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The strength and stamina governing of sports is over, and the age of the mentally tough athlete has arrived
Mental imagery and athletic performance
The strength and stamina governing of sports is over, and the age of the mentally tough athlete has arrived
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Injuries are part of an athlete’s life from the time they decide to train. An athlete is aware of the risks in order to be perform and be the best at what they; however, they cannot afford to think they will be injured. They must adopt a mindset that they are untouchable and the best in order to perform and train and peak efficiency. When an injury is sustained however, the effects are disastrous to an athlete not only physically but mentally. An athlete’s mind is the most important thing to them arguably, because without the will power and determination channeled from their mind they would be unable to perform. Injuries in athletes can change their mentality, increase depression, and shake confidence (Clemtent, 2015). Injuries may affect the physical body but many researchers and doctors tend to think the mind is even more affected then the body. Injuries are only physical but mental and affect the psyche of athletes in every sport. This paper will discuss the psychological effects and impact of injuries that can lead to depression, lack of confidence, and change in realistic expectations and the limited …show more content…
In 2014, a group of doctors ran a study looking for specific symptoms in injured athletes and compared them to athletes that had not been previously injured (Fordyke, 2014). Lack of confidence was not one they specifically outlined in their research, but noticed its effects during the study. The athletes demonstrated: grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then acceptance (Fordyke, 2014). These signs could not be found in any of the health professionals. However, with all of these negative symptoms, there was one more problem that caused the athletes difficulty in returning: they had no confidence in their body, which meant they were not mentally ready or fit to return to the field of play. Without confidence, an athlete is unable to
Al Toon, father of Saints receiver Nick Toon, was forced to leave professional football after sustaining nine concussions in eight years of professional football. Football is one of the most dangerous games. As the years go on, more and more rules are being written to prevent the danger, but danger is the nature of the game. Most of these rules are for the protection of the players, but there are times when injuries can be a good thing. The Philadelphia Eagles were 3-5 to start the year, but Michael Vick was injured and the backup quarterback led the team to be 10-6, win the division, and almost beat the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. "About 1.7 million Americans suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year, about three-quarters of them mild TBIs, or concussions" (Clemmitt). Traumatic Brain Injuries are used as the main form of evidence in Richard Cohen's claim that the end of the NFL is near, and quite frankly, his argument is pretty solid.
A change from a self-determined engagement in a sport to a much lesser degree of self-determination is a common theme among athletes’ burning out. In other words, as the true passion and love for the game fades away, the perceived costs of sustained engagement begin to outweigh the rewards afforded by the sport. After time passes, the inability to handle the negative appraisals can lead to such harmful outcomes as physical and emotional exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, devaluation, and then complete dropout of the sport (Holmberg and Sheridan,
At the snap of the ball a whole players world could come crashing down. The game of football holds a whooping 47% of all concussions reported in the world, while ice hockey and soccer trail behind. Football is America’s sport and its athletes become the world’s pride and joy, but what happens when an athlete is injured and is struggling to mentally get better. This topic hits close to home for me because it was the one sport my family praised and adored. My older brother who is now twenty five, played highschool football for the Laconia Sachems. Just the name Sachems is enough to make me get the chills. In 2007 the Laconia Sachems the only undefeated team to go on to win the New Hampshire state championship saw success, but my brother went
An anonymous person once said, "He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything." Ever since I was a young girl, I always knew I wanted to do something with helping people. But as I grew up, I also took an interest in sports, which leads me to where I am today. I would like to be able to help people in the sports ' world. In this essay, I plan to research concussions and how the long-term effects can impact people for the rest of their lives. Through research, I have learned exactly what a concussion is, the long-term effects and severity, and finally the treatments for a concussion. This relates to my senior project because for my final product, I will be presenting the lasting effects of concussions.
The two male athletes played Australian football at a national level, one female played volleyball at a regional level, and one female played basketball recreationally (Ford & Gordon, 1999). Ford and Gordon (1999) conducted semi-structured interviews with open- and closed-ended questions that prompted athletes to discuss the influence of social support during his or her injury. Both females were interviewed prior to surgery and at intervals of 10-13 days, 43-50 days, 75-92 days, and 120-125 days post- surgery (Ford & Gordon, 1999). The males were not interviewed prior to surgery; however, they were interviewed at the same intervals as the females post-surgery (Ford & Gordon,
However, what this argument does not take into account is that athletes have an abundance of pressure put on them that most non-athletes don’t ever experience. Hence, the saying, “go hard or go home”. A recent study emphasizes this fact as McClatchy notes, ”The researchers monitored mood levels of 465 collegiate athletes over three years and found 6.3 percent of the athletes met the criteria for clinically significant depression and 24 percent were considered ‘clinically relevant’ “ (2016). Studies like these prove that athletes are not blind to the idea of depression, but rather experience this disorder themselves. Anxiety has a huge role in depression. As sportsperson, there is constant effort to become an awe-inspiring player. As the stakes of the game raise, so does the anxiety. Some want a scholarship, some want to show off what they offer to a team that got a scholarship, and some are professionals. Regardless of whether it's grade school sport or a professional sport, failing at personal goals one set is down right depressing. Kearns and Hwang state that, ”While it’s not clear whether the source of challenges to a student-athlete's mental well-being is the same as those non-athletes, collegiate athletes are known to encounter unique stressor that the general population doesn’t have to deal with, such as the demands, relationships with coaches and missed scheduled classes” (2014). Pressure is something everyone experiences. However, athletes experience some of the same pressure that of non-athletes and then some. Being on a sports team is demanding to time and the idea of being “superior”. In athletics, coaches are everything. For example, If a coach likes how a person attributes as a team player, then that person will get a chance to shine. However, if the coach is not very fond of one, then the chances of opportunities are not very
The number of girls and women participating in all levels of sports has risen greatly in recent years, and the way they play has changed too. Women's sports used to be played by a slow defensive style. Today, the sports are played with speed, precision, and power. With these changes have come increased injuries, and female athletes have higher injury rates than men in many sports. Knee injuries have been rising in female sports. Anterior crutiate ligament (ACL) injuries have become the most common injury in the knee to female athletes. Females are four times more susceptible to injury then men.
Due to the nature of sport, athletes will always be faced with the possibility of becoming injured. Empirical research has demonstrated that injury has a psychological impact on athletes (Quinn & Fallon, 1999). Indeed, sports practitioners often witness negative psychological impacts such as depression and in extreme cases suicidal tendencies in the injured athlete (Jevon & Johnston, 2003). Injuries have a dramatic impact upon an athlete’s life (Deutsch, 1985), Crossman (1997) interviewed athletic trainers and established that 47% of respondents believed that every injured athlete suffered psychological trauma. Walker, Thatcher and Lavallee (2007), explain there is a need to advance current knowledge of the way injured athletes psychologically respond, with deeper understanding it would be possible to aid rehabilitation professionals and help the athlete cope better psychologically. Psychological issues have an important role in the athletes ability to recover from injury (Arvinen-Barrow, Penny, Hemmings, & Corr, 2010), understanding how an athlete responds will have multiple practical implications. Ford and Gordon (1997) suggest that if an athlete experiences negative emotions then it will lead to non-complinace of the rehabilitation process. In order to understand athletes psychological responses to injury several frameworks have been suggested. These include the: integrated model of response to sports injury and rehabilitation (Wiese-Bjornstal, Smith, Shaffer, & Morrey, 1998), the Bio-Psychosocial model of sport injury rehabilitation (Brewer, Andersen, & Van Raalte, 2002), the staged-based grief response models (Kubler-Ross, 1969) and the stage model of the return to sport (Taylor & Taylor, 1997).
Coping with injuries can be both physical and psychologically challenging. Recovering from sports injuries, ...
The athlete and really the sport overall I chose to focus on throughout the course of this paper is the football player and the mindset in which he operates, while in what seems to become his natural environment and other factors which may alter that mindset in a positive or negative way. Having experience as a football player from my youth until present day helps to really analyze the mindset and thinking of this specific athlete and express through experiences my thoughts and feelings concerning my research found. Paul Bear Bryant a very well-known and respected coach for many years in the college football world once said, “When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.” This quote is an excellent example of football psychology and the type of thinking a football player must have, which is also helpful to have off the field. Mistakes are going to happen, learn from them and get better. Football is all about training the mind, which alters the behavior on the field.
Creative new training methods, developed by coaches, athletes and sport scientists, are aimed to help improve the quality and quantity of athletic training ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). However, these methods have encountered a consistent set of barriers including overtraining ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). Due to these barriers, the need for physical and mental recovery in athletics brought an increasing attention in practice and in research ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1).
Anxiety and Athletic Performance Introduction Athletes today need to be able to cope with the anxiety and pressure that is placed on them in the competitive world of sports. A large deal of research has been done on examining the relationship between anxiety and performance within the field of athletics. This paper is going to show that the mind of an athlete has a lot to do with the result of the particular event. In order to show that anxiety in athletes is a significant problem, this paper is going to be set up in three different areas in order to explain exactly how anxiety affects the athlete. The first section of the paper is going to explain the history and terminology of the study of anxiety in athletes.
Playing a sport whether its basketball, soccer, football or any other of your interest can be thrilling, and exciting. Not only can it be fun, yet physical exercise is good for the mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, as an athlete, one must keep in mind that playing any sport, injury is part of life and inevitable. Research has proven from time to time that severe injuries in sports can trigger psychological mental health issues, affecting their athletic performance. Recovering from an injury can indeed be a difficult process and athletes must wait for however long before being able to play the sport again.
Vickers, E. (2014, February 11). Mental Health in the Student-Athlete. - The Sport In Mind – Sport Psychology. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://www.thesportinmind.com/articles/mental-health-in-the-student-athlete/
Sports and performance anxiety often go hand-in-hand, while many athletes become "pumped up" during competition, when the rush of adrenaline is interpreted as anxiety, and negative thoughts begin to swirl, it can have devastating effects on the overall per...