EXSC658 - Performing Under Pressure

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

In high performance sport, athletes and coaches recognise that psychological preparation and associated performance strategies are critical to sporting success. Therefore, the aim of this unit is to develop in students an understanding of theoretical concepts and their practical application of sport and performance psychology, and their practical application as they relate to high performance athletes and the environments in which they operate. The unit will address basic and contemporary skill-acquisition and performance psychological concepts related to sport performance in high-pressure situations and their application into practice in a variety of high-pressure contexts. By developing evidence-based knowledge of performance psychology and skill-acquisition concepts and ideas, and their application in high performance sport, students will discover that psychology is as much about understanding the contexts, tasks, and environments of high performance sport as it is about the individual athlete's mind and behaviour. The emphasis is on translating theory into practice with a means to determining the power of understanding and applying psychology in the arena of high performance sport, within appropriate scope of practice and referral pathways.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Apply and reflect on sport psychology theory and evidence to create a pressure-resistant environment appropriate for high performance sport (GA1, GA4, GA5)

LO2 - Apply and reflect on skill acquisition theory and evidence to design training activities to support high performance athletes’ performance under pressure (GA4, GA5)

LO3 - Apply psychological skills strategies in specific contexts for performance under pressure (GA1, GA3)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

Content

Topics will include: 

• Perception and Action, Representative Learning and Complex Systems in Sport
• Decision Making Under Pressure
• Mind-Set, Mental Toughness and Self-Confidence in Sport
• Coaching Psychology and the Psychology of Expertise
• Applied Sport Psychology in High Performance Sport

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. Media presentation assessments are used to allow students to demonstrate their understanding and application of knowledge, reflect on their practice in a high performance setting, and communication in a range of applied sport science settings.

The three assessment tasks allow for progressive development of knowledge, requiring application, and reflection on learning as an iterative process. That is, assessment 2 will reflect and build upon assessment 1, and assessment 3 will reflect and build upon assessment 2.

Students must achieve a cumulative grade of at least 50% across all assessments.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Gröpel, P., & Mesagno, C. (2019). Choking interventions in sports: A systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 12(1), 176-201

Kal, E., Prosee, R., Winters, M., & Van Der Kamp, J. (2018). Does implicit motor learning lead to greater automatization of motor skills compared to explicit motor learning? A systematic review. Plos One, 13(9), E0203591.

Low, W., Sandercock, G., Freeman, P., Winter, M., Butt, J., & Maynard, I. (2020). Pressure training for performance domains: A meta-analysis. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 2020.

Ometto, L., Vasconcellos, F. V. A., Cunha, F. A., Teoldo, I., Souza, C. R. B., Dutra, M. B., … Davids, K. (2018). How manipulating task constraints in small-sided and conditioned games shapes emergence of individual and collective tactical behaviours in football: A systematic review. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 13(6), 1200–1214.