96302 High Performance Coaching

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2020 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Health
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Postgraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Description

This subject examines the role of the coach in youth, adolescent and senior sport, with a particular relevance to high performance populations. It builds on a strong understanding of skill acquisition principles for developing effective learning environments for athletes from different sports. The subject has a strong focus on preparing graduates to function as a coach in a wide variety of contexts and in a variety of roles by designing and structuring optimal environments for learning and performance. It is specifically designed to assist future UTS graduates in planning and delivering effective practice sessions and coaching interventions for high performance athletes. It offers learning opportunities that develop practitioner skills in enhancing performance with youth, adolescents and senior high performance athletes. Students will be assessed in their ability to reflect on, and provide high level coaching to athletes in practical, real-world settings.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

A.	Design and structure evidence-based practice environments for high performing athletes and teams from different sports, abilities and age ranges
B.	Deliver effective and safe coaching sessions with high performing athletes and teams from different sports and age ranges
C.	Adapt coaching sessions to session goals and athlete characteristics
D.	Design and deliver coaching sessions in collaboration with coaches from a variety of different coaching roles (i.e. head coach, strength and conditioning coach, skills coach)
E.	Measure and analyse the effectiveness of practice sessions
F.	Use practice skills and knowledge from other relevant fields in high performance sport to design and deliver effective coaching sessions in athletes and teams in a variety of sport

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject incorporates a range of activities that will interactively engage students with the content. Three online modules will form the foundations of the subject, with the addition of a face-to-face workshop in the end-of-session block and practical tasks within their own coaching settings.

Teaching and learning strategies will assist students to develop critical thinking skills, as well as encourage them to consider how to apply these concepts to high performance sport environments. Additionally, students will undertake activities that are designed to enable them to learn through discovery.

The subject content will be delivered in the online platform Canvas. In order to be prepared for the planned collaborative activities and to keep on top the subject workload, students are encouraged to engage with the content on at least a weekly basis. Content will remain available past the specific delivery week, however students will get more out of the subject if they work consistently on a week-to-week basis rather than leaving it all to the end of the session.

Students will also be required to prepare for collaborative activities and engage with other students and teachers via live (Zoom) online sessions. Using these mediums, the class will interact weekly with the subject coordinator and peers on topics and activities related to each week’s topic of focus. Students will be required to communicate information and demonstrate their understanding in a variety of formats, including written and verbal forms, often incorporating technology via online tools. Students will receive feedback on assessments and online contributions to the subject through the online platform or in personal communication.

Content (topics)

Module 1: Coaching different populations

Characteristics of successful coaches
Considerations when coaching childhood and adolescent athletes
Considerations when coaching adult athletes
Coaching psychology

Module 2: Planning, structuring, and evaluating coaching sessions

Planning and structuring coaching sessions
The constraints-led approach
Athlete monitoring and evaluation
Optimising instructions and feedback

Module 3: Coaching roles

The head/assistant coach
Other coaching roles
Coaching in the age of data
Case studies of successful coaches

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Shadowing a high performance coach

Intent:	The intent of this assessment is for students to shadow a coach during a training session, and reflect on their practices, in order to explore some of the characteristics of successful coaches.
Weight:	20%
Length:	1200 words

Assessment task 2: Individual coaching assessment � presentation including video of a coaching session, uploaded online

Intent:	The intent of this assessment is for students to deliver a planned and structured training session in (a) self-selected childhood, adolescent or adult athlete(s), while presenting the intent, structure and planning of the session in a video presentation. This assessment will use a mix of assessor marking and peer-review through Canvas. Other students will be asked to engage in peer-review on Canvas, where each student will be assigned two other assessments to peer review. In order to do so, students will be given a peer-assessment form that can support their constructive feedback. Engaging in constructive comments on peers’ assessments will count for a proportion of the marks in this assessment. This will develop students’ ability to critically reflect on the work of others in a group setting, while developing vital leadership skills and a broad interest in coaching that supersedes a single discipline.
Weight:	30%
Length:	15 minute video; 200 words of constructive online feedback on other students’ videos

Intent:

The intent of this assessment is for students to deliver a planned and structured training session in (a) self-selected childhood, adolescent or adult athlete(s), while presenting the intent, structure and planning of the session in a video presentation. This assessment will use a mix of assessor marking and peer-review through Canvas.

Other students will be asked to engage in peer-review on Canvas, where each student will be assigned two other assessments to peer review. In order to do so, students will be given a peer-assessment form that can support their constructive feedback. Engaging in constructive comments on peers’ assessments will count for a proportion of the marks in this assessment. This will develop students’ ability to critically reflect on the work of others in a group setting, while developing vital leadership skills and a broad interest in coaching that supersedes a single discipline.

Weight:

30%

Length:

15 minute video; 200 words of constructive online feedback on other students’ videos

Assessment task 3: Exploring methods to monitor and evaluate performance

Intent:	The intent of this assessment task is for the students to develop a new tool, or apply an already existing tool, that helps them to analyse and measure performance in a chosen sport. Use of such a tool enables students to objectively measure performance within their sport, and to better understand and evaluate the effects of their coaching and session design on performance.
Weight:	20%
Length:	5 minute video; 500 word report

Assessment task 4: Group coaching assessment

Intent:	The intent of this assessment is for students to develop the ability to work collaboratively to deliver a practice session that is relatively unstructured. Students will have to use their ability to think on their feet, and exploit the strengths of the different individuals within their group to deliver an original, creative and highly effective training session based on a pre-determined vignette related to the session population and the task at hand.
Weight:	30%
Length:	20 minute session, 10 minute discussion

Other resources

It is essential that students keep a copy of every piece of work submitted to the Faculty of Health. In the unlikely event that the assignment is misplaced or corrupted, the copy can be provided for marking.

Academic Integrity and Student Misconduct
Academic integrity is central to the work of the University and is an essential part of the professional identity of graduates from the Faculty of Health. The University Academic Board advises students that:

Academic integrity involves a good measure of trust between students, and between students and academic staff…Cheating, whether in the form of plagiarism, bringing unauthorised material into exams, submitting false requests for alternative exams or special consideration, or any other form, is a breach of this trust. Cheating also subverts the aims and value of students' studies. In certain courses, this may have serious consequences for public health and safety (Advice to Students on Good Academic Practice, UTS Academic Board 98/5, Resolution AB98/86 www.gsu.uts.edu.au/policies/academicpractice.html)

Plagiarism is defined in the UTS Student Rules as “taking and using someone else's ideas or manner of expressing them and passing them off as his or her own by failing to give appropriate acknowledgement of the source to seek to gain an advantage by unfair means.”(UTS Student rules, section 16 Student misconduct and appeals Part A – General provisions, Definition of Misconduct www.gsu.uts.edu.au/rules/student/section-16.html#r16.2). It is a serious form of Student Misconduct and can result in harsh penalties.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

copying words, or ideas, from websites, reference books, journals, newspapers or other sources without acknowledging the source;
paraphrasing material taken from other sources, to change the words but keep the ideas, without acknowledging the source;
downloading material from the internet and including it as part of your own work without acknowledging the source;
copying work, such as all or part of an assignment, from other persons and your own previously submitted assignments and submitting it as your own work;

Cheating includes, but is not limited to:

copying work, such as all or part of an assignment, from other students and your own previously submitted assignment and submitting it as your own work;
purchasing an assignment from an online site and submitting it as your own work;
requesting or paying someone else to write original work for you, such as an assignment, essay or computer program, and submitting it as your own work;
unauthorised collusion with students or others and submitting it as your own.

Plagiarism and cheating is completely unacceptable behaviour.
You will need to read and understand the following to assist in understanding your responsibilities for academic integrity and plagiarism at the University:

Avoiding Plagiarism Tutorial: https://avoidingplagiarism.uts.edu.au/

Student Misconduct Definition (Rule 16.2) and Appeals www.gsu.uts.edu.au/rules/student/section-16.html#r16.2