Mental skills training has been shown to improve sport performance1,2,3. Performers can also benefit from sport psychology consultation to cope with injuries after they occur. Few performers or coaches though realize that mental skills training can also reduce the probability of injury during performance, so many are surprised to hear this.
Mark Andersen and Jean Williams first suggested that personality factors, perceptions, history with stressors and coping style, and yes, having mental skills, predicts the probability that an athlete will get injured4,5. Although the research has not always consistently supported each and every aspect of this model (e.g., personality no so much)6, research more consistently shows that athletes with greater life stress are particularly at greater risk of injury6,7. Certainly physical factors such as insufficient training, overtraining, fatigue, and muscle imbalance can predict injury6, but one study found that up to 18% of time lost due to injury was explained by psychological and social factors8.
How might stress be related to injury? Stress may interfere with performers’ concentration, narrowing their attentional field. This may cause them to miss important information, lead to negative thinking and excessive muscle tension, and can put performers at greater risk of injury5,6,8.
What can performers do to prevent injury? Research suggests stress management and mental skills training can help including progressive muscle relaxation, imagery, goal-setting and planning reduces time lost due to injury9, and a controlled study showed that similar cognitive behavioral stress management also reduced time lost to injury10. Follow this blog and these others (1, 2, 3) for more information about mental skills training to improve performance.
References
1Feltz, D. L., & Landers, D. M. (1983). The effects of mental practice on motor skill learning and performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of sport psychology, 5(1), 25-57.
2Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Zourbanos, N., Galanis, E., & Theodorakis, Y. (2011). Self-talk and sports performance: A meta-analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(4), 348-356.
3Weinberg, R. (2008). Does imagery work? Effects on performance and mental skills. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, 3(1).
4Anderson, M., & Williams, 1988. A model of stress and athletic injury: Prediction and prevention, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10(3), 297.
5Williams, J. M. & Andersen, M. B. (2007). Psychosocial antecedents of sport and injury: Review and critique of the stress and injury model. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10, 5-25.
6Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2011). Athletic injuries and psychology. Foundations of Sports and Exercise Psychology, 447-461.
7Cox, R. (2012). The psychology of athletic injuries and career termination. Sport Psychology Concepts and Applications, 440-461.
8Smith, R. E., Ptacek, J. T., & Patterson, E. (2000). Moderator effects of cognitive and somatic trait anxiety on the relation between life stress and physical injuries.
9Maddison, R., & Prapavessis, H. (2005). A psychological approach to the prediction and prevention of athletic injury. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 27(3), 289-310.
10Perna, F. M., Antoni, M. H., Baum, A., Gordon, P., & Schneiderman, N. (2003). Cognitive behavioral stress management effects on injury and illness among competitive athletes: a randomized clinical trial. Annals of behavioral medicine, 25(1), 66-73.
