Return to Performance

Bringing a Performance Mindset to Dealing with Sports Injuries

Bringing a Performance Mindset to Dealing with Sports Injuries

Sports injuries pose arguably the biggest trials for aspiring performers, challenging not only the body but also the mind. How the performer and those around them approach and handle the process that follows more severe injuries in particular can prove to be pivotal. What mindset the performer and those around them bring to the task of dealing with injury is hugely influential in shaping the route this takes. A performance mindset goes a long way when contemplating the path forward following an injury. Indeed belief alone plays a role in shaping the eventual outcome. There is evidence that those who express high expectations of making a successful return as they enter the process (such as prior to surgery) are more likely to ultimately achieve that outcome in reality.

Weekly Reflections: Real Life Meaning

Weekly Reflections: Real Life Meaning

Last weekend a former athlete reached out to me. Seumas was one of the student athletes on the university sports scholarship programme I was responsible for (his sport was rugby union), and I trained Seumas for perhaps three years during my time in Edinburgh before we moved to New Zealand. Aside from seeking to wish me happy birthday, Seumas wanted to thank me for the knowledge and coaching input I gave him as an athlete, but more specifically for helping him through challenging times during an extended injury lay off. Seumas went on to say that the help and guidance during that time had strengthened him mentally, and as a result has had an enduring benefit in all aspects of his life since then. The idea that the coaching I provided to an athlete might have had a lasting impression on them is of course gratifying, but more striking was the assertion that there was a real impact on the life of the athlete. So that is the theme for this week’s post.

Weekly Reflections: Partnerships

Weekly Reflections: Partnerships

Welcome back to regular readers, and a warm welcome to those who are new to the Prepared Athlete Training & Health project. The theme of our regular update this week is partnerships. As noted in the prologue we shared, the genesis of this project was built upon the ultimate partnership, in the sense that my wife Sian is the most important partner, enthusiastic supporter, de facto benefactor, and business coach behind this endeavour. Beyond that, this thread of partnerships runs through all aspects of how Prepared ATH operates and our work with athletes. And as luck would have it, each of these various facets have been evident over the past two weeks!

Weekly Reflections: Managing Injury and Return to Performance

Weekly Reflections: Managing Injury and Return to Performance

After a week’s hiatus for some rest and recuperation, coinciding with a trip to Europe, we return with our regular update from the Prepared Athlete Training and Health project. Following recent events, a post on the theme of injury management and return to performance seemed apt. It is also always helpful to articulate what role and functions I fulfill in this space. As a sports medicine physician I met up with this week remarked, ‘it must be a confusing for some people, as you are not a (medical) doctor or a physio’. Indeed my wife also asked this week what I call what I do in this space, as she was having a hard time explaining it to a friend of hers. So in this week’s offering I will attempt to clarify those questions as we outline the process and rationale for working with injured athletes and preparing them to return to performing.

Weekly Reflections: Endurance Runners and Multisports Athletes

Weekly Reflections: Endurance Runners and Multisports Athletes

Regular readers will be familiar with my comments about Vancouver drivers and the perils of cycling amongst them. This week events progressed to the logical conclusion, as I was taken out by a car on my ride to a coaching session on monday. To be fair it was the middle of the day. In the sunshine. On a straight road designated as a greenway for cyclists. And I was wearing a high visibility fluorescent yellow top. With my lights on and flashing. So I guess I was asking for it. In tribute to the triathlete I was due to be coaching on the day who was very understanding, and also a triathlon coach I connected with this week, the theme of this week’s post is the value of the Prepared ATH service offering for multi-sports, such as triathlon, and endurance runners.

Weekly Reflections: Building Relationships and Collaboration

Weekly Reflections: Building Relationships and Collaboration

The response to last week’s first instalment has been positive, so that seemed to merit sharing another update. As I rode in the rain on my way back from coaching this morning I pondered what I should share this week, in between marvelling at how many drivers in Vancouver apparently have no grasp of how roundabouts work. The chosen theme this week is relationships and collaboration.