Psychological Recovery for Return to Competition
- Oct 10, 2013
- 2 min read
One thing recreational and more serious, elite athletes have in common is that both often overlook the importance of psychological recovery as they prepare to return to competition. Many athletes go through the rehabilitation process and in preparing to return to competition find themselves anxious, nervous and lacking confidence in their body. In short, their mental game is not on par with their physical game. Two areas athletes can focus on to build confidence as they rest and rehabilitate an injury are the goal setting and imagery processes.
Goal Setting to Build Confidence
Injury is latent with a range of negative thoughts and emotions including: fear, doubt, blame, frustration, anger, and depression. Often many of these feelings center around a loss of control in the injury process. Athletes can regain a sense of control by setting frequent short-term goals that foster and develop the long-term goal of getting back to competition. Talking with your athletic training, physical therapist and/or medical provider about aggressive, yet realistic recovery, can help provide important information to establish recovery goals. As you work towards and accomplish each goal don't be surprised if you feel a sense of accomplishment and in turn greater confidence as you prepare to return to competition.
Imagery to Build Confidence
Though rehabilitation can be a long and monotonous process the human mind is an incredibly powerful tool that can actively be used to facilitate recovery. Research from the field of sport psychology suggests that imagery can actually be used to speed up the recovery process. Athletes who visualize the injury sight recovering and healing from the injury tend to require less rehab time compared to those who do not routinely and systematically utilize visualization techniques. One technique some athletes have had success with is visualizing an "army" of strong red blood cells "storming" the injury site with healthy, oxygenated blood. With increased blood blow comes important nurtients that aid in recovery process. If an "army" of red blood cell isn't a pleasant image for you to visualize choose an alternative that does work for you (e.g., medical doctors rushing to an injury victim, sport teammates racing to the mound after a pitcher throws a no-hitter).
If you'd like to learn more about psychological recovery or how to integrate mental training in your sport performance please contact Dr. Jason Grindstaff with Excel Counseling & Performance Consulting (jgrindstaff@cumerland.edu).
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