Restoration of confidence and perception of coaches following sports injury

Abstract

The cognitive response is an important component of the psychological recovery from athletic injury. This study was aimed to investigate changes in the psychological readiness to return to sport among injured athletes and to assess how athletes’ confidence is perceived by their coaches. Participants were 13 athletes, aged between 15 and 34 years (M = 20.7, SD = 6.0) who practiced team sports. All participants completed the Spanish version of the Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport Scale (I-PRRS) at four time intervals during the injury recovery process. Coaches responded the I-PPRS before returning to competition and after competing again. Results showed that the athletes’ confidence was lower immediately after suffering the injury and increased significantly before practice, before competition and after competition. Athletes’ perceptions of confidence before and after competition did not significantly differ from perceptions of their coaches. The findings indicate that coaches are aware of the confidence levels of athletes recovering from injury.

Keywords

• athletic injury
• self-confidence
• recovery