Handling Setbacks as an Athlete

Introduction

No matter how much planning, training, and dedication goes into our high school and college athletes' sporting careers, it’s never all smooth sailing.

Setbacks happen. They may miss out on a place in the team, have a difficult relationship with the coach, or suffer an injury.

Part of our young person’s mental toolkit must be learning to cope and overcome when life gets in the way of their carefully set goals and best intentions.

When it all goes wrong

US gymnast Suni Lee understands setbacks more than most.

She won Olympic bronze, silver, and gold in Tokyo 2020 before suffering two kidney diseases. Despite being told that she was likely never to compete again and feeling like her body was failing, she stuck to her mantra: “Nothing more, nothing less.”

While learning to manage her illness, Lee pushed through – recovering her elite competition status and qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

And even though in 2023, she struggled to hold onto gym equipment during her build-up because her body was so swollen, she went on to become the first American woman to win two Olympic medals in the uneven bars.

She is still suffering, and each day brings new challenges, but she takes control and owns her illness.

At the time, a setback can feel catastrophic. When things go wrong for a sports person dedicated to their game, they can struggle to see their way past it.

With support from a sports psychologist, Marie shifts her mindset from outcome-oriented goals (winning races) to mastery-oriented goals (improving her form and strength).

She starts to see recovery and progress through a renewed focus on mastering the mechanics of sprinting, rehabilitation, and proper training techniques. By the time she reaches her senior year, Marie has returned to the track and is setting personal bests.

Her focus on mastery leads to long-term success.

Research recognizes the benefits of focusing on mastery goals.

A 2020 paper identified mastery goals as key to athletes’ enjoyment and motivation. They also helped the athlete recognize “the rehabilitation period as an opportunity to improve sport strategy, technical aspects of one’s sport, and previously neglected areas of one’s sport performance.”

Mastery goals are essential in the next section, where we reframe what has gone wrong.

Reframing setbacks

Before considering other ways athletes can manage setbacks, let’s look at another example from elite sports.

 Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith’s comeback has been described as nothing short of miraculous. Smith suffered a severe leg injury in 2018 that resulted in a life-threatening infection. Next came dozens of surgeries and the very real possibility of amputation.

 Yet Smith wasn’t prepared to let his football career end there. Through prolonged grueling physical therapy sessions, he pushed his limits beyond becoming mobile to become ‘game ready.’ 

 Skip forward to 2020 and he was back playing as the starting quarterback for Washington. 

 While he returned from injury as a winner, he still fights every day to retain stability and movement in his leg.

Setback analysis

 Many athletes would agree. Overcoming setbacks and getting back on track following failures taught them more than success ever did.

 Psychologists refer to this as ‘stress-related growth.’

 A process of setback analysis can help the athlete “to proactively reframe the setback as a learning experience, providing them with feedback and showing them what is not currently working well so changes can be made,” writes sports psychologist Jo Perry

 So, how do our young athletes turn a setback into a learning experience?

 Ask them to reflect on and perform the following:

1. Take a little time to grieve the setback. You need space to separate yourself from the emotion of what has happened.
2. Acknowledge what has happened. You can only move forward when you accept the new situation.
3. Stay upbeat and persistent. After you've had time to grieve what has happened, create an attitude based on taking control and owning the situation.
4. Capture the situation. It is helpful to take time to write down the details. "I missed a key shot in the final moments of a game," "I've torn a ligament," "I've been dropped from the team."
5. Identify the causes. Next, reflect and write down what could have contributed to what happened. "I wasn't prepared," "My skills weren't up to scratch," or perhaps "I was unlucky." Be honest with yourself.
6. Focus on what is within your control. It's helpful to create a list of two columns: 1) what's within my control (effort, attitude, skills, training, etc.) and 2) what I cannot control (the weather, referee's decisions, other athlete's behavior, and skills). Concentrate on 1).
7. Look for the Lesson. What are my takeaways from my current approach? Have I got skills to learn? Are there techniques I could adopt? Do I need to work on my endurance or my strengths?
8. Set a mastery Goal. We've already seen the benefits of mastery goals. Select several of the critical lessons learned and set some areas for improvement.
9. Create an action plan. Don't just write down what needs to improve; break it down into steps with clear definitions of the actions, the help you might need, and other mental preparation techniques. For example, if you missed the shot because of poor technique, focus on mastering that technique.
10. Don't be rigid. Stay flexible. Monitor progress and make adjustments. Are you progressing? If not, what needs to change? Who could you get advice from?

The aim here is to reframe what has happened. There is potential to recover from setbacks and use them as opportunities for growth and development.

Wrapping Up

References