High-level athletes’ perceptions of success in returning to sport following injury

Citation

Podlog L & Eklund R (2009) High-level athletes’ perceptions of success in returning to sport following injury. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 10 (5), pp. 535-544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2009.02.003

Abstract
Objective: For many injured athletes, a safe and successful return to sport following injury is the ultimate aim of injury recovery. Little consensus exists however, regarding the meaning of a "successful" return to sport following injury recovery [Evans, L., Mitchell, I., & Jones, S. (2006). Psychological responses to sport injury: a review of current research. In S. Hanton, & S. D. Mellalieu (Eds.), Literature reviews in sport psychology (pp. 289-319). New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers]. The purpose of this investigation was to obtain greater insight into this issue by examining high-level athletes' perceptions of a successful return to play following injury. Method: Using a longitudinal design, 12 elite athletes from Australia and Canada were interviewed on a total of 40 occasions over a six-eight month period. Results: Perceptions of success centered on (but were not limited to): a return to pre-injury levels and attaining pre-injury goals, staying on the "right" path, creating realistic expectations of post-injury performance, and remaining uninjured. Conclusions: Consistent with previous research [Podlog, L., & Eklund, R. C. (2007a). Professional coaches perspectives on the return to sport following serious injury. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1, 44-68], findings from this investigation highlight the importance of self-determination theory (SDT) constructs - namely, competence, autonomy and relatedness - in relation to athlete perceptions of a successful return to sport from injury. Such findings support the value of an SDT perspective in guiding future research and intervention efforts aimed at facilitating successful return from injury.

Keywords
Injury; Perceptions of success; Self-determination theory

Journal
Psychology of Sport and Exercise: Volume 10, Issue 5