Essays --

Sports injuries can have a shocking impact on athletes and the search for effective psychological rehabilitation methods have been ongoing. One study using the limitless sports injury survey found that athletes that healed the fastest engaged in more positive self-talk goal setting and healing imagery than slower healing athletes. It was found that the mental strategy of goal setting was the most productive technique and scientists believe the reason for this is that it is easy to learn and is within the athlete's control. The results of the study would suggest that there are many psychological factors that play an vital role in injury recovery. A number of other studies have demonstrated that speed of recovery was artificial by goal setting, attitude, descriptions, and social support. One study verified that imagery can be helpful in injury rehabilitation. Imagery is used often in training and competition, but athletes don't use it as often for recovery from healing and need to be reminded of its efficacy. It has been found that an athlete's inability to return to pre-injury performance levels was due to psychological factors and stressors rather than physical ones. One of the factors with an impact on performance levels post-injury is the athlete's perceived incapability to demonstrate the same skills they enjoyed pre-injury. One example of this is a rugby player who returned to the game after suffering a shoulder injury. He favored the injured shoulder and used the other shoulder more frequently. The result of this behavior was that he put extra pressure on the one shoulder setting himself up for future injuries. When an athlete returns to the game before they are truly ready the risk for more injures or re-injury is i ncrease... ...s can help distract you from pain. There are several steps to take in order to change negative self-talk that leads to increased pain into positive self-talk which speeds up the healing process and leads to decreased pain. The first of these steps is for the individual to make a list of all negative self-talk engaged in. The second step is to change each negative statement on the list into a positive statement. One example would be the following, I'm tired and don't feel like attending my support group tonight, but if I don't go I might miss out on some good tips like the ones I learned last month. I can always leave the meeting a little early step is to practice the positive self-talk. Even though it doesn't come naturally and may take some time to become comfortable with keep at it until it becomes second nature. (Anybody's Sports Medicine Book pg. 156-172)