This version of the Coaching Principles course is for college and university students. It includes the following:

• Online Coaching Principles course
• Successful Coaching, Fifth Edition, book
• Online worksheets
• Online coaching forms
• Online certification test
• NOTE: Access to online components is immediate upon purchase, but the required book will be mailed. Please anticipate time for shipping before beginning the course.

For more than 30 years, Human Kinetics’ Coaching Principles course has provided students and coaches with foundational knowledge and sage advice for coaching and mentoring athletes to reach their full potential in sport and in life. Assembled by a who’s who of leading coach educators, this revised and updated course continues that fine tradition.

The content in Coaching Principles is drawn from one of the most authoritative guides on coaching: Successful Coaching, Fifth Edition, written by Rainer Martens, sport psychologist and Human Kinetics founder, and Robin Vealey, an internationally known researcher on the psychological aspects of youth sport and coaching effectiveness as well as a professor in the department of sport leadership and management at Miami University in Ohio. World-renowned coach educator and author Wade Gilbert, professor of kinesiology at Fresno State University, contributed as the course developer. Brian Gearity, director and associate professor of the sport coaching master’s program at the University of Denver, appears in video segments throughout each unit.

The fifth edition of Coaching Principles stays true to its objective to teach the fundamental tenets of becoming a successful coach, both on and off the field, while being streamlined and offering more practical applications. Each course part corresponds to one of the five parts in the book.

Part I challenges students to determine their motivation for being a coach. Introspective exercises ask students to develop a coaching philosophy, coaching objectives, and leadership style that will ultimately drive their every coaching decision and help them stay the course in a high-stakes, hypercompetitive environment.

Part II focuses on understanding and managing athletes’ behavior. Successful coaches are master psychologists. Knowing how to communicate with, motivate, discipline, and reward athletes is essential for helping athletes reach their full potential as well as manage their response to pressure situations that can lead to anxiety and burnout.

Being an effective coach means being an effective teacher. Part III provides instruction for teaching technical and tactical skills, developing sport-smart athletes, planning and conducting practices, and implementing the games approach in coaching.

As the saying goes, “Games are won in the weight room.” Part IV addresses the coach’s role in training athletes to meet the physical demands of sport and achieve peak performance. The course has been updated with the latest scientific research on physical training and nutrition.

Successful coaches are effective administrators, managers, and communicators. Part V covers the team management, relationship management, and risk management skills coaches need to run sport programs that are efficient, cohesive, and safe.

Each unit begins with an animated overview of the key concepts to be covered, followed by a reading assignment from the course text. The course then presents several interactive coaching scenarios that depict real-life situations coaches are likely to face. Choices and consequences are provided for each, compelling students to weigh potential responses and anticipate outcomes of their choices. A video with Brian Gearity summarizes the key takeaways for each scenario. Units conclude with a quiz to check understanding. Coaching development activities, which encourage students to record their takeaways in a comprehensive portfolio for future reference and reflection, can be assigned as homework by instructors.

Students will have free access to the Coaching Principles certification test, administered by Human Kinetics and delivered on a separate platform (independent of the class). By passing the test, students with aspirations of becoming a scholastic coach will earn a valuable coaching credential that is recognized by numerous state high school associations and sport organizations nationwide.

Audience

Aspiring coaches and students enrolled in college and university coaching courses.

Part I. Foundational Skills for Coaches
Unit 1. Developing Your Coaching Philosophy
Unit 2. Determining Your Coaching Objectives
Unit 3. Providing Effective Leadership
Unit 4. Coaching Diverse Athletes

Part II. Understanding and Managing Athletes’ Behavior
Unit 5. Communicating With Your Athletes
Unit 6. Motivating Your Athletes
Unit 7. Using Discipline and Rewards With Athletes
Unit 8. Coaching for Character

Part III. Being a Great Teacher
Unit 9. The Games Approach
Unit 10. Teaching Technical Skills
Unit 11. Teaching Tactical Skills
Unit 12. Planning for Teaching

Part IV. Physical Training and Nutrition
Unit 13. Training Basics
Unit 14. Energy Fitness Training
Unit 15. Muscular Fitness Training
Unit 16. Fueling Your Athletes
Unit 17. Drugs in Sport

Part V. Management Skills for Coaches
Unit 18. Managing Your Team
Unit 19. Managing Relationships
Unit 20. Managing Risk

Established in 1981 and rooted in an athlete-centered philosophy that places the developmental needs of athletes ahead of winning at all costs, Human Kinetics Coach Education courses and resources are widely used by youth sport organizations, state high school associations, school districts, state departments of education, colleges and universities, and national governing bodies of Olympic sports to teach, train, and certify coaches.