Foundation Certificate in Soccer Psychology and Mental Skills Training

This course will expose you to soccer-specific psychological studies, practical examples, and useful intervention methods used across all levels of football. You will study the key components of what drives coaches and players to succeed and develop strategies to prepare individuals for training and competitive games from a psychological perspective. Study this foundation certificate in soccer psychology and understand how your team can benefit from psychology and mental skills training methods to enhance their performance.

Course Content

Module 1 An introduction to sport psychology and its role within soccer

• Led by Dr. Alena Grushko.
• How performance enhancement processes are applied to sports psychology.
• Mental skills training and social skills training.
• Perceptual-cognitive training.

Module 2 Energy management in the game – soccer anxiety, stress and arousal

• Led by Ricardo Pires.
• Concepts of arousal, anxiety and stress, how they differ and how to identify them.
• Potential sources of stress and anxiety.
• Four stages of the stress process.

Module 3 Improving focus, attention and concentration in a soccer environment

• Led by Omer Ates.
• Various types of attentional focus.
• Psychological distractors affecting players.
• Techniques to improve player concentration to minimise and even avoid lapses.

Module 4 Player motivation: the use of goal setting in soccer

• Led by Sarah Murray.
• Three stages of player motivation.
• What is goal setting and why does it work?
• The impact of goal setting at an individual level.
• How to practically implement SMART goal setting in a team environment.
• Goal setting strategies.
• How to structure goals with context.
• How to measure and review goals.
• Supporting players throughout the process.

Module 5 Team cohesion and key lines of communication within soccer

• Led by Ricardo Pires.
• What is cohesion and how to identify the different dimensions of cohesion.
• Model of cohesion and the correlational factors and outcomes.
• Understand the dynamics between cohesion and performance.
• Developing cohesion in your team.

Module 6 Developing self confidence in soccer, training and match interventions

• Led by Sion Rowlands.
• What is self-confidence and its importance in player performance.
• What an intervention is and how to use them to get the most out of your players.

Module 7 Imagery as a mental skills intervention

• Led by Omer Ates.
• Explore the scientific skill of imagery.
• Understand how imagery works.
• Factors which can affect the effectiveness of imagery.
• Why imagery can have a positive or negative impact on performance.
• Learn how to create an imagery script with your players and team.

Module 8 Coach and player self-reflection

• Led by Thomas Pratl.
• Gain a better understanding of self-reflection.
• Self-reflection strategies you can implement.
• How these strategies can affect your coaching behaviour.