Write your search in the input below and press enter.
Esc to close.

The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich

Peak Performance:
Not Just for Sports, for Life

  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
    • Recent
    • Athletes
    • Coaching
    • Sports Parenting
    • Sports Administrators
    • Life
    • Administrators
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Hello. Sign In

My Account
  • Login
  • Register
0
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk
Subscribe
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich
  • Recent
  • Athletes
  • Coaching
  • Sports Parenting
  • Life
  • Administrators
Home / Blog / Recent Fast Injury Recoveries May Be Misleading for Young Athletes

Recent Fast Injury Recoveries May Be Misleading for Young Athletes

By: Dr. Chris Stankovich | @DrStankovich | Dec 27, 2013

No Comments

aaron51710

This week Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will return to action after breaking his collarbone in early November.  LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant came back much sooner than anyone expected when he returned to action last month, only to be sidelined again after only 6 games.  Robert Griffin III played most of this year after what many would have considered to be a career-threatening type injury to his knee from the previous season – and now many wonder if his return was too soon and led to his struggles this season.  Adrian Peterson of the Vikings is another example of an athlete who made a remarkable injury comeback, but many wonder if his return was too soon considering the serious nature of his injury.  These are all great athletes — but are they super-human and able to speed up the necessary injury rehabilitation process for the body to make a full recovery?

Speeding up injury recovery may not be realistic

While we are witnessing great advances in science, technology, and medicine everyday, we must also wonder if there is becoming a false confidence in sports where increasingly more players are believing that they can somehow come back from serious injuries faster than ever before?  Even with the latest technology and procedures in medicine, our bodies still need time to rehabilitate — but as rehabilitation time shrinks, we must wonder if these athletes who come back from serious injuries really are ready to return to action?

Concussions, broken collarbones, and ACL injuries are injuries that require both appropriate medical attention and time to heal.  The problem, however, is that more athletes today are trying to bypass the time needed to allow their bodies to get back to “playing shape,” and instead putting themselves at greater risk by returning too soon.

The mental game

Aside from the physical aspects of injury recovery, there are also mental concerns that impact the return to action.  In fact, athletes generally struggle with the mental side of injury rehabilitation far more than the physical side, especially when you take into consideration the importance of playing with confidence and conviction.  When athletes come back too soon and their confidence is still not back, they generally play tentatively and actually open themselves up to re-injury. 

Unfortunately, in many cases the mental side of injury recovery is often overlooked or ignored, and only acknowledged when the athlete goes out to play in real games again and seems unsure of what he or she can do.  This is often confusing to coaches (and fans) when all the medical reports show that the athlete should be OK to play, but just doesn’t seem “right” out there.  Since there are not clear, objective measures for confidence and anxiety as there are for knee strength, it can be difficult to understand the impact of “mental toughness” as it applies to coming back from an injury.

Impact on young athletes

Young athletes are very impressionable, and the concern today is that increasingly more kids are beginning to think that they, too, can come back in record time from serious injuries.  This is especially concerning when you consider that their bodies are still growing and really need the time for rehabilitation and rest – and how a premature and ill-advised comeback can actually lead to an early retirement from sports.  Yes, it is exciting to see stars like RGIII, Kobe, And Aaron Rodgers come back quickly from injuries, but young athletes need to be realistic with their own injury recoveries and realize that they are still young and don’t have the same medical attention as pro athletes have at their disposal.  And even with the best medical procedures, the jury is still out on whether these rapid injury comebacks make much sense — even for pro athletes.

www.drstankovich.com

 

 

griffin, injury, kobe, psychology, recovery, rehabilitation, rodgers, sport

  • Author
  • Comments
  • Details
Get to Know the Author

Dr. Chris Stankovich

Dr. Stankovich has written/co-written five books, including Positive Transitions for Student Athletes, The ParentsPlaybook, Mind of Steel.

Latest Blog Posts

  • June 29, 2022 Don’t Discount the Value of Fun, Unstructured Play for Kids Mental Health
  • June 20, 2022 Sports Parents & Coaches Can Use Youth Sports as a Mental Health Boost for Kids
  • June 15, 2022 Show Kids How Much You Care Before You Teach Them What You Know
  • June 14, 2022 Study Finds Team Sports May be Best for Kids & their Mental Health
  • June 8, 2022 Accepting that Life is Difficult is a Healthy 1st Step Toward Life Success

Comments are closed.

PREVIOUS POST

The Youth Sports Challenge: Delivering Needed Training to Volunteer Coaches

NEXT POST

Psychology explains craziness with football coach hiring and firings

Category

Amateur , Athletes , Athletic Counseling , Coaching , College , Communicating with Coach , Confidence , Leadership and Role Modeling , Mental Toughness , Performance Enhancement , Prep , Pro , Pro and College Sports , Psychology of Injury , Sport Psychology , Sports Culture and Society , Sports Parenting , Sports Performance Science , Sports Safety , Stress , Training and Development , Youth and Interscholastic Sports , Youth Sports

Tags

griffin, injury, kobe, psychology, recovery, rehabilitation, rodgers, sport

  • Recent Posts
  • Most Read
  • Don't Discount the Value of Fun, Unstructured Play for Kids Mental Health
  • Sports Parents & Coaches Can Use Youth Sports as a Mental Health Boost for Kids
  • Show Kids How Much You Care Before You Teach Them What You Know
  • Study Finds Team Sports May be Best for Kids & their Mental Health
  • Accepting that Life is Difficult is a Healthy 1st Step Toward Life Success
  • Overcome the Fear of Failure, Improve Mental Toughness, & Experience Success
  • How Much Impact Does a Coach Have on Sports Team Success?
  • Avoid the Dangers of "Whataboutism" for Better Relationships & Improved Mental Health
  • Help Kids Maximize Youth Sports by Using Athletic Transferable Skills
  • Improve Mental Health by Means of Catharsis & Purging Negative Thoughts
  • The Sports Doc on TV

    Catch Dr. Stankovich’s tv, radio, and print interviews and columns here!

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Watch Videos
  • Sport Performance Assessment

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Quickly and accurately test your level of mental toughness in just a few minutes using the Sport Performance Assessment.

    (SPA), an easy-to-use sport psychology system specially designed to help you REACH YOUR FULL ATHLETIC POTENTIAL.

    learn more
  • SportsSuccess360

    Life strategies for performance and character development for coaches, parents, and student athletes competing in youth and interscholastic sports.

    Life Strategies learn more
  • Contact Dr. Stankovich

    1395 Grandview Avenue Suite 6, Columbus OH 43212

    (614) 561-4482
    Media & General Inquiries
    information@drstankovich.com
    Sales & Product Support
    sales@drstankovich.com
  • About Dr. Stankovich

    • Media
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Products

    • Toolkits
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Audio
    • iPhone Apps
  • Services

    • Athlete Performance Training
    • Parent Community Forum
    • Coach Education & Development
    • Athletic Crisis Response and Intervention
    • Drug & Alcohol Assessment
    • Life Success Programs
    • Counseling & Consulting Services
  • Blog
  • YouTube
  • twitter
  • facebook

All rights reserved © 2022 Advanced Human Performance Systems™

↓ ↓