Dealing with Injury - January 2023
Unfortunately, injuries are part of the sport. I have seen an increase in injuries with the gymnasts I am working with. These gymnasts are filled with so many mixed emotions: frustration, anger, sadness, and worry. So how can we help our gymnasts as they work to heal their injuries and make a strong comeback?
First, like anything, we need to ensure our gymnasts accept and acknowledge their emotions NO MATTER WHAT! It is completely normal for your gymnast to be experiencing a range of emotions.
One of the biggest concerns of gymnasts that I work with, is a loss of their skills and falling behind their teammates. We need to help our athletes accept that in the meantime, while injured, they might fall behind. Your gymnast has two options with how to deal with this anxiety and frustration of falling behind. They can ignore the injury, ignore medical advice, and try to come back before the medical clearance. However, this is most likely going to delay the healing process. On the other hand, the gymnast can accept the injury and refocus their intention on rehabilitation. As one of my favorite sports psychologists, Dr. Eddie O’Connor says, “Injury is not time off it is just spent differently.”
One of the best ways that athletes can work on their skills while injured is through imagery. The research on imagery consistently shows that motor learning can occur with imagery and that similar parts of the brain are activated during physical movement and imagery!
Lastly, most gymnasts fear once they return to the sport they will have to start all over on learning their skills; however, the gymnast’s improvement on their skills is actually faster than when first learned, and before they know it they will be back to the same level they were prior to the injury.
If you or your gymnast would like more support, check out my coaching services on my website.
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