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Exploring the psychological aspects of sport injury
Exploring the psychological aspects of sport injury

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1 Coping with sport injury

Sport injury rehabilitation can be negatively influenced by psychological factors. Consequently, putting in place interventions to help people cope with injury can enhance the rehabilitation process. In the next activity you will explore athlete experiences of coping with injury.

Activity 1 How sports stars cope with injury

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Watch the video below which is a news item discussing how athletes cope with injury. As you watch, make a note of the factors and strategies the athletes say helped them to cope with injury.

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Transcript: Video 1

ALICIA PILLAY:
Injuries in sport are all part of the game. We take a closer look at how recovering from an injury is more than just getting back your fitness.
CLINTON GAHWILER:
Becoming injured when sport plays a huge role in your life, for example, in the case of a professional athlete or sportsman or woman, can be very traumatic, often because their entire identity has gotten caught up in me, the rugby player, the cricket player, the athlete, whatever it might be.
JP DUMINY:
It's pretty tough at times to recover from the trauma of the injury, first of all, I think not understanding or knowing how long you have or for how long you're out of the game for.
KYLE BROWN:
It's always tough knowing that you've got six months ahead of you not playing anything. You're not being part of anything that happens on the pitch. And that's going to determine how much involvement you can have with the team. And if you're going to be upset and you're going to be depressed the whole time, you're probably not going to be wanted too much on the team. So one of the biggest fights is to be positive, have a good outlook.
CLINTON GAHWILER:
I think the one thing that's really important for any professional or serious athlete is just to keep some perspective. And part of what that means is to recognise that over the length of an entire successful career, it's highly unlikely that one isn't ever going to be injured or sick or whatever. But almost one's response to how one deals with the setbacks is almost more important than the actual setback itself.
KYLE BROWN:
For me, the biggest thing for me was just to be realistic. The doctors told me six months. And that's minimum. I'm not going to be running in three weeks after I get the cast off or anything like that. You have to be realistic. And you've got to set these small goals and try to attain those. And if it doesn't happen, slight disappointment and move on. So it has been quite a mental battle. But it's been really good, really challenging. And hopefully I think I've grown a bit.
JP DUMINY:
I think I've been pretty blessed in having people around me in the physios and the trainers. And obviously the support of your family and friends and teammates, I think that has been the crucial part. Spending a Christmas at home is not quite the thing that happens for a cricketer. So I've enjoyed those sort of occasions. And just the whole processes has been good from a mental point of view and focusing on things that you wouldn't have if you're on tour and with the team and so on.
ALICIA PILLAY:
Working closely with physios, trainers, and psychologists who specialise in sport is key to the recovery process, not forgetting a good support structure from friends, family, and teammates will also help in the recovery process.
SPEAKER 6:
Eye Witnesses News, in touch, in tune, and independent. For the latest, log onto ewn.co.za, or ewn.mobi.
End transcript: Video 1
Video 1
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Discussion

The video provides more evidence of how difficult it can be for a sports performer to cope with injury and the importance of psychological intervention. The athletes in the video point towards the importance of the two interventions you are going to explore in this session. For example, Kyle Brown (rugby player) talks about the need to set realistic rehabilitation goals, and JP Duminy (cricketer) talks about the role of social support when stating the importance of receiving ‘support of family, friends and team mates’.