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  • MariahLEvans

Overcoming the Mental Barriers of an Injury

More and more athletes are getting serious injuries at younger ages. They spend so much time trying to perfect their craft that their body takes constant pounding without any recovery time. Most athletes who want to be collegiate-athletes one day then they have to play in club and high school to compete with the best in the country. This leaves little room for time off and makes injuries extremely stressful. But the hardest part of an injury is usually not the pain of the surgery or recovery, but being able to overcome the mental barriers once you have returned to play.

If you are a collegiate-athlete you are considered very lucky if you have not already had a serious injury or surgery. Torn muscles, broken bones, concussions, and high sprains are normal occurrences. In my junior year of high school, I tore both hip labrum's by doing the splits while I was diving to get a ball. I tore my labrum's at separate times, but I was doing the same movement. This kept me out for a total of seven months. Since my club and high school seasons overlapped, I felt like I was letting down my teams on both ends.


For myself, the surgeries were painful, but my mentality was that pain is temporary. I was going to get through this at be back on the court in no time. The tournament that I tore my labrum at was the best I had ever played. It was right after I committed to UNC and I was named a high school All-American, so I was pretty full of myself. I thought I was going to bounce back with absolutely no problems and physically that was true, but my mental state was more affected than I would have expected.


When I came back to play after my first surgery, I had gained weight from being out, which made my feet slower. I had expected some setback, so I started getting back in shape. My club team was in the middle of qualifying season, which means it was only two weeks before I had to play at my first national tournament back. The third day of that tournament, I did the splits when I was diving and tore my right labrum. I finished that tournament and played the next weekend to help my team qualify for nationals. My second surgery was scheduled right after. This is when the doubt started creeping in.

I was only going to have a year to get back in shape before leaving for UNC. I was already out of shape. My skills were just going to get worse with another four months of not playing. Would I be able to get back to where I was? How am I going to stop this from happening again? Will my hips always be damaged from this?


All of these thoughts and doubts were constantly whirling around in my head. Being an elite athlete means half of the battle is keeping up your confidence. If you don't have confidence in yourself, then how is your team and coaches going to have confidence in you? My injuries gave me a serious case of imposter syndrome. I did not think I was ever going to get back to the player I once was. Along with the fact that I never knew if my body would be the same.


What really helped me get out of this cycle of hesitation was when I finally opened up about my fears to my mom. I could not keep all of my emotions bottled up anymore and I let her in on what I was feeling. She validated how I was feeling, which was nice to know that I was not the only person who has felt this way.


In addition to my doubts, my mind was protecting my body on the court. When I returned, my body started subconsciously protecting my hips. I would hesitate before making a play, which I had never done before. I had to have full trust that my hips were stronger after the surgeries than they ever had been. But I also had to be okay with giving my body grace. I had to recognize the trauma that I had put it through and give my mind the time just like I had done physically. Even though my body was healed, I was not psychologically fully healed.


If you are an athlete, who is coming back from or is in the mind of an injury. Remember that you are not the only one who has doubted themselves or worried about the future. A friend of mine just got injured and he shared a quote with me that said, "Worrying doesn't take away tomorrow's troubles. It takes away today's peace." Don't worry about what could happen, instead just take it one day at a time. Most importantly, give your body and mind the grace that it needs to heal.



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