These globally acclaimed and certified online courses in Soccer Psychology & Mental Skills Training exposes you to deeper insights knowledge, modern applied methods & techniques used by elite-level coaches and practitioners in order to develop the mental capacity of soccer players.
16 Hours Online Learning
Start your journey to coaching excellence with the Foundation Certificate in Soccer Psychology & Mental Skills Training.
This course introduces you to the key psychological principles and mental skills techniques used by elite clubs to enhance player performance. Learn how to build motivation, focus, and confidence while fostering a positive mental environment that supports player well-being and resilience.
Understand the critical role of psychology in soccer, from energy management and concentration to self-confidence and team cohesion. Develop the skills to help players stay mentally strong and maintain peak performance both on and off the field.
20 Hours Online Learning
Building on foundational knowledge, this course delves into advanced psychological techniques and methods used by top-flight clubs to cultivate motivation, focus, confidence, and resilience in players. Learn how to create a positive motivational climate, enhance decision-making, and develop emotional intelligence—critical elements for success in elite soccer.
Explore the psychology of injury, resilience training, and the key role of coaches in shaping player mentality. This course also covers leadership, talent identification, and understanding personalities, giving you the tools to foster a mentally strong, high-performing team.
Equip yourself with elite-level techniques that will help players not only thrive in competitive environments but also build lasting mental resilience.
25 Hours Online Learning
Elevate your expertise to the highest level with the Masters Certificate in Soccer Psychology & Mental Skills Training.
This advanced course is designed for coaches and sports professionals who want to master the psychological elements that drive elite soccer performance. Dive deep into performance enhancement interventions, psychological periodisation, and talent development, using a comprehensive, environmental approach that shapes players’ mental resilience and adaptability.
Learn how to bridge the gap between youth and first-team play, enhance mental skill development, and optimize soccer-specific skill acquisition. Explore the complexities of coaching principles, managing transitions, and fostering diversity within the game.
This course will empower you to implement advanced psychological strategies that nurture players’ mental strength, accelerate their development, and ensure sustained performance at the highest levels of the sport.
This course includes the following modules delivered by elite high performance coaches:
Delivered by Dr Alena Grushko
In this lecture you’ll increase your knowledge about the general sports psychology world. How performance enhancement processes are applied in sports psychology. In the context of soccer you’ll discover mental skills training and social skills training, perceptual-cognitive training and some further instrumental methods.
Delivered by Omer Ates
Lapses of concentration lead to mistakes on the field, some end up as game changers. In this lecture Omer Ates explains what the various types of attentional focus are, what can be some of the psychological distractors which effect players. But crucially, you’ll discover techniques to improve your players concentration thus minimising and even avoiding those costly lapses.
Delivered by Ricardo Pires
In the lecture, you will examine what is cohesion and how you identify the different dimensions of cohesion. Team cohesion is multi faceted, so in this lecture we’ll explore together a model of cohesion and also the correlational factors and outcomes. Watch a successful team in full flight and you can see these factors and outcomes in real life, however, in this lecture, you’ll understand the dynamics between cohesion and performance and how you can develop cohesion in your squad. One key skill in developing this is excellent communication skills which is another topic within this lecture.
Delivered by Omer Ates
In an earlier lecture Omer looked at Focus, Attention and Concentration, in this lecture you’ll explore the specific skill of using imagery. You may have heard the saying by Napoleon Hill “Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve.” To fully execute this you need to understand how imagery works, what factors can affect its effectiveness and why imagery has can have a positive or negative impact on performance. Practically at the end of this lecture you’ll be able to create an imagery script with your players and squad.
With the highs and lows experienced during the season and indeed each game, energy management is key. In this lecture, you’ll discover the concepts of arousal, anxiety and stress. Each of these concepts differ from each other and it’s important that you can identify them. You’ll learn what are the potential sources of stress and anxiety and the four stage of the stress process. Performance in your players requires a level of arousal and anxiety… you’ll learn some practical ways of applying these factors in your sessions.
An extremely practical lecture, Sarah will guide you through the three stages of player motivation, exploring what goal setting is, why does goal setting work and it’s impact at an individual level and how you can practically implement SMART goal setting in your team environment. Specifically in this lecture, you’ll learn about multiple goal setting strategies, how to structure goals with context, how to measure and review goals and crucially how you can support your players through this process.
Self belief is key to player and team success, but it’s not just something that is turned on and off in the competitive environment. In this lecture, Sion explores with you what is self confidence and it’s an important factor in your players performances. You can have a massive impact both positively and negatively on a players self confidence, so it’s vital that you know what an intervention is and how to use them to get the most out of your players.
Soccer management can be a very rewarding and brutal environment. Having the ability to let go of mistakes and poor decisions as a coach while also reflecting on what you could change is important. Likewise, maintaining confidence in the face of adversity is a vital component of a coach and managers makeup. You are the leader of a wider group and how you cope and manage these various situations impacts on all around you. In this lecture, you’ll discover a better understanding of self reflection, what strategies you can implement and how they can affect your coaching behaviour.
This course includes the following modules delivered by elite high performance coaches:
In Module One, you will understand & realise how motivational climate impacts the developing player and performance, the two types of climate, and understand how coaches create the climate within their team through and use the TARGET principle to develop task climate.
In Module Three of this course, you will be exposed to the understanding of emotional intelligence in sport, and how to maximise your own coaching influence. Being able to take the information provided in this module and implement it within your own environment and enhance coaching behaviour and practice is a key aspect of this module alongside self-development and action planning for you and your coaching staff.
In Module Five you will understand the different personal, psychosocial, academic and athletic challenges soccer players work through as they progress to the 1st team, understand how increased psychological pressures affect quality of sleep, rate of injuries and impact performance and why good coping strategies are essential and how to detect maladaptive coping skills.
In Module Seven, you will have gained a better understanding of personality in the soccer environment, you will understand & focus around 5-Key Coaching Cs – commitment, communication, concentration, control & confidence and you will know how you can apply the 5c’s to your working scenarios & phases.
In Module Nine, you will understand skill acquisition & the learning aspects, detect talent from a psychological perspective, the implications & techniques for the psychological integration and understand mental toughness.
In Module Two, you will gain a foundational understanding of the brain under pressure, various types of decision making & specific processes, insights into the relationship between pressure & reactive decision making, and problematic decision-making processes and methods in order to make better decisions.
In Module Four, you will know the importance of multidisciplinary work, understand & increase awareness of the injury process, understand the importance of psychological intervention in each recovery phase, ensure a holistic recovery is performed
In Module Six, you will understand how to train players with greater efficiency, be able to focus on how your energy as a coach can influence the energy of the player, understand how to coach using key psychological skills and be able to highlight the need to be & act as a role model – in all aspects of coaching!
In Module Eight, you will understand the definition of talent and what it means, the obstacles & issues arising with talent within sporting environments, finding talented individuals & where to look for it and the importance of observation: identifying the key information required.
In Module Ten, you will know how to understand and assess your team and where it is in its development cycle, evaluate yourself and other leaders regarding their leadership style and how to adjust it to your teams needs, and how to apply systems thinking principles to your organization and how to move your team towards high performance.
This course includes the following modules delivered by elite high performance coaches:
Delivered by Dr. Adam Owen
In Module 1, we’ll examine the future soccer player and the changing game, creating a culture within your club, the player pathway, and effective communication and learning styles.
In Module 3, we’ll examine the purpose of psychological periodisation, the ideal performance state, metacognitive worry & performance effects and developing the training week from a psychological perspective.
Delivered by Dr. Danny Ransom
In Module 5, we’ll explore the topics of non-linear talent development, traditional sport psychology, talent factory within a sporting environment, research based working models, and cultural leadership
Delivered by Dr. Nikki Crawley
In Module 7, we’ll explore what is resilience and why we care, resilience bandwidth & the environment, challenging mindsets – predictability vs unpredictability, and psychological environment – pressure, development & awareness.Delivered by Dr. Tanja Ecken
In Module 9, we’ll explore the observation & science behind skill acquisition, soccer IQ & performance predictability, neuro skill setting in football, and building a tailored approach to sport.
Delivered by Chris Bradley
In Module 2, we’ll examine goal setting in the coaching process, implementing a soccer-specific self talk strategy, maximizing performance through visualisation, and relaxation techniques in a practical setting.Delivered by Dr. Tanja Ecken
In Module 4, we’ll examine the academy to 1st team transition phase, the psychological demands of making the step-up, equipping players with the coping skills and managing the demands and pressures.
Delivered by David Mora
In Module 6, we’ll examine the the sporting career, career transition in sporting contexts, holistical ecological approach (HEA), Sport assistance program to career transition and mental health & transitions in sport.Delivered by Dr. Adam Owen
In Module 8, we’ll explore leadership styles & coaching, emotional intelligence & understanding, guided discovery coaching method, developing a positive learning environment, goal setting & reflective practice within soccer.
In Module 10, we’ll explore cognitive diversity, quantifying diversity, and we’ll look at a case study into diversity: understanding the rules.Read what coaches at all levels have said about our online soccer courses. All reviews are verified by leading review sites:
This certified 3-course bundle enables you to gain mastery in the vital areas of soccer psychology while making a substantial saving of over buying the courses individually.
This soccer psychology course bundle is ideal for:
1.Soccer Coaches – Whether coaching youth, amateur, or elite-level players, these courses will help you understand the psychological aspects of the game, providing you with the tools to support player mental health, motivation, focus, and team dynamics.
2.Sports Psychologists & Mental Skills Coaches – If you’re aiming to specialize in soccer psychology, this bundle will guide you through both foundational theories and practical strategies for improving players’ mental toughness and performance under pressure.
3.Athletes – Players who want to enhance their mental game, build resilience, improve focus, and develop strategies to handle stress, pressure, and motivation both on and off the field.
4.Fitness & Wellness Professionals – Those who work with athletes and want to understand the psychological factors that influence physical performance, recovery, and overall well-being, enabling them to better support their clients.
5.Team Support Staff – Staff members, including fitness coaches, physiotherapists, and medical professionals, who want to integrate psychological strategies into their approach to player health, injury recovery, and performance.
This bundle is perfect for anyone serious about integrating psychology into soccer coaching or sports performance, offering tools to enhance players’ mental strength and overall team success.
Yes. This soccer psychology course is suitable for individuals with no prior background in psychology. While it does cover advanced concepts, we start with the fundamentals, introducing the key principles of soccer psychology in a clear and practical way. The course is designed to be accessible, breaking down psychological concepts into simple terms that are easy to understand, even for beginners.
Whether you’re a coach, player, or sports professional looking to enhance your knowledge, we ensure that the material is explained in a way that builds your understanding step by step. By the end of the course, you’ll have a strong grasp of the psychological factors that impact soccer performance, mental resilience, and team dynamics, enabling you to apply these insights in real-world situations.
As you progress through the Intermediate and Advanced levels, your knowledge will deepen, equipping you with specialized psychological strategies that can benefit players at any level of play.
This is an online, self-paced course bundle, so you can complete the courses at your own pace and fit it around your schedule. The duration will vary depending on how much time you can dedicate each week, but most students typically complete the courses within a few weeks to a couple of months.
Since you’re in control of your learning pace, you can take as much or as little time as you need to absorb the material, review modules, and implement what you’re learning. Whether you’re balancing coaching, playing, or other commitments, this course is designed to fit around your life.
ISSPF courses are not only recommended by universities and federations around the world, but they are delivered by some of the leading practitioners in the game which will provide some cutting edge methods and industry overview on dealing with specific aspects of performance coaching and development largely including physical training in a team sport environment. ISSPF are working at accrediting all their courses through academic and footballing institutes in order to provide additional academic currency to the learner.
“This is by far the most innovative style of learning that I’ve seen in this digital era. The breadth of topics covered, combined with the level of detail and insights makes this a must learning environment for any coach who is working or wants to get into the game and progress to the highest levels.”
Manchester Utd, Middlesborough, FC Twente, Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, England
“ISSPF have managed to provide our soccer coaching staff within our college team with a 1st class opportunity to learn & apply some key performance coaching aspects. The opportunity to personally develop & track the staff’s progress through their assisted e-learning process is very impressive. I highly recommend the content as a must for all individuals tasked with the development of soccer players across all levels of the game.”
“Working with ISSPF as an educational partner has allowed us here at the Football Association the chance to provide CPD and continue to educate our coaches across a wide range of learning levels from our UEFA foundation levels through our UEFA Professional Licence. Offering our candidates, the chance to use both the ISSPF platform & specific soccer courses, is a huge advantage to us as an education provided within the game”
“An experienced director with a demonstrated history of working in the soccer industry & having developed across a range of sports psychology, match analysis, player development, and sports management – I feel the opportunity to integrate the e-learning facility available from ISSPF into as a federation, club or individual self-development level is of huge benefit. As a FIFA & CONCACAF Instructor & Director of Football I have rarely seen an educational tool as good as this to positively influence individuals across a range of key soccer topics.”
“Using the ISSPF learning facility has opened my eyes to the detail and incredible knowledge provided from an elite faculty of elite coach developers and soccer science educators. As an individual who continually wants to progress my coaching pathway, I think this might be the best solution to increase my awareness of all elements of the game. The large amount of content and lectures available has already, and will continue to improve me. Gaining the Foundation Certificate in Soccer Science & Performance was extremely to me.”
Sports science, without question is the biggest, most important change in my lifetime. It has moved the game onto another level that maybe we never dreamt of all those years ago. Sports science has brought a whole new dimension to the game.”
Aberdeen, Manchester United
“Working as both Assistant Manager with elite players of our national team, I have been able to directly take a lot of content and thought provoking ideas from the content on view within ISSPF and use them to the benefit of our national players. Furthermore, I am delighted to say that we are now integrating the ISSPF online courses into our coach development program to uplift the whole coaching education aspects of our nation.”
“As the game develops within the professional women’s game & also filters down within the girl’s academy programs across the world, we are proud to be at the forefront of driving the developmental aspects of the game in this area. To be able to link as an educational partnership with ISSPF is a huge part of our federation soccer development strategy, and as we can now offer a range of online content, certification qualifications and courses from a range of leading professionals – we have already seen a direct enhancement across our coaching content and performance department delivery.”
As a fitness coach and sport scientist working at the elite level of the female game, I feel that ISSPF and their integration of both applied and academic quality is something that will be of huge importance for people within our industry. ISSPF have manage to accumulate a faculty of leaders across soccer science, medical & coaching science that will enable them to educate people from a very insightful and practitioning way.
“The layers of content within ISSPF is in a league of it’s on when considering CPD options for coaches of all levels. Having explored many avenues through my own coaching journey, the detail embedded in the courses really lends itself to closing the gap between the integrated knowledge across the fields of Sports Science and the actual application of the skills on the field. Being able to learn from many experts, across a global faculty, affords me the ability to step into their professional world and soak in the abundant knowledge they have, all in my own time. ”
“ISSPF have been able to seamlessly provide all individuals with an interest in team sports and specifically soccer with the chance to learn from some of the best people in their key research areas. Developing throughout my career as a fitness & conditioning expert and applying the scientific principles of training at the elite level of the soccer, I feel being able to use the e-learning strategy within ISSPF challenges and adds further credibility to my working practices. I highly recommend individuals from all learning levels to tap into the fantastic resource available here. ”
“Never before have I seen a unique set of soccer specific performance & coaching specialists under one banner and available 24 hours a day 7 days a week to learn within the comfort of my own home. Being part of the educational partnership program with ISSPF has opened up a new & time efficient way for both myself as Technical Director, and my club coaching and fitness staff to up skill and develop as coaches.”
To know what difference could an ISSPF course make to your season and your career.
FREE Guide: Youth Soccer Athletic Development
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FREE Guide: Strength & Conditioning for Soccer Performance
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FREE Guide: Injury Prevention & Return To Play
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