sports Psychology Diploma
The course is aimed at those that are already qualified in Psychotherapy & Hypnotherapy and wish to add Sports Psychology to their existing skills or those that wish to improve their own sports performance.
This powerful diploma course on Sports Psychology is an area of psychology that has become increasingly popular in recent years. A sports psychologist plays a vital role in helping sports enthusiasts – from beginners through to professional level to cope with the many stresses or pressures that goes hand in hand with their competitive lifestyles. A sports psychologist helps their clients to overcome stress, anxiety, self-doubts and improves motivation. This can make a significant improvement in training, mindset and their ability to win.
Course Highlights:
- Understand What Sport Psychology Is
- Know About Self Talk In Sport Psychology
- Understand Stress In Sport
- Learn About Sport & Fear & Understand Reflections Within This
- Have Powerful Hypnosis Tracks to Improve Sports Performance, Have Superstar Psychology & Achieve Your Goals
- Understand The Process of Hypnosis in Sports Psychology
Course Duration: 1.5 hours
2. Sports Psychology Online College Course
These are all topics that fall under the realm of sport psychology. One of the roles of a sport psychologist is to work with athletes to try to teach them how to hone their mental skills to improve their performance. To do this, sport psychologists use various methods—they have a “mental toolbox” if you will.
This online course covers sport psychological skills and the methods or techniques that are used to develop these skills. To this end, it examines psychological theories and research related to sport (and, to a lesser degree, exercise) behavior. The online course is designed to introduce you to the field of sport and exercise psychology by providing a broad overview of the major topics in the area.
Course Highlights:
- Increase your understanding of how psychological factors influence involvement and performance in sport (and exercise and physical activity).
- Increase your understanding of how participation in sport (and exercise and physical activity) influences the psychological makeup of the individuals involved.
- Acquire skills and knowledge about sport (and exercise) psychology that you can apply as an athlete, coach, teacher, athletic trainer or exercise leader.
Course Duration: 3 to 9 months
3. Sports Psychology Certificate of Credit
Currently the only UK Certificate of Credit in Sports Psychology that offers university credits, this 20 credit module provides an introduction into sports psychology and covers key topics including confidence, self-doubt, anxiety, attention and mental skills training. It will also address group processes associated with team performance such as leadership, communication, group dynamics and cohesion. Throughout this module you’ll learn from real life sporting examples of elite athletes on each of these key areas.
For many people interested in playing, watching or contributing to today’s increasingly competitive sports society, sports are a way to keep fit, compete or even earn a pretty decent salary if you play professionally. Sport professionals and athletes strive for greatness, success and the satisfaction of winning, pushing through boundaries and limits to become the best. At times, sporting individuals may encounter psychological issues that prevent them from performing or playing to their full potential, whether this is in the form of pressure, anxiety or even a sporting injury.
Course Highlights:
- Introduce some of the key mental skills that are used by sport psychology practitioners
- Get a greater understanding of the role that sport psychology has in overall sporting performance that may influence the way you currently play or coach
- Greater understanding of the key factors associated with sporting performance, looking at the role these play on individual performance
- The module will look at the performance of groups and teams and how effective teams are formed and perform.
Course Duration: 10 weeks
4. Sports Psychology- Athlete 365
When you look back on moments during which you’ve performed at your best, you might describe your state of mind as being ‘in the zone’. It’s in this zone that performing will have felt easy and automatic to you.
As Amira explains in this course, every athlete is different, and every athlete responds to setbacks in their own unique way. It’s about experimenting and finding what works for you. You will learn how your attitude might be affecting your performance and discover relaxation and visualisation techniques that could help you to achieve and maintain a winning mindset.
Course Highlights:
- The course is split into four sections and includes techniques for you to experiment with on your journey to achieving an optimal performance mindset
- Understand the inner workings of your mind and how you can win the daily challenge of getting in the zone
- Knowing how to focus your energy, how to embrace and manage your emotions, and how to approach setbacks in a positive way
Course Duration: Self Paced
5. Sports Performance: Exploring Sport Psychology
On this four-week course, you’ll discover how sport psychology is applied to coaching, individual athletes, and competition to help you to guide others or better understand your own sporting experiences.
You’ll change how you view sports psychology and gain new skills and confidence to identify valuable next steps to develop yourself and others in sport.
Course Highlights:
- What modern sport psychology is and how it is evolving
- Examples of how sport psychologists can enhance athlete performance
- Athlete welfare and enhancing mental health
- How psychologically informed training environments impact on athletes and their motivation
- Applying insights into athlete resilience, confidence and coping with pressure to your own sporting or personal context
Course Duration: 4 weeks (4 hours/week)
6. Sports And Exercise Psychology– Staffordshire University
The material covered provides students with a critical understanding of current issues relating to the theory and practice of both sport and exercise psychology. Some of the topics relate predominantly to exercise settings (e.g., physical activity and mental health), while other relate predominantly to sport settings (e.g., skilled performance under pressure) however most of the topics covered relate equally to both sport and exercise settings and include an exploration of the role of social processes in sport and exercise settings, the practice of sport and exercise psychology, and research methods and data analysis. Throughout the award a conscious decision has been made to have a strong link between theory and practice with many assignments requiring students to apply current theoretical and research knowledge to hypothetical ‘real life’ scenarios. Throughout the course every effort has also been made to draw upon the wealth of research and applied experience which the staff team have.
Course Highlights:
- Advanced Research Methods And Data Analysis (Bps)
- Group Dynamics And Leadership In Sport And Exercise
- Masters Research Project: Sport And Exercise Psychology Journal Article (Part 2)
- Physical Activity And Mental Health
Course Duration: 2 years
7. Mental Skills Training for Sport and Health
On this course, you’ll discover exercise and sports psychology and consider its relevance to contemporary issues in sport, health and fitness. You’ll trace the relationship between the brain and the body in sport and exercise as you explore three mental skills training techniques and their application.
Using psychological knowledge, scientific research, and applied case study examples, you’ll learn how these psychological training techniques enhance athletic performance.
Course Highlights:
- Explain three core psychological attributes (motivation, confidence, anxiety) that influence exercise participation and sport performance.
- Describe three core Mental Skills Training techniques (imagery and action observation, self-talk, goal-setting) that are frequently used in sport and exercise psychology.
- Explore the relationship between Mental Skills Training and exercise participation/sports performance through the demonstration of applied case studies and scientific research.
- Discuss the application of Mental Skills Training techniques to different populations, including elite and recreational athletes, and clinical groups.
Course Duration: 4 weeks (3 hours/week)
8. Sports Psychology course
This Sports Psychology course focuses on the scientific study of people and their behaviours in sports contexts and the practical application of that knowledge. Each module of this Sports Psychology Diploma at QLS Level 3 contains associated revision exercises and activity questions which are designed to allow students to demonstrate their underpinning knowledge and show how this can be applied in various contexts. Sport and exercise psychologists work with individuals, teams, and organisations in a wide range of contexts
Course Highlights:
- Helping elite performers to develop preparation strategies to deal with the demands of competition and training
- Applying research to motor learning and psychophysiological processes to maximise practice and fitness regimes
- Assisting coaches, managers, and referees with enhancing their interpersonal and communication skills
- Counselling injured athletes during their rehabilitation
- Advising youth sports performers travelling to international fixtures on how to deal with disappointment, homesickness, and family problems
- Working with health promotion staff to increase exercise
- Motivation and adherence in sedentary individuals
Course Duration: Self Paced
9. Sports Psychology Course (QQI Level 6)
This QQI Level 6 Sports Psychology 6N4665 course is designed to assist learners in understanding the psychological aspects of sport. It aims to equip learners with the skills and knowledge to understand and help change the behaviours of athletes in order to improve performance.
Sports Psychology is continually growing in Ireland. This has been aided by the success of Irish sports teams and individuals who have employed the services of sport psychologists being well documented e.g. Tipperary hurlers and Dublin footballers winning their respective All Ireland Finals.
This programme will introduce you to the discipline of sports psychology. It will focus on the key topics of sports psychology, and how they are applied to aid performance in sport.
Course Highlights:
- Understand the role of the sports psychologist
- Understand the relationship between sports psychology and performance
- Know how to design and deliver intervention strategies to improve sports performance (e.g. how to deal with anxiety)
- Evaluate different approaches to motivation in sport
- Understand the Influence of leaders and role models in sport.
Course Duration: 8 weeks
10. Sport Psychology for Athletes
Are you interested in sport psychology? Maybe you’re an athlete or a coach looking for practical techniques. Or maybe a student or lifelong learner who loves sport.
If so, this is the course for you. It will provide you with a beginner-level grounding in the theory, but with a focus on practical application and how to use the techniques in your own life, whatever level of sport you play. We won’t just be looking at slides, we’ll be out there exploring, with quizzes, workbooks and practical exercises to work through.
Course Highlights:
- Understand how to increase motivation, improve focus and build confidence
- Use mental imagery
- Replace negative self-talk with positive self-talk
- Practice mindfulness
- Achieve your sporting goals
Course Duration: 3.5 hours
11. Sports Psychology Course Online
This course is meant for any athlete, coach, support staff or even sport psychology aspirants who would like to understand the basic pillars of mental training in sports. Video case studies from Paddy Upton – 2011 World cup winning mental conditioning coach and Jake Lush McCrum – CEO, Rajasthan Royals. Video interviews of senior players like Jos Buttler and Karun Nair to understand the player’s perspective on Sports Psychology. Modules exploring the fundamentals of sports psychology, injury impact, mindset of players during injury and burnout, life in bio bubble and more. Understanding of key elements like Teams, Leadership, Communication, Coach-Athlete and Parent Relationship.
Course Highlights:
- Who is a sport psychologist or a mental conditioning coach?
- How can mental training help an athlete?
- What are the different psychological demands that athletes undergo?
- Understand why is it critical to have a mastery oriented motivational climate to develop a strong athlete
Course Duration: Self Paced
12. Sports And Exercise Psychology- Alison
This course covers the fundamental ideas and classifications of the most common sports injuries. It includes studying how psychological elements impact sports, performance, exercise and physical activity. We explore the possibility of internal organ damage and the suitable treatment for these injuries. You will discover the importance of first aid, various sports injuries to the cartilage and what a sports therapist does to help people.
Course Highlights:
- Define what play and sport are
- Discuss the different aspects of mental toughness
- Recognize the benefits of using Imagery Training for sports
- Identify what motivates people in sports
- Discuss using goal setting as part of your sports training
- Recognize the importance of concentration in sports and training
- Discuss how to manage stress, anxiety and arousal during sports
Course Duration: 4-5 hours
