Do I need prior experience to enroll?

No prior experience is required. The program is designed to guide you from fundamentals to professional-level knowledge.

Will I receive a certificate upon completion?

Yes, upon successful completion you will receive an official certificate from the Barça Innovation Hub.

How long do I have access to the course materials?

You will have access to all course materials for 12 months from the date of enrollment.

In what language is the course delivered?

This program is available in English. All materials and assessments are provided in the selected language.

Professional Diploma in Neurobiology and Psychology in Team Sports

It is well known that the brain and the central nervous system as a whole are of fundamental importance in human movement, and therefore in sports performance. Every decision and every execution on the field has its genesis in the central nervous system, which is also related to emotional and intellectual aspects. As professionals who interact with athletes, we must be able to understand an athlete’s holistic development, including the biophysical and psychosocial domains, and we must be able to apply this knowledge to training. In this program, we provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to develop athletes with greater motor awareness and better decision-making abilities. In order to do this, we cover all the aspects that involve movement, from perceiving stimulus to processing information to finally making a decision and executing it. Without a doubt, this structured development of this subject matter will constitute a milestone in our pursuit of such an ambitious goal

Category: Sports Psychology
Level: advanced
Duration: 10 months
Price: 1150 EUR

Official courses from Barça Innovation Hub, FC Barcelona's educational arm, with experts who have worked inside the club. Earn an accredited certificate issued by the hub, available across the Middle East and North Africa through Champions Hub, its official partner for the fifth year.

What you will learn

Determine how the central nervous system influences human movement and how we can shape the ability to make decisions for movement.
Develop or strengthen skills to acquire tools that allow better coaching of high-level athletes with the ultimate goal of achieving the highest performance in all areas.
Work in teams and generate communication channels within multidisciplinary teams.
Implement intervention strategies to train high-performance athletes in attention, concentration, and motivation, as well as the management of variables to control anxiety and stress.

Course content

Module 1: Efferent Organization of Human Movement
- Motor Cortex and Cortical Spinal Tract
- Role of the Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia
- Feedback and Motor Adjustment
- Integrative Reading
Module 2: Difficulty and Environment in Human Motor Function
- Motor Faults
- Special Teaching Methods for Correcting Faults
- Transference and Interference
- Integrative Reading
Module 3: Afferent Organization of Human Movement
- Sensory Systems
- Motor Perception and Observation
- Ideomotor Representation
- Integrative Reading
Module 4: Central Processing of Voluntary Movement
- The Logic of Motor Functions and Decision-Making
- Decision Training
- Neuromotor Programming
- Integrative Reading
Module 5: Neuromuscular Basis for Strength Training
- Characteristics of the Musculoskeletal System
- Muscle Action and its Relationship to Sports
- Systemic Changes in Detraining and Immobilization
- Assessment of Muscular Properties in Relation to Sport
Module 6: Psychological Variables and Sports Performance
- Attention and Concentration
- Motivation
- Anxiety and Stress
- Self-Confidence
Module 7: Psychological Intervention Techniques
- Psychological Intervention Plan
- Psychological Intervention Techniques Adapted to Coaches
- Psychological Intervention Techniques 1
- Psychological Intervention Techniques 2
Module 8: Contextualizing the Elite Athlete Environment
- The Sports Environment
- The Family Environment
- Importance of Communication in the Sports Environment
- Training and Competition
Module 9: The Life of an Elite Athlete
- Systemic Model
- Sports Career Model I and II
- Dual Career
- Examples of Intervention in Different Transition Stages of an Athlete's Life
Module 10: Mental Strength in Athletes
- Mental Strength in Individual Athletes
- Mental Strength in Sports Teams
- Emotional Regulation in Sports Coaches
- Integrated Module

Professional Diploma in Neurobiology and Psychology in Team Sports