IB Sports, Exercise and Health Science Syllabus + Topics

• Children and adolescents

• Older adults

• Pregnant individuals

Fatigue and Recovery – HL Only

HL students additionally explore the physiological causes of fatigue and the science of recovery. Possible causes of fatigue include:

• Phosphocreatine depletion

• Liver and muscle glycogen depletion

• Changes in sodium and potassium concentrations

• Acidosis

• Accumulation of inorganic phosphate

• Dehydration

• Hyperthermia

You will also evaluate indicators and strategies for recovery, including:

• Blood lactate measurements

• Muscle soreness

• Psychological readiness

• Water intake

• Protein and carbohydrate intake

• Creatine

• Polyphenol-rich foods

• Myofascial release

• Compression garments

• Thermotherapy

• Sleep

Theme B – Biomechanics

Biomechanics applies principles of physics and anatomy to human movement. Rather than simply describing how someone runs, jumps, throws, or strikes an object, biomechanics allows you to analyze why a movement occurs, what forces are involved, and how technique could be made more efficient, effective, or safe.

Topic B1 – Generating Movement in the Body

This topic focuses on the anatomical and mechanical structures that allow the human body to produce movement.

Anatomical Position, Planes and Movement

You will become familiar with anatomical terminology used to describe human movement. This includes:

• Axial and appendicular skeleton

• Superior and inferior

• Proximal and distal

• Anterior and posterior

• Medial and lateral

• Major anatomical planes and axes

You will also study movement terminology such as:

• Flexion and extension

• Abduction and adduction

• Pronation and supination

• Rotation

• Circumduction

• Plantarflexion and dorsiflexion

• Inversion and eversion

At HL, this section extends into anthropometry, including the measurement of body proportions and its use in equipment design and ergonomics.

Structure and Function of Connective Tissues and Joints

You will examine the relationship between structure and function in:

• Bone

• Ligaments

• Cartilage

• Fascia

• Tendons

You will also investigate different forms of articulation, including:

• Fibrous joints

• Cartilaginous joints

• Synovial joints

Muscular Function

This section examines how muscles generate movement and stability. You will investigate:

• Motor units

• The all-or-none principle

• Muscle fibre types I, IIa, and IIx

• Motor-unit recruitment

• Hypertrophy and atrophy

• Agonists and antagonists

• Isometric contractions

• Concentric contractions

• Eccentric contractions

• Isokinetic contractions

At HL, you will examine the sliding filament theory, including the roles of actin, myosin, calcium, ATP, troponin, and tropomyosin in muscular contraction.

Levers in Movement and Sport

The body can also be understood as a system of levers. You will study:

• First-class levers

• Second-class levers

• Third-class levers

• Fulcrum

• Effort

• Load

• Mechanical advantage and disadvantage

You will consider both levers within the body and external sporting equipment that can alter movement or enhance performance.

Topic B2 – Forces, Motion and Movement

This topic applies mechanical principles more directly to sporting movement.

Newton's Laws of Motion

You will use Newtonian mechanics to explain linear and angular motion. Areas include:

• Speed

• Velocity

• Acceleration

• Force

• Weight

• Momentum

• Impulse

• Stability

• Centre of mass

• Base of support

• Angular motion

For example, you will consider why applying a greater impulse produces a greater change in momentum and how changes in body position influence stability. At HL, you will extend this understanding through ideas including:

• Collisions

• Coefficient of restitution

• Friction

• Work

• Power

Fluid Mechanics

This area examines how movement through air or water affects sports performance. You will study projectile motion and consider factors such as:

• Initial velocity

• Angle of projection

• Release height

• Gravity

• Air resistance

• Characteristics of the projectile

The wider biomechanics of fluids can help explain the flight of sporting objects and the movement of athletes through air or water.

Movement Analysis

Movement analysis involves breaking a skill into phases so that technique can be systematically studied. The syllabus uses phases including:

• Preparatory phase

• Force production

• Critical instant

• Follow-through for discrete skills

• Recovery for continuous skills

Movement analysis can then be applied to improve performance, rehabilitation, accessibility, and safety.

Topic B3 – Injury

This topic examines why musculoskeletal injuries occur and how their likelihood and consequences can be reduced.

Causes of Injury

You will distinguish between different risk factors for injury. External factors can include environmental conditions and the use or absence of protective equipment. Internal risk factors can include:

• Age

• Sex differences

• Pregnancy

• Training status

• Congenital factors

• Previous injuries

You will also distinguish between:

• Acute trauma – resulting from a sudden or excessive application of force

• Cumulative trauma – resulting from repeated applications of force

• Chronic or overuse injuries – often associated with repeated movement or biomechanical technique

Possible injuries involve connective tissues, muscle, bone, skin, and functional concussion-like brain injuries.

Interventions Related to Injury

This area examines approaches intended to reduce injury risk. You may consider:

• Protective equipment

• Equipment adjustment

• Body size and anthropometry

• Movement technique

• Appropriate training

• Force absorption

• Rehabilitation strategies

The overall aim is to understand how biomechanical and physiological knowledge can be used to prevent injuries and support safe return to activity.

Theme C – Sports Psychology and Motor Learning

Theme C examines the psychological factors that influence sporting participation, learning, performance, and well-being. Rather than focusing exclusively on elite athletes, the theme considers why people behave differently in exercise and health settings, how skills are acquired, what motivates people, and how psychological strategies can improve performance.

Topic C1 – Individual Differences

This topic examines why different people respond differently to the same sporting or exercise situations.

Personality

You will investigate personality traits and how they can influence behaviour. Personality factors may include characteristics such as:

• Extraversion

• Openness

• Conscientiousness

• Agreeableness

• Neuroticism or emotional stability

At HL, you will also explore social learning theory, including how behaviours can be learned through observation and imitation. An important point in the syllabus is that there is no single personality profile that predicts sporting success. Behaviour results from interactions between personality, experience, learning, and environmental factors.

Mental Toughness

Mental toughness examines how individuals respond to pressure and challenge. You will consider characteristics including:

• Confidence

• Commitment

• Resilience

• Perceived control

• Appraisal of challenges

Mental toughness can contribute to performance in high-pressure situations and may be developed through experience and training rather than being completely fixed. At HL, this extends into concepts such as:

• Self-fulfilling prophecy

• Learned helplessness

• Health outcomes associated with mental toughness

• Attribution theory

Topic C2 – Motor Learning

Motor learning examines how physical skills are acquired, practised, transferred, and perfected. You will study competing models of how motor learning occurs, including the information processing model and ecological model. You will also examine approaches such as:

• Traditional linear pedagogy

• Non-linear pedagogy

• Constraints-led approaches

• Schema theory

• Ecological dynamics theory

• Open-loop and closed-loop theories

Traditional models also describe three broad stages of skill learning:

• Cognitive

• Associative

• Autonomous

You will investigate how coaching should change as performers progress through these stages. Other concepts include the psychological refractory period, which helps explain why responding to a second stimulus can be delayed, and transfer of learning, which examines how previous experience affects the acquisition of new skills.

Topic C3 – Motivation

This topic examines why individuals begin, continue, or withdraw from sporting and physical activities. You will investigate different explanations of motivation and consider how factors within the individual interact with the sporting environment. Possible areas include:

• Achievement motivation

• Intrinsic motivation

• Extrinsic motivation

• Psychological needs

• Self-determination

• Rewards

• Goal orientation

• Coaching environments

You will also examine motivational climate. Two contrasting climates are:

• Mastery climate – emphasizes effort, cooperation, individual development, and improvement.

• Ego climate – emphasizes winning, competition, and comparison with others.

The syllabus identifies mastery climates as generally more effective for enjoyment, teamwork, and long-term performance. You will also explore how coaches can use the TARGET framework (Task, Authority, Recognition, Grouping, Evaluation, and Time) to create a mastery-oriented environment.

Topic C4 – Stress and Coping

Sport can create significant psychological pressure. This topic examines how stress, arousal, and anxiety influence health and performance.

Arousal and Anxiety

Arousal describes an individual's level of physical and psychological activation. You will investigate theories including:

• Drive theory

• Inverted-U theory

• Individual zones of optimal functioning

• Catastrophe theory

You will also distinguish between different dimensions and experiences of anxiety and examine ways anxiety can be measured through subjective and physiological measurements.

Coping

Coping strategies can broadly be divided into:

• Problem-focused coping – attempts to alter or remove the stressor.

• Emotion-focused coping – manages the emotional response to the stressor.

• Avoidance-focused coping – attempts to distance the individual from the stressor.

You will consider techniques such as:

• Problem solving

• Seeking information

• Social support

• Self-talk

• Relaxation

• Distraction

At HL, you will investigate how the effectiveness of different strategies depends on whether the stressor is controllable or uncontrollable, as well as the particular athlete and situation.

Topic C5 – Psychological Skills

The final topic examines psychological interventions that can be used to enhance performance.

Goal Setting

You will distinguish between:

• Outcome goals – focused on an objective result relative to others.

• Performance goals – focused on achieving a measurable personal performance target.

• Process goals – focused on the technique or strategy required to perform successfully.

The effectiveness of different goals depends partly on the individual and their achievement motivation. At HL, you will additionally investigate:

• The goal-setting paradox

• Goal adjustment

• "Do-your-best" goals

• Open goals

Imagery – HL Only

HL students also study imagery as a psychological skill. Imagery involves mentally recreating experiences using different senses without physically performing the activity. You will examine:

• Cognitive imagery

• Motivational imagery

• Specific and general imagery

• PETTLEP

• Paivio's imagery framework

PETTLEP considers physical, environment, task, timing, learning, emotion, and perspective when designing effective imagery interventions.

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