Mental Therapy In Sports
Oftentimes, mental health is one of the most disregarded aspects of recovery post-injury. Referred to as sports psychology, or mental conditioning, it plays a crucial role in enhancing athletic performance. Sports medicine professionals recognize that there is a certain connection between mental health and physical health that needs to be addressed and in this article, we will take a look at key aspects of mental therapy in sports.
Performance Enhancement
Within performance enhancement, sports medicine doctors oftentimes help athletes set achievable goals. What happens is athletes might set goals for themselves that are simply inhumane which will take a toll on their mental health when they can’t achieve them. To prevent this, the sports medicine professional will, in conversation with the athlete, come up with some achievable goals that both can be satisfied with.
When these goals are then achieved, athletes will feel a sense of motivation to keep pushing forward. It’s important to take small steps to a bigger picture rather than paint the bigger picture right away, and be disappointed when it is taking too long. For example, a golfer might focus on learning how to hit the ball with a set velocity to reach the necessary area rather than focusing on becoming the best player in the world.
Within this process, athletes are also taught how to properly visualize their goals in order to enhance actual performance during competitions.
Stress Management
Athletes undergo many techniques such as meditation, breathing exercises, and mindfulness to manage stress, anxiety, and especially pressure during competitions. It’s important to understand that whatever you do, you will be okay. Sports medicine doctors often refer a patient to a therapist if it is apparent that the patient is going to have issues, especially after a bad season. It’s important to be open to your doctors about anything going on mentally as they can help you if you help them with information.
Athletes must also develop good coping strategies as setbacks are common in life. Many times, athletes feel helpless when they’re no longer seeing improvement. At high levels of competitiveness, it could take months if not years to see even little improvement, and many people during this time feel like they can no longer keep up with this. So it’s important to understand that results will come over time and you should not rush things.
Concentration
Athletes can work with therapists and sports medicine doctors on how to maintain concentration on the field and off the field on what needs to be done. At the same time, athletes need help managing between their goals and their fun personal life and that takes skill. This is why many simply can’t find that line and go into a sense of obsession for either their personal life while throwing away their career or their career while throwing away their personal life.
Establishing strong pre-workout routes can also help concentration as a key part of concentration is to make sure you are not worried about many other things. So, when proper routes and plans are established, athletes feel more prepared for the hurdles coming up and they are then able to concentrate on what their goals are and what needs to be done for those goals.
Team dynamics
Athletes must learn to properly communicate with their team as miscommunication can lead to avoidable stress on both sides. Not only that, it is important to have proper communication within the game as well as it is an important tactic in all sports. If not, it could cost losing that game or season which could lead to further mental health problems as it has been proven that athletes hate to lose.
Athletes must resolve conflicts quickly and swiftly. Not doing so could not only result in further physical altercations, it could even ruin one’s career. Not only that, it's important for the team dynamic to be good to perform well in the game. It’s especially important to maintain good team dynamics with other teams to create a safe sports environment without altercations that would just bring a bad name to the respective sports.
Injury Rehabilitation
Coping with injuries themselves is a huge challenge for athletes that must be conquered. You must heal your mental health alongside your physical health, as with the improvement in mental health, it has been proven that there have been physical benefits from it as well. Coping with injuries is a challenging aspect of an athlete's career. Mental therapy assists in managing the psychological impact of injuries, facilitating a smoother recovery process.
It’s always important to reach out to proper counseling and support as studies have shown a record number of mental health issue cases in the recent years. It’s important to work through trauma with a professional rather than bottling it all up which could lead to an explosion in the end through anxiety, stress and perhaps even suicide.
Please call 988 for the suicide prevention line
It’s important to encourage athletes to reflect on their performance in a healthy manner rather than just beating themselves up. Oftentimes, when facing disappointing results, athletes tend to give up on their dreams and start finding others to blame (in a lot of cases it’s themselves). So it’s important to sit down with your doctor or psychologist and express your concerns on where your life is going and also to make a game plan to improve rather than giving up.
In conclusion, the significance of mental health in sports recovery cannot be overstated. Despite its frequent oversight, mental well-being, often addressed through sports psychology or mental conditioning, is integral to optimizing athletic performance. It’s evident that fostering a positive mental state is not only beneficial for athletes' overall well-being but is also a vital component in their journey towards successful recovery post-injury. Recognizing and prioritizing mental health in sports can contribute significantly to achieving peak athletic performance and promoting holistic recovery strategies
Sources -
“Sport Psychology Articles: Sports Psychology Today - Sports Psychology.” Sports Psychology Today - Sports Psychology | Provided by Mental Edge Athletics, 8 June 2016, www.sportpsychologytoday.com/sports-psychoogy-articles/.
“Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/pubs/journals/spy/. Accessed 8 Jan. 2024.
