The mental effects of a past emotional or physical trauma or injury on an athlete’s present performances are relatively straightforward. For example, if I’m worried about re-injury, failure or getting yelled at and embarrassed by my coach again, then my pre- and during performance self-talk and concentration will focus on all these wrong things.
Because my concentration is off, I will unknowingly begin to undermine my self-confidence and send my anxiety level soaring through the roof. As I get more and more nervous, my muscles will automatically tighten, making it impossible for me to execute smoothly and effectively. Tight muscles always lead to stiff, mechanical and shorter movements, slowed down reflexes and reaction time, slower foot speed and body movement, mistiming, and sub-par execution.
So on a more conscious mind-body level, worry about the trauma or failing again will completely disrupt my attempts to return my performance to normal. Unfortunately, this is not all that the blocked and fearful athlete is dealing with. More subtle physical after-effects of the trauma are also operating within his body, just outside of the athlete’s awareness. Let me explain.
All traumas produce an instinctive, physiological fear reaction within the human organism. For example, when an individual is confronted by an attacker, he automatically responds defensively by either pulling his arms in to protect himself from a blow or holding his arms straight out in a defensive position with his hands up and wrists laid back, palms facing outward. In addition, the individual defensively rises up and rocks back on his heels. A similar defensive response can be seen when an athlete falls and attempts to break the fall by extending both arms outward, with wrists and palms laid back.
After a physical or emotional trauma, these instinctive bodily reactions to fear can get unconsciously triggered whenever the athlete is in certain stressful, performance situations reminiscent of the original trauma. For example, the athlete has to return to the same environment where he sustained his injury, I.e. the batter stepping into the batter’s box, the skier getting in the starting gate, the gymnast having to get back up on beam or the soccer keeper stepping back into goal. When this physical response to fear is internally triggered, the athlete’s muscles begin to work against themselves.
The re-experiencing of a traumatic evident is actually a PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) episode. The athlete in this situation is just like the combat veteran who, upon hearing a loud noise, suddenly begins to re-experience himself “back in the battle” with all its’ attendant images, emotions, physical feelings and smells.
What coaches and parents need to know about sports PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
”So many fear-based blocks do not make any logical sense to the adults involved. Parents and coaches can clearly see that there seems to be no apparent reason for the athlete to continue to struggle. As a consequence, they may begin to pressure the athlete or attribute her performance difficulties to being “willful” or “stubborn.” This reaction from the athlete’s parents or coaches only adds insult to injury. In fact, it frequently serves as yet another source of trauma for the athlete and its’ disruptive effects get stacked upon the original trauma. The end result: She gets even more stuck and her performance deteriorates further!
Understand that no athlete in her right mind would consciously choose to be stuck, paralyzed by fears or consistently fall apart under pressure. Also, know that your being unable to understand why the athlete is struggling when you think that she shouldn’t be, does NOT help that athlete get unstuck in any way! Demanding that she simply “do it” or “go for it” is of absolutely NO use to her. If she could go for it, play better or be more aggressive, then she would! If it were as simple as making a conscious decision to not be afraid up at the plate or to throw her round-off, back handspring, back tuck, then she would! As I’ve explained, the roots of the problem run much deeper than that. The athlete needs help in removing the trauma from her mind and body. As an appropriate adult, you must be supportive, kind and understanding. Impatience and intolerance of these kinds of performance problems will only serve to compound the problem.
Dr. Goldberg received his doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He specializes in sports psychology for peak performance and mental toughness for athletes of all ages and levels to bust slumps, blocks and fears and also builds children's mental skills, motivation and self-confidence in youth sports. As the Director of Competitive Advantage, an Amherst, Massachusetts-based performance consulting firm, Dr. Goldberg maintains a private practice and an extensive sports psychology phone consultation service for athletes around the world. More information at www.competitivedge.com.
