| Unless you have been living in a hole in the ground, it | | | | for a whole week, can I try playing next week?" |
| won't have escaped your notice that David Beckham | | | | 4. Depression |
| is injured. He is now facing six months of rehabilitation | | | | As the weeks of enforced rest continue, a player |
| before he will be back to fitness. How must he be | | | | begins to feel sorry for themselves and can become |
| feeling? As a professional player, football is his entire | | | | increasingly withdrawn as they feel out of sorts with |
| life. His every waking moment revolves around | | | | life. It's at this stage, a player might lose hope of |
| football, so what happens when there is no football? | | | | ever fully recovering and give up on their sport |
| At any level of involvement, a sports injury that | | | | completely. |
| prevents you from doing what you normally do is | | | | 5. Acceptance |
| extremely frustrating. Even if you normally just meet | | | | At this final stage of acceptance, a player realises |
| up with the lads for a kick-about once a week, an | | | | that focussing on the physical rehabilitation process is |
| injury takes away your ability to play, to get some | | | | the way forward. |
| exercise, and to socialise in the process - it affects | | | | To be able to make the leap from 'depression' to |
| your life in many ways. | | | | 'acceptance' takes considerable strength of character. |
| David Doermann of the University of Utah in the USA | | | | The most important factor contributing to |
| describes the emotional effects of long-term sports | | | | psychological acceptance - and therefore recovery - |
| injury rehabilitation as being similar to the 'five stages | | | | is mental skill training. Only a matter of days after |
| of grief.' | | | | surgery on his Achilles, a statement from David |
| 1. Denial | | | | Beckham's club said: "The rehabilitation plan has been |
| Especially at elite level, a sportsperson considers | | | | established and will start immediately." That's the key |
| themselves to be 'superior' in terms of physical | | | | right there, the 'plan.' |
| strength - it's just not possible that they could be | | | | The most effective way to recover from injury and |
| injured. | | | | to remain positive and motivated throughout the |
| 2. Anger | | | | rehabilitation process is to use the sports psychology |
| The realisation that they are injured leads to anger, a | | | | technique of goal setting. Just as a player uses goal |
| period of being angry at themselves for having | | | | setting to get them to peak match fitness, the goal |
| allowed the injury to occur. | | | | setting process can also take them from injury to |
| 3. Bargaining | | | | recovery. |
| At this stage, an injured athlete will try desperately | | | | David Beckham may miss out on the World Cup finals |
| to speed up their return to play by attempting to | | | | but his focus will not be on missed opportunities, it |
| bargain with absolutely everyone. They'll plead with | | | | will be firmly fixed on the opportunities that are yet |
| the physio, the coach, and passers-by in the street | | | | to come his way as he makes a full recovery. |
| to be able to return to training - "if I do this exercise | | | | One newspaper report read... |