The Mindset of Athletes with Respect to Injuries

Passion can be a driving force and anybody’s life. For athletes there is have a passion to push themselves to the highest level in order to excel at whatever their given sport may be. However, sometimes this passion can be both beneficial and destructive. While the passion can allow the athlete to excel at the sport, if that athlete becomes injured that passion can cause the athlete to return to play too early. Returning to play too early can be harmful to the athlete whether it be immediately or years down the road. An athlete should not be returned back play until adequate healing and recovery has taken place and the athlete can return to playing sports at a pre-injury level. However this cannot always take place because the of the mindset of the athlete. Athletes have a different mindset than others when it comes to injuries. The desire to return to activity as soon as possible often interferes with the athlete’s common sense. According to Charles Peebles, if an injury cannot actually be seen by the athlete, such as a stress fracture, the injury does not instill into their minds that they need to stop whatever sport or activity they are part of (Peebles). The physician and the athletic trainer must protect the athlete from injuring himself/herself further and sometimes that involves making the decision that the athlete must stop his/her sport for a given amount of time. Healing and recovery may take time depending on the severity of the injury and the conditioning of the athlete. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, studies have shown that good conditioning can not only prevent injuries, but it can also lessen the severity of the injury and speed recovery (“Return to Play”). This is why some p... ... middle of paper ... ...to play after an injury. If an athlete is returned to play too early after an injury, he/she holds the risk of re-injuring themselves or having long term effects either right away or years down the road. While the athlete may not be able to return to play right away he/she may keep up with physical conditioning in activities that would not aggravate the injury. The key is to protect the athlete while still allowing them to stay physically fit for when he/she does return to play. Works Cited Peebles, Charles. "Key Insights On Returning Athletes To Sport After Injury." Podiatry Today. Podiatry Today, n.d. Web. 15 Nov 2013. "Return to Play." OrthoInfo. American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, n.d. Web. 15 Nov 2013. Sims, Abby. "Athletes' Recovery From Injury -- Are They Set Up To Fail? Part I." HuffPost Sports. The Huffington Post, 02 Jul 2013. Web. 15 Nov 2013.