Project Manuscript Final

Running head: RESILIENCE IN ATHLETES FOLLOWING INJURY

Psychology of Sport & Exercise

A Qualitative Study of Psychological Resilience in Athletes Following

Injury.

Asher Phythian

Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom

Clifton Campus

NG11 8NS

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RESILIENCE IN ATHLETES FOLLOWING INJURY

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the resilient qualities that facilitated

successful injury recovery using qualitative methods. Six previously injured athletes were

interviewed regarding their sporting injury. Inductive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke,

2006) was used to explore the transcripts for key themes. Seven higher order themes arose

(i.e. being motivated, experience of previous adversities, having support systems, using faith,

being confident, being positive, and being focussed) that acted as protective factors in the

injury process, facilitating a successful return. These findings offer support for Fletcher and

Sarkar’s (2012) work of Olympic champions and add to these findings in relation to sports

injury. The results are discussed and future research and applied implications are offered.

Keywords: Psychological resilience, sports injury, successful return,

qualitative, semi-structure interviews.

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A Qualitative Study of Psychological Resilience in Athletes Following

Injury.

Athletes who participate in competitive sport will inevitably

experience a number of stressors and adversities throughout their careers

(Mellalieu, Neil, Hanton, & Fletcher, 2009: Tamminen, Holt, & Neely, 2013)

and being able to respond positively to these various adverse situations is

essential for any athlete to achieve success. One of the more prominent

adversities faced by athletes is injury, with empirical evidence indicating

that injury is a stressful experience that challenges athletes’ resources

(Evans, Wadey, Hanton, & Mitchell, 2012; Podlog & Eklund, 2006; Wadey,

Evans, Evans, & Mitchell, 2011). Research over the past few decades has

looked at how psychological characteristics play a role in helping elite

athletes adapt to adversities on their path to excellence (MacNamara,

Button, & Collins, 2010); this influence of psychological factors on

athletes’ ability to withstand stress is generally conceptualized as

psychological resilience (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012;2013).

Fletcher and Sarkar defined psychological resilience as “the role of

mental processes and behaviour in promoting personal assets and

protecting an individual from the potential negative effects of stressors”

(2012, p. 675; 2013, p. 6). This definition encompasses both trait and

process conceptualisations of resilience, extending previous conceptual

work that focuses on resilience as a trait solely (cf. Windle, 2011). From a

trait perspective studies in clinical psychology developed a list of

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protective factors that help individuals achieve positive adaptation to

challenging circumstances. Rutter (1995) defined protective factors as “influences that

modify, ameliorate, or alter a person’s response to some environmental hazard that

predisposes to a maladaptive outcome” (p. 600). These protective factors influence the

individuals’ cognitive reactions in a constructive manner leading to facilitative responses.

Said cognitive reactions; the athletes ‘challenge appraisals’ and ‘meta-cognitions’, lead to the

athlete taking charge of their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Protective factors from

current literature include: self-efficacy and esteem, internal control, optimism, humour, and

social support (Rutter, 1985; Werner & Smith, 1992) others include: hope (Horton &

Wallander, 2001), and spirituality (Peres, Moreira-Almeida, Nasello, & Koenig, 2007).

Sarkar and Fletcher (2014) argued that the protective factors found in current, clinical based,

research are specific to the context in which they arise and cannot be easily generalised to a

sports context.

Resilience Research in Sport

In the first qualitative study of resilience in sport, Galli and Vealey (2008) looked to

explore athletes’ perceptions and experiences of resilience. They recruited 10 collegiate level

athletes who had experienced an adversity in their athletic career. Semi-structured interviews

were used to understand their perceived experiences of resilience, using Richardson’s (2002)

model of resiliency as a framework. Based on inductive analysis, Galli and Vealey (2008)

found injury to be an adversity for half of the athletes interviewed, with performance slumps,

and transitions also discussed. One particular limitation of this study is the wide-ranging

inclusion criteria for the type of adversity; therefore a deeper understanding of any one

particular stressor isn’t developed (Galli & Gonzalez, 2015).

Fletcher and Sarkar (2012), addressing some of the weaknesses of Galli and Vealey

(2008) study, interviewed twelve former Olympic champions and developed a grounded

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theory of psychological resilience and optimal sports performance. The study found that

Olympic champions faced a variety of stressors and presented a list of psychological factors

(protective factors) including: positive personality, motivation, focus, perceived social

support, and confidence which ‘protect’ elite athletes from the potential negative effect of the

stressors faced by affecting their challenge appraisals and meta-cognitions. This study,

although having limitations such as recall bias issues due to the reflective nature of the

interviews, furthered knowledge of psychological resilience, introducing the idea of challenge

appraisals and meta-cognitions as well as offering the first definition of resilience in a

sporting context (Galli & Gonzalez, 2015).

Brown, Lafferty, and Triggs (2015) conducted a more recent study of resilience in

winter sports. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven British elite winter

sports athletes. Injury was highlighted by a number of participants as important in regards to

the factors which contribute to resilience. Similarly, to the study by Galli and Vealey (2008)

this paper is limited by its reliance on Richardson et al.’s (1990) model which is focussed

highly on coping, which takes away from the uniqueness of resilience and its association with

conditions of adversity and positive adaption (Galli & Gonzalez, 2015).

Sarkar and Fletcher (2014) highlighted the importance of examining the interplay

between protective factors and stressors in athletes as it draws attention to the processes that

bring about adaptation or vulnerability in individuals. In their review, stressors were split in

to three categories: competitive, organisation and personal. Competitive stressors,

specifically, are defined as “the environmental demands associated primarily and directly

with competitive performance” (Mellalieu, Hanton, & Fletcher, 2006, p.3). Based on the

research of competitive stressors (Mellalieu, et al., 2009; Neil, Hanton, Mellalieu, & Fletcher,

2011), preparation, pressure, underperforming, and injury were all found to stressors in

relation to competitive performance.

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Sport Injury

Sport injury is a prominent stressor for athletes, and there is a growing body of

empirical evidence to support this (e.g., Evans, et al., 2012; Podlog & Eklund, 2006; Wadey,

Clark, Podlog, & McCullough, 2013). Returning to competition following injury can be a

difficult process for athletes (Bianco, 2001), for most athletes who experience this stressor a

successful return is the foremost goal (Podlog & Eklund, 2009). However, there is no general

understanding of what is meant by successful return (Evans, Mitchell, & Jones, 2006).

Podlog and Eklund (2009) addressed the aforementioned issue by investigating the

athletes’ perceptions of a successful return. Using a longitudinal design, twelve elite athletes

were interviewed a total of forty occasions over a six to eight-month period. Perceptions of

success concentrated on four categories: a return to pre-injury levels of performance,

attaining pre injury level goals, the absence of injury related concerns, and the ability to

overcome stressors such as injury in the future.

Present Study

Injury has been identified as a stressor prominently in psychological resilience

research (Brown et al., 2015; Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012; Galli & Vealey, 2008) and the

majority of sports injury research has been conducted regarding; positive rehabilitation and

how this is achieved (Podlog, Dimmock, & Miller, 2011; Podlog & Eklund, 2006, 2009).

There is a clear link between the two fields of research topics and as stated by Galli and

Vealey (2008) “athletic populations known to be at risk of psychological distress, such as

injured athletes, could be studied to better understand the unique characteristics and processes

that allow them to not only recover, but perhaps achieve psychological growth as a result of

their experiences” (p. 331). Fletcher and Sarkar (2012) emphasized that the influence of

psychological factors or ‘protective factors’ should be considered in relation to the specific

stressors faced and in the situation they occur. Currently, there are no studies that look at how

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psychological resilience can play a role in the resilient return from sports injury, which this

study aims to address. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to explore the resilient

qualities that facilitated successful injury recovery using qualitative methods.

Method

Qualitative methods were used to address the research question as they are well suited

to the revealing of protective process which are related to the experiences of the participants

(Ungar, 2003). Therefore, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with each participant

to elicit the protective factors relevant to their individual injury circumstances.

Research Design

Participants. The sample consisted of 6 males with ages ranging from 19 – 22 (M = 21, SD

= 1.55) years. The participants represented both individual (boxing) (n = 1) and team

(football and rugby) (n = 5) sports with a range of 9 – 15 years’ experience playing (M =

13.66, SD = 2.13). The criteria required for participation in the present study included the

need for the athlete to perceive their return from sporting injury as successful. This was

chosen to help explain the link between resilient qualities and successful recovery. The injury

in question should have led to an absence from sport related activity for 2 months or more

(Podlog & Eklund, 2009). This length of absence was selected due to previous research

having used a time loss of 1 month as a gauge for an injury to be considered serious (Bianco,

2001). The success of recovery was determined by athlete perception of their return based on:

a return to pre-injury levels of performance, attaining pre-injury goals, an absence of injury

related concerns, and an ability to overcome similar adversities (Podlog & Eklund, 2009).

The criteria for the study also included the participants’ injuries having occurred within 6

months prior to the interview being conducted. This was to eliminate issues with memory

recall.

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Interview guide. The interview guide (see Appendix A) was informed by extensive research

of both psychological resilience (Brown et al., 2015; Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012; Galli &

Vealey, 2008) and sports injury (Podlog & Eklund, 2006;2009) literature. In particular, Galli

and Vealey’s (2008) six-section framework was used to inform the interview guide as 5 of

the 10 interviewed athletes in the study identified injury as the most difficult adversity they

faced, with the following questions then being based on their injury experience; this guide

was then adapted to suit the current study. The guide was also consistent with research that

studied athletes’ response to injury and included the 3 phases synonymous with sports injury

(injury onset, rehabilitation and return; e.g., Evans et al., 2012).

The interview guide consisted of several structured questions so that all key concepts

regarding psychological resilience were addressed. The used of semi structured interviews

allowed the participant to guide the interview with their responses whilst staying in an

interview framework (Kvale, 1996). The guide was split into 6 sections (see Appendix A):

Introduction, rapport building, injury experience, resilient qualities, implications and ending

comments. The ‘injury experience’ section included questions regarding participants

experience of being injured; example questions include, “Can you tell me about your

experiences of being injured? (at onset, during, and post)” and “Could you describe the effect

the injury had on you as an athlete”. The ‘resilient qualities’ section looked to explore the

factors enabling an adaptive response and return to pre-injury levels of functioning, and

examined athletes’ protective factors which determined their capability to react positively to

adverse conditions. Example questions from this section include “What personal factors do

you feel were important in recovering from your injury?” and “What specific qualities do you

feel enabled you to be successful in returning from injury?” The interview was concluded by

allowing the participant the opportunity to discuss any issues they feel would enhance

understanding of their experiences of resilience following injury.

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Procedure. Ethical approval was sought and approved by the Nottingham Trent University

ethics committee prior to participant recruitment beginning (see Appendix B). The researcher

sought recommendations from contacts, clubs, coaches, and athletes in seeking suitable

candidates. Athletes who met the criteria were contacted using the following methods:

individualised emails to coaches, clubs, or the athletes themselves. Athletes who then

volunteered for participation were contacted to arrange an interview at a suitable time and

location. Before participation, all participants were given an information sheet (see Appendix

C) detailing the aims of the study and the aspects of their involvement and were asked to sign

a consent form (see Appendix D) and fill in a demographic sheet (see Appendix E) prior to

the interviews.

Data Collection. The interviews took place in suitable and pragmatic locations for both the

participant and researcher. Each interview lasted between 21 and 40 minutes (M = 30.67, SD

= 6.10) with all dialogue being recorded using an Olympus digital voice recorder (WS-852).

All interviews were transcribed verbatim (see Appendix F), totalling 54 pages, following

completion of the interviews

Data Analysis

Inductive thematic analysis was used as it was thought to be the correct design due to

its flexibility, its potential to provide a rich and complex account of the data (Braun & Clarke,

2006) and its use in other psychological resilience literature (Morgan, Fletcher, & Sarkar,

2013; Brown et al., 2015). In accordance with thematic analysis procedures

(Braun & Clarke, 2006), the transcripts were read and re-read to increase

familiarisation with the content. Preliminary codes were then extracted

from the transcripts. From this lower order themes were created. As the

lower order themes were examined, additional links and interactions

emerged which allowed higher order themes to be created.

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Methodological Quality

Tracy (2010) in her piece on qualitative quality offered 8 criteria for excellent

qualitative research which included: worthy topic, rich rigor, sincerity, credibility, resonance,

significant contribution, ethical, and meaningful coherence. The current research accounted

for quality of the research by addressing these criteria. Resilience is an emerging

phenomenon in sports psychology research (cf. Galli & Gonzalez, 2015), and with injury a

prominent stressor in many athletes’ careers, the current research should therefore be

considered a ‘worthy topic’. In terms of ‘rich rigor’, an appropriate sample was used, by

means of purposive sampling of participants who were the most appropriate persons for the

research (cf. Morgan, et al., 2013), specifically, athletes’ who had suffered an injury of

aforementioned length. The research addresses ‘sincerity’ through the honesty of the

researcher’s biases and goals, and how these played role in the development of the methods

(Tracy, 2010), specifically, the interview guide, although the questions weren’t leading,

questions were related to current resilient qualities already highlighted in previous research

(Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012). The ‘credibility’ criteria are addressed through the thorough

description of methods and research topics that will be implemented so the reader has the

ability to reproduce the work. ‘Resonance’ was achieved through reporting direct quotations

from participants, providing rich descriptions, and writing understandably (cf. Ungar, 2003).

The findings of this study are hoped to make a ‘significant contribution’ and offer a novel

understanding of resilient qualities and sports injury in athletes, and are applicable to a wide

range of practitioners’, coaches’ and athletes’. The research should be considered ‘ethical’ as

approval was gained by the ethics committee at Nottingham Trent University and the

researcher adhered to ethical practice throughout the interactions with participants. Finally, in

regards to ‘meaningful coherence’ the results answer the research question and the

conclusions.

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Results

The results found from the data collection and analysis represent the interview

responses of 6 athletes relating to psychological resilience and successful recovery from

injury. Findings have been presented using direct quotations, drawing directly from the

participants’ experience of resilience and injury, to represent the lower order themes (26) and

higher order themes (7). The higher order themes pertain to factors which protect the

individual from the negative effects of injury and comprise of the following: Being

motivated, experience of previous adversities, having support systems, using faith, being

confident, being positive, and being focussed.

Being motivated

This higher order theme refers to the injured athlete being prone to finding sources of

motivation in their environment which aids them being resilient. The being motivated higher

order theme contains 6 lower order themes: Motivation from exercise, passion for sport,

return to competition, looking back at previous performances, motivation from friends and

family, and having previous success.

Motivation from exercise. Being active in the gym was highlighted as one source motivation

during the participants’ recovery by one footballer who suffered a long period out due to a

broken metatarsal injury:

“Keeping active as much as I can… I couldn’t play so I knew my fitness would

deteriorate... even when my leg was in a brace… I feel just being active is important

in keeping you motivated to not give up”.

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Any source of activity seemed to lead the participants to gain motivation in their

recovery with the gym being cited as something which “got me back motivated” along with

walks and swimming.

Passion for sport. The participants’ passion for their sport was cited as a motivator in the

rehabilitation by 5 of the 6 participants who mentioned their “love” for the sport and the

“need to get back out on the pitch”. When asked what factor was the most important within

themselves which helped them get back, one participant stated following a long standing

injury:

“My … passion for sport got me motivated to get back into playing. I keep relaxed,

knowing I would get back and this time out wasn’t the end of the world, and my love

of the game just pushed me to stay fit “.

Return to competition. This lower order theme relates to the idea of returning to

competition acting as a motivator for the participants to push through their rehabilitation. One

participant who suffered a hamstring strain motivated themselves by thinking of their return

to competition… “another week, another week, I’ll be back next week”. Another participant

who broke their eye socket looked to the “period when you come back and start competing

again because that will motivate you to getting back…”.

Having previous success. The majority of participants had experienced previous successes in

the careers, with one participant stating: “winning everything there is to win in youth

football”, another “representing counties” and a couple generally playing at high standards.

These previous successes acted as a motivator to get back to that. One participant, a rugby

union player who suffered a broken humerus, had progressed from academy to championship

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level before becoming injured, and said: “I think my drive… I’ve always been quite

successful in sports so I was driven to get back to that success”.

Motivation from friends and family. Gaining motivation from the support of friends and

family acted as a drive for one participant who said:

“I think it’s also the support from family and friends as well. I’m quite lucky to have a

tight family, they get in contact with me quite a lot and again if someone’s asking you

how it’s all going it drives you on. Probably, I didn’t notice at the time, but you

wanna get back to it for them as well.”

Experience of previous adversities

This higher order theme refers to the participants’ previous experiences of adverse

situations and how these experiences may have helped during their rehabilitation. 5 of the 6

interviewed athletes had experienced some form of adversity during their careers, which

helped them be resilient during this injury setback. The lower order themes here include:

experiencing previous injuries, experiencing previous setbacks, and withstanding setbacks in

rehabilitation.

Experiencing previous injuries. Facing previous injuries was reported by 3 of the 6 athletes

with one participant, a boxer who had broken his eye socket, having suffered three or four

serious injuries in a couple of years, was asked if these experiences helped during his current

rehabilitation the participant stated:

“Yeah… I think there’s only so much you can do about it to the point where you can

either sit there and accept the circumstances and just carry on about your business and

continue to do what you do; you know what I mean? So, you can’t let it defeat you”.

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Experiencing previous setbacks in career. Reported setbacks in the athletes’ careers

included missing competitions, ending a trial with a professional team, and not being selected

due to size. One participant stated that:

“I was competing for about two or three seasons but didn’t… enter a major

tournament until my fourth year… I think that helps… by the time I got to my first

major tournament… I was probably ten times better than the people that were in the

tournament… it resulted in me winning… after all the other adversity I’d faced…

each one can make you stronger”.

Withstanding setbacks during rehabilitation. The participants who suffered more serious

injuries generally suffered setbacks during their rehabilitation and being mentally strong

enough to be resilient to these setbacks and not give up was important in the overall

rehabilitation process. One participant who suffered a broken metatarsal and was out for eight

months: “Well the doctor said five weeks… but obviously it turned out to be a lot longer…

the fact I was out for a lot longer than diagnosed didn’t really upset me too much…”. The

participant also stated this setback increased his “eagerness to get out and play”.

Having support systems

This higher order theme pertains to the importance and implications of having strong

support systems in place during the rehabilitation process. This theme consists of 5 lower

themes comprising of: importance of staying involved with the club/sport, motivation from

support, support from healthcare experts, support from other injured athletes, and support

from the club/team/coach.

Importance of staying involved with the club/sport. Staying involved with everything at

the club, and not distancing themselves helped the injured athlete be resilient during the

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process. One participant, when asked about the factors that helped during their recovery,

stated:

“I think keeping involved, and going to watch them play kind of took my mind off it,

in a sense, I was thinking another week, another week, another week, I’ll be back next

week and I kept thinking like that. So after I started going to the games, it kind of

helped me focus on getting back and I set goals of getting through each week, so just

immersing myself into it helped me”.

Support from healthcare experts. Having support from doctors, physiotherapists and

strength & conditioning coaches was cited has helpful by 4 of the 6 participants, this support

not only gave the participant an understanding of the injury but also the recovery process and

acted as a protective factor. Two of the participants had access to physiotherapy and strength

and conditioning coaches. One participant stated, when asked about how the coaches had

helped during their recovery, “the physios especially, I was having two of three sessions as

week just trying to build my arm up…”. Another participant suggested that “one on one

psychology sessions” would help during the injury process to “keep your mind going”.

Support from other injured athletes. Receiving advice from people who have also

experienced injury and also going through the experience with others was suggested as aiding

the rehabilitation process by 3 of the 6 athletes. One participant sought advice from a friend

who had experienced the same injury “so he knows about my situation, so he knows how to

get through tough times”. Two participants, who were part of the same club, went through the

rehabilitation together.

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“…quite a few of us were injured at the same time so it wasn’t just me in the

situation, the fact there was 3 of us, we were doing … every recovery session with

each other so it made it a lot easier.”

Support from the club/team/coach. Receiving support from the club, teammates and the

coach helped the participants with their recovery. When asked about the factors within their

environment which were important in recovery, one participant who had suffered a broken

eye socket, said:

“…my coach is very, very supportive and so there’s a very good infrastructure at the

club… I have a great relationship with my coach, bit like another family member. So I

think that helped a lot ‘cos they were all sympathetic to the situation and didn’t want

to rush me into making any decisions in terms of how I trained or not trained so that

helped a lot.”

Use of faith

2 participants of the 6 spoke about their practice of faith and religion seemed to

facilitate positive recovery and help athletes be resilient during the process. One participant

stated that his religion helped when he felt “isolated” and stated that “I think religion really

helped” in his recovery process. This higher order theme was made up of 3 lower order

themes relating to: religion creating focus, religion offering motivation, and religion creating

a positive outlook.

Religion creating focus. Religion seemed to lead to greater focus or being more

“disciplined” in the process. 1 participant, when asked what factors in their environment

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helped him, replied: “I think religion really helped, I prayed quite a bit, it disciplined me as

well, helped me think it’s going to pass, it will pass, don’t worry I’ll get better.”

Religion offering motivation. Religion was expressed as a form of motivation for one

athlete who, when asked what personal factors were most important in his recovery, said:

“I’m motivated about my faith. I’m a Christian and I think after that time, it sent me

into a period of reflection, praying and stuff, so I feel like inspired through my faith.

That was probably one of the biggest factors”.

Religion creating a positive outlook. Both participants spoke about how their religion

helped them to remain positive during their recovery. One participant when asked which

factor was most influential in his recovery, responded.

“Definitely my faith. Definitely my faith because it just gave me so much hope that

there’s better things to come. Things looked really bleak then… and I think just my

faith gave me the biggest amount of hope in the sense that this is all happening for a

reason and it can only get better”.

Being confident

The higher order theme of confidence pertains to the injured athletes having

confidence in themselves to overcome challenges within the recovery process and involves

two lower order themes of: confidence in ability, and confidence in recovery.

Confidence in ability. Having confidence in their own ability was expressed by 3 of

the 6 participants, having the confidence to think “I would come back and I would get my

position back as the goalkeeper”. One participant, who had undergone knee surgery, stated

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when asked if they were sure they would return to pre injury levels of performance: “I never

doubted I’d come back a worse player… I have a mentality that it’ll always get better and it’ll

get back to what it was…”.

Confidence in recovery. This lower order theme relates to the individual having confidence

in their recovery. 1 participant, when ask what factors were most important in his recovery

stated: “my confidence like, I think if I didn’t sort of back myself to get back to where I

was… so I think my confidence… got me through it”. Having the confidence to “push

yourself through the bad times” and having “no doubt in my mind as soon as I got told I’ll be

back playing…” also highlight the theme.

Being positive

Having a positive outlook on the situation and in life was mentioned by all of the

participants with 3 of the 6 expressing the importance of it throughout the 2 lower order

themes of: positive mind-set, seeing injury as a chance to improve.

Positive mind-set. Having a positive mind-set during the process helped participants remove

negativity… “the positive outlook is important… otherwise you just give up, you’d think

negatively all the time…” the idea of the positive mind-set was highlighted by one participant

who stated: “having the positive outlook is the most important thing… otherwise you just

give up, you’d just think negatively all the time, you’d just be dejected… you’d just give up”.

Seeing injury as a chance to improve. Being positive about the situation and seeing the

injury as an opportunity to improve as a person and as an athlete was expressed by 3 of the 6

participants. Having the view that the injury is a chance to improve tactically was expressed

by 2 of the participants, who had the opportunity to coach other teams within their club:

“…so you try and improve other areas of your game. So I’ve now faced the fact now

that the side step of my left leg isn’t going to be as strong because of the knee, it isn’t

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that strong, so I’ve then tried to work further on my right step, yeah, and just improve

other evasive ways of playing.”

Being focussed

This higher order theme relates to having focus during the rehabilitation process and

contains the lower order themes of: activity leading to focus, focus on technical

improvement, positive distractions, return to competition, and the need for goals. Focus was

mentioned by all participants as something which helped during their recovery.

Activity leading to focus. When reflecting on their rehabilitation, the importance of keeping

active was specifically addressed by a few participants who saw activity as “important” and

that it “definitely helped” during their recovery. This was highlighted by one participant who

stated “Yeah, keeping active has definitely helped, during your injury if you can keep active,

in any way possible it can only help you, even if it’s just swimming, weights anything really,

it helped me focus on keeping fit”.

Focus of technical improvements. Two of the participants used their injury lay off as an

opportunity to “focus on other elements of my game technically”. And not “worrying about

competing and making weight of competing” allowed one participant to focus just on

training. When asked if the injury had improved him as an athlete, he saw the opportunity to

assess his game and see how he would get back into the side:

“…there has been players that have come into the team… I’ve been able to look at

them… and see what I need to do to improve… So I’ll give you an example, I need to

make sure that I offer a little bit more attack rather than just short line”.

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Positive distractions. Positive distractions mentioned by the participants included:

education, socialising, and activity. These distractions were taking the focus away from the

negative aspects of injury and doing something which is found enjoyable. When asked about

any distractions they had during their recovery, one participant stated, talking in regard to

their education:

“uni… was something that took my mind of football for a while, but I suppose that

was a good thing in the sense of keeping away from the frustration side of things, I

mean keeping my mind away from football completely and when coming back being

completely renewed and refreshed with fully charged batteries, was helpful in my

opinion”.

Return to competition. Looking at the time when you return to competition is something

which was mentioned as something which drove focus in one participant who stated:

“Number one is just try and focus a lot more, focus your mind of that period when you come

back and start competing again…” Looking at this time rather than the time you can’t

compete seems to act as a drive. Another participant was focussed on returning to play as he

saw sport as a form of escapism from the real world: “football it kind of gets me away from

all that, it takes my mind off that life stress… it made me even more focussed to get back…”.

Need for goals. Having set goals along the process was mentioned by the majority of the

participants as offering something to focus on. One participant, in regards to being told when

he would return, stated: “As soon as that goal was set, and there was no doubt in my mind…

I’ll be back playing”. It was suggested that without goals “there was no purpose” and having

goals helps the individual “see an end to the injury”. Have goals helped one participant focus

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on his return: “… I set goals of getting through each week, so just immersing myself into it

helped me”.

Discussion

The purpose of the current study was to explore psychological resilience within the

context of sports injury and identify the qualities that may influence successful return using

qualitative methods. The findings of the study discovered seven high order themes that

described resilient qualities and successful return from sports injury: being motivated,

experience of previous adversities, having support systems, using faith, being confident,

being positive and being focussed. The results add to the suggestion that resilience is a

complex construct of personal qualities that allow athletes to deal with challenging

circumstances (Sarkar & Fletcher, 2014). The results presented will hopefully give

practitioners’, coaches’, and athletes’ an understanding of resilient qualities that are

facilitative when it comes to successful to return from sports injury.

The findings from the current study offer support to the results presented in Fletcher

and Sarkar (2012), relating to motivation, perceived social support, confidence, positive

personality, and focus. These findings support the idea of the interaction of psychological

factors determining the emergence of resilience in response to adversity/stressors. The

results, which back up previous work, and the novel findings of this study, all seem to have

an influence on the injury-resilience relationship. The results will be discussed in relation to

the findings which offer support for Fletcher and Sarkar’s (2012), followed by the two novel

findings.

Being motivated seemed to enable the participants to be resilient in their return from

injury. Kumpfer (2002) identified characteristics of motivation as one of five internal

protective factors that aid resilience, and Brown et al., (2015) recognised motivation as one of

the most prominent strategies associated with resilience. Motivation to return to sport

21


following injury was described as complex due to the variety of motivational forces that

influence the return to sport (Podlog & Eklund, 2006), in the case of the current study the

motivational forces included: exercise, passion for sport, a return to competition, previous

success, and looking at previous performances. With the knowledge that there are extensive

motivational forces, sports psychologists can achieve the enhancement of motivation through

many means which may be individual to the athlete and their environment.

Having support systems, as with Fletcher and Sarkar’s (2012) work, highlight the

positive effect having support systems has in reducing stress and the effect on injured

athletes’ recovery efforts (Robbins & Rosenfeld, 2001). The various forms of social agents

available to the participants allowed the individual to use any source of support they found

most helpful alongside their personal resources, and these were factors which were found to

lead to positive outcomes, in the form of learning or gained motivation (Galli & Vealey,

2008). One particular lower order theme found in this study was support from other injured

athletes, this result was back up by Podlog and Eklund (2006) who found receiving support

from others who shared similar circumstances was helpful in athletes’ adaptation to their

injury. Also reported in Fletcher and Sarkar (2012), having confidence seemed to be a

protective factor for the majority of injured athletes. Bianco, Malo, and Orlick (1999)

reported reduced self-confidence as a source of stress, therefore remaining confident

throughout the process of injury would appear to protect the individual from negative aspects

of the injury. Having and keeping self-confidence throughout the injury process has been

identified as having a positive influence on athletic performance (Woodman & Hardy, 2003),

the results from the current study offer support for confidence having a positive effect on

injury rehabilitation.

Having a positive outlook during the process acted as another protective factor that

preceded a successful return from injury. Findings from Podlog and Eklund (2009) suggest

22


that having a positive emotional response to adversity plays a significant role in resilient

reintegration following injury. As found in Fletcher and Sarkar (2012), and in the present

study, participants were proactive following their injury, and recognised the opportunity to

improve other areas of their game whilst they were out injured. Being focussed is the final

protective factor from the Fletcher and Sarkar (2012) study which the current study supports.

Focus has been found to be a psychological characteristic which enables champions to

manage a variety of stressors (Gould, Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002). The idea of switching

one’s focus on and off their sport, is supported in the present study by the lower order theme

of positive distractions; one gold medalist from Fletcher and Sarkar’s (2012) study advised

“either do some voluntary work or some part-time work, so that they have a distraction from

their sport” (pp. 674). Having the ability to change the point of focus seems to be an

important factor in protecting individuals from stressors such as injury. Brown, Lafferty,

Triggs (2015) found focus to be something which enabled winter sports athletes to

concentrate on their recovery and block any negative aspects of the process.

The final two higher order themes from the current study relate to the previous

experience of adversity and the use of faith acting as protective factors in the injury

rehabilitation process. In relation to the positive impact of previous experience of adversity,

Brown, Lafferty, and Triggs (2015) suggested these previous adversity experiences have an

obvious impact on the acquisition of resilient qualities, with three key themes relating to this:

knowledge acquired from previous experiences, application of this knowledge, and

recognition of own capabilities. Sarkar and Fletcher (2014) found that experience and

learning enabled thriving in high achievers, acting as a protective factor; facing adverse

situations and learning from these experiences were perceived to encourage resilience and

thriving. Podlog and Eklund (2009) found that overcoming adversity led to the perception of

a successful return following injury, this finding relates to the lower order theme of

23


withstanding setbacks during rehabilitation; being able to overcome the various challenges

associated with injury rehabilitation was a key part of a successful recovery.

Faith can act as a protective factor during the injury process by helping the way

athletes process the associated stressors. An important factor in developing resilience is the

way individual perceives and processes stressors, with faith potentially having an influence

on this perception (Peres et al., 2007). Pargament, Koenig, Tarakeshwar, and Hahn (2004)

offered examples of how faith and religiousness help individuals deal with stressors, some of

which appeared in the current study: benevolent reappraisal (seeking lessons from God);

seeking spiritual support (looking for comfort in their religion); active religious surrender

(doing what they can and putting the rest in God’s hands) one participant from the current

study highlighted this when asked how his faith helped him… “everything happens for a

reason, my belief in God is that… everything happens for a reason so you just have to let it

play out its course”.; seeking spiritual connection (viewing the adversity as part of God’s

plan), and seeking religious direction (praying to find new reason in life).

Strengths and Limitations

Although a number of findings support those previously reported (Fletcher & Sarkar,

2012) and aren’t predominantly distinctive, the findings advance knowledge and

understanding of psychological resilience in a number of ways. As aforementioned in the

introduction, the current study is the first to look into a specific stressor in an athletic

population known to be at risk of psychological distress, expressly how psychological

resilience aids rehabilitation from sports injury. Based on this, the findings have the potential

to make a contribution to research in the field of sports injury and psychological resilience.

The current study also highlights how experiencing previous adversities and religiousness can

be resilient qualities in the injury recovery process, findings which may help guide sports

psychologists when working with injured athletes. The findings back up Fletcher and

24


Sarkar’s (2012) work in many ways, not only by highlighting the application of the protective

factors found in relation to a specific stressor, but also in regards to applying the findings to

more general populations than Olympic champions with the participants in this study

generally being amateur level.

As with all studies, the current research had a number of limitations. The retrospective

nature of the study makes the participants susceptible to the effects of memory decay and

bias. Although, had the interviews been conducted during the process, the interviewer may

have become a source of social support, which may have lessened the effect of the injury

(Evans et al., 2012). A further limitation of the study is the small number of participants that

were included due to the qualitative nature of the study. The results from the study are limited

due to the bias towards the trait aspects of resilience, with no reference to the influence of

socio environmental factors on athletes’ ability to positively adapt, which is found to be

important in other qualitative studies of resilience (e.g. Galli & Vealey, 2008).

Future Research and Applied Implications

With these limitations in mind, future research should look to explore the process

view of resilience which has been advocated by many scholars (e.g. Windle, 2011). A

longitudinal study, which looks to explore the relationship between psychological resilience

and the injury recovery process will offer practitioners a better understanding of the

protective factors that operate at each stage of the recovery as well as the influence of the of

socio environmental factors. Future research should also look further into the novel protective

factors presented in this study; the previous experience of adversity and the learning or sense

of mastery that comes from these experiences and the use of religion in overcoming injury.

Future research should look specifically at how religiousness can act as a protective factor

from all adversities that athletes may face, this would be an interesting line of research for

religious or spiritual athletes.

25


There are a number of applied implications for sports organisations and club,

practitioners, coaches and athletes to come from this study. The results provide a greater

understanding of the impact of resilience on the injury process in sport, and its relationship

with a successful recovery. Individuals working with injured athletes should look to identify

the protective factors (i.e., being motivated, experience of previous adversities, having

support systems, using faith, being confident, being positive, being focussed) that the injured

athlete should look to attain and develop to promote resilience, and if monitored, this will

allow interventions to be made to help achieve optimal levels and the correct balance of these

factors. To help monitor and facilitate these factors, expert coaching or access to sports

psychology professionals would allow injured athletes to achieve a resilient and successful

return from injury.

Conclusion

This study is the first to look at the role of psychological resilience in successful

injury rehabilitation and looked to explore the qualities that facilitated this successful return.

The results from the current study provided support to the findings from Fletcher and Sarkar

(2012) with an application to sports injury. Furthermore, the results have also provided

further potential protective factors which could facilitate resilience in the injury process. The

novel findings highlight the importance of experiences of previous adversity, supporting

work by Brown et al., (2015), and introduce the use of faith as protective factors in relation to

injury. The results have implications in both sports injury and psychological resilience fields

of research, with the opportunity to improve the injury rehabilitation process from a

psychological view. Future research should look to further explore the relationship between

resilience and sports injury from both a trait and process views of resilience.

26


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Appendix A

Interview Guide

Section 1- Introduction

Introduce self and background.

Discuss athlete’s perception of success of recovery using Podlog & Eklund’s (2009)

criteria (if still injured adapt to suit).

A return to pre-injury levels of performance; attaining pre-injury goals; an absence of

injury related concerns; the ability to overcome adversity.

Section 2 – Rapport building

1. Can you tell me a bit about your sporting career/background up to now?

2. Can you tell me a bit about your positive experiences in [sport]?

3. What are some of your major accomplishments in [sport] that you are most proud

of?

4. Can you tell me a bit about any negative experiences in [sport]?

Section 3 - Injury Experience

31


1. Can you tell me a bit about your experiences of being injured (pre, during, and post

injury)? Before your injury, how were you feeling? During your injury? Since your injury?

2. How did you think the injury and your responses would affect your performance?

3. Could you describe the effect the injury had on you as an athlete?

4. Could you describe the effect the injury had on you as a person?

5. Do you think the injury and your responses affected your general well-being?

Section 4 – Resilient Qualities

1. What personal factor(s) do you feel were the most important in recovering from your

injury?

2. What situational factor(s) within your environment were important in your recovery?

3. Which of these do you feel is the most influential?

4. Which of these, if any, helped you to adapt positively?

5. What specific qualities do you feel enabled you to be successful in returning from your

injury?

6. Would you say that aspects of your outlook on the situation helped you return

successfully? (Positive Outlook)

7. What motivated you during your injury to get back fit? (Motivation)

8. Did you feel sure you could return to pre injury levels? (Confidence) and why?

9. Tell me about any distraction you had during your recovery and there affect on it? (Focus)

10. Tell me about anyone (if anyone) who helped you through the recovery process? (Social

Support)

Section 5 - Implications

1. What advice or suggestions would you give to athletes to help them become more resilient

to injury?

32


2. What suggestions would you make to coaches and team managers to help them better

prepare athletes in terms of managing the sport injury experience?

3. What recommendations would you give to sport organizations to help them aid athletes

and their coaches in terms of managing the sport injury experience?

Section 6 - Ending + Addition Comments

1. How do you think the interview went?

2. Did you feel you could tell your story fully?

3. Did I lead you or influence your responses in any way?

4. Have you any comments or suggestions about the interview itself?

5. Finally, is there anything that we haven’t talked about that you are able to tell me about

your experience of resilience during the sport injury experience?

Appendix B

Ethical Application and Approval

NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITYSchool of Science and Technology

ETHICS APPROVAL APPLICATION FORM FOR NON-INVASIVE HUMANS RESEARCH PROJECTS for use by students on taught Undergraduate and Masters coursesDo you need to submit an ethics application to the School of Science and Technology Ethics Review and Approval Group?Consult with your research supervisor about the procedure below before submitting an application for research ethics approval.

Will your research be purely library-based research, using only secondary or published sources?

Complete Ethical Issues Form (supplied by Academic Team and signed by research

supervisor)

YES

NO

No further actions needed. Submit copy of Ethical Issues form to supervisor.

NO

33


1. Information about the Project

1.1 Your name Asher Phythian1.2 Your student ID N04249131.3 Your course MRes Sport Science1.4 Module code and title SPOR40001 (Sport Research Project)1.5 Name of your research

supervisor Dr Mustafa Sarkar

1.6 Anticipated project start date Upon ethics approval1.7 Estimated end date of the project Friday 19th August 20161.8 Which professional association’s

code of ethical practice is most relevant to your project?

British Psychological Society (BPS)

1.9 List up to three keywords which describe the topic of your research.

Sport psychology; resilience; injury.

1.10 List up to three keywords which describe the research design and methods you plan to use in your research.

Qualitative; semi-structured interview; thematic analysis.

34


2. Project Outline

2.1 Briefly outline the aims and objectives of the research. [75 words]

The aim of the research is to explore psychological resilience in injured athletes. Specifically, using qualitative methods, the research will investigate how athletes who have experienced a serious sporting injury responded positively (psychologically) in their particular sporting context.

2.2 Briefly describe the principal methods, the sources of data or evidence to be used, and the number and type of research participants who will be recruited to the project. [150 words]

Participants will comprise of 8-10 athletes aged 18+ who participate regularly in competitive sport and who have recovered positively from a serious sporting injury. All athletes will volunteer their participation prior to the study onset by reading an information sheet and signing an informed consent form.

Each athlete will take part in one semi-structured interview lasting between 30-60 minutes. The interviews will be digitally recorded using a Dictaphone, transcribed verbatim, and subsequently analysed using the thematic analysis procedures outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006).

2.3 Do you intend to use published research instruments/resources (e.g., questionnaires, scales, psychometrics, vignettes)?

If NO, proceed to Question 2.7. If YES, complete Questions 2.4 – 2.6.

Yes No

2.4 Have you included with this application a full electronic copy or link to each published research instrument/resource? N/A Yes No

2.5 If you are using published research instruments/resources, do you have permission to use them in the way that you intend to use them?

Yes No N/A

2.6 What steps will be taken to ensure compliance with the requirements of copyright rules for the use of published scale?

N/A

2.7 Are you developing your own research resources/instruments to collect data?

If NO, proceed to Section 3.If YES, complete Questions 2.8 and 2.9.

Yes No

2.8 Briefly describe the research resources/instruments you are developing. [50 words]

Based on previous literature in the area, a semi-structured interview guide will be developed to facilitate discussions about participants’ experiences

35


of resilience in the context of sport injury. Topic areas will include athletes’ sporting background and injury experience, and personal qualities that they feel have enabled them to react positively to injury.

2.9 Have you included with this application an electronic copy of your own bespoke/self-developed research instrument(s) that you will use to collect data?

Yes No

36


3. Does the project require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)/Overseas Police Check?

3.1 Does the project involve direct contact with children or young people under 18 years of age?

Yes No

3.2 Does the project involve direct contact with adults with learning difficulties, adults who are infirm or physically disabled or adults who are resident in social care or medical establishments?

Yes No

3.3 Has a DBS check been stipulated as a condition of access to any source of data required for the project?

Yes No

3.4 Has an Overseas Police Check been stipulated as a condition of access to any source of data required for the project?

Yes No

3.5 If you have answered YES to any of these questions, explain the nature of your contact with participants during the research. [75 words]

N/A

3.6 If a DBS/Overseas Police Check has been stipulated as a condition of access to any source of data required for the project, have you shown evidence of the check to your supervisor?

Yes No N/A

3.7 If NO, explain why you have not yet shown evidence of the check to your supervisor, and specify a date when you will do so. [50 words]

N/A

37


4. Research of a Sensitive Nature and Risk of Emotional or Physical Harm

Does your research involve any of the following…4.1 Research with children under 18 years? Yes No4.2 Research with adults who experience learning or

communication difficulties? Yes No

4.3 A significant risk that the project will lead participants to disclose evidence that children or vulnerable adults are being harmed or are at risk of harm?

Yes No

4.4 Could the study cause harm, distress or any other consequences beyond the risks encountered in normal life? Yes No

4.5 If this is an undergraduate project, and is of a sensitive nature or if it may cause significant emotional or physical harm to participants, provide justification for why such an approach to the project is necessary, and outline the experience and skills you have to undertake the proposed research.

N/A

4.6 Where is the research taking place?

The research (namely the interviews) will take place at a location that is most convenient to the participant (e.g., an appropriate area at the athlete’s club’s training facility, a seminar/lecture room at NTU).

4.7 How do you propose to recruit participants?

A heterogeneous sample of athletes who regularly participate in competitive sport and who have recovered from a serious sporting injury will be recruited. A variety of sport personnel (e.g., athletes, coaches) will be contacted directly, either via telephone, email, or face-to-face, to explain the purpose and nature of the study. Following an introduction to the study, athletes who meet the above criteria will be sent an information sheet and invited to participate in the study. Participants interested and willing to participate in the study will subsequently be recruited following informed consent procedures.

38


4.8 What actions will you take to ensure your safety and that of participants?

To ensure my own personal safety, I will familiarise myself beforehand with the interview location, dress appropriately for the research setting, inform my supervisor of where and when I will be conducting interviews, and ensure my mobile phone is fully charged and switched on at all times during data collection.

To ensure participants’ safety, I will ensure that participants have been fully informed about the study (via an information sheet), that they have given their consent to participate (via an informed consent form), that participant and researcher roles are sensitively set out and, if participants do become distressed, they will be given the opportunity for the Dictaphone to be switched off, to take a break, and/or to stop the interview entirely.

4.9 If you have answered YES to any of the questions above please explain why it is necessary for these risks to be incurred. [50 words]

N/A

5. Payment to Participants (Including Research Credits)

5.1 Do you intend to offer participants any kind of inducements or compensation for taking part in your project? (This includes research credits for courses).

Yes No

5.2 If YES, please explain why you are doing this and what form the payment or inducement will take. [50 words]

N/A

39


6. Anonymity, Confidentiality, Security and Retention of Research Data

REFER TO THE GUIDANCE NOTES ACCOMPANYING THIS FORM BEFORE COMPLETING THIS SECTION.

6.1 Do you plan to collect non-anonymised data? Yes No

6.2 If you answered NO to Question 6.1 and all data will be anonymous, explain how you will make it possible for participants to identify their data and withdraw them from the study. [75 words]

N/A

6.3 Can you guarantee full confidentiality of any personal data collected for the project? Yes No

6.4 If YES, explain what steps you will take to maximise confidentiality of participant data. [50 words]

N/A

6.5 Can you guarantee the full security of any personal or confidential data collected for the project?

Yes No

6.6 If YES, explain how you intend to secure the research data during the project and after the project. [50 words]

Hard copies of the interview data (i.e., interview transcripts) will be stored in a locked filing cabinet, in a locked room, that will only be accessible to the lead researcher.

Electronic copies of the interview data (i.e., interview transcripts) will be stored in electronic files that will be password protected, on a password protected device, and that will only be accessible to the lead researcher.

6.7 Will all non-anonymised data be destroyed at the end of the project (normally after graduation, or within the specified period in the participant information sheet)?

Yes No

6.8 If you answered NO to ANY of the questions above, briefly explain why you feel it is necessary for the research to be conducted in the proposed way, such that the usual standards of confidentiality, anonymity and security, referred to above, cannot be met. [75 words]

The nature of qualitative research necessarily involves individual data extracts being used as evidence in the report. This is to enable the reader to empathize with, and immerse himself or herself in, the participants’ perceptions and thereby better understand the complexity of the issues being investigated.

To partially mitigate this ‘limit to confidentiality’, I will fully anonymise data when reporting the results. Specifically, all identifying information in the data will be anonymised and de-identified (e.g., club names, locations, teammates).

40


6.9 In light of your response to the questions in this section, can you confirm that you will comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act when conducting your project?

Yes No

7. Informed Consent & Assent (including Opt-in/Opt-out Consent in Schools)

REFER TO THE GUIDANCE NOTES ACCOMPANYING THIS FORM BEFORE COMPLETING THIS SECTION.

FOR ALL RESEARCH PROJECTS7.1 Will every participant be fully informed about why the

project is being conducted and what their participation will involve?

Yes No

7.2 Have you included with this application a copy of the participant information sheet? Yes No

7.3 Will every participant be asked to give written consent/assent to participating in the project before data collection begins? (Refer to the guidance notes for an explanation of consent and assent).

Yes No

7.4 Have you included with this application a copy of the participant consent/assent form? Yes No

7.5 If the answer to Question 7.1 or 7.3 is NO, please explain why it is necessary to collect data without securing written informed consent from participants. [75 words]

N/A

FOR PROJECTS INVOLVING CHILDREN OR VULNERABLE ADULTS7.6 Will you be collecting data from children under 18 years

or from vulnerable adults?


Yes No

7.7 Will you conduct the research in a school or similar organisation?


Yes No

FOR PROJECTS INVOLVING CHILDREN OR VULNERABLE ADULTS WITHIN SCHOOLS OR SIMILAR ORGANISATIONS7.8 Will you obtain the consent of the head teacher or

relevant parental proxy? Yes No N/A7.9 Have you included with this application a copy of

the letter/information sheet you will give to the head teacher or relevant parental proxy?

Yes No N/A

7.10 Have you included with this application a copy of the head teacher/parental proxy consent form? Yes No N/A

7.11 Does the head teacher/parental proxy consent form include an option to additionally require parental consent?

Yes No N/A

41


7.12 If it is stipulated as a condition of access to any source of data required for the project, will you also seek parental consent?

Yes No N/A

FOR ALL PROJECTS INVOLVING CHILDREN OR VULNERABLE ADULTS7.13 If you are conducting research with children under

18 years or vulnerable adults, will you obtain the consent of the parent/guardian?

Yes No N/A

7.14 If parental/guardian consent is necessary will you seek ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’ consent? N/A

7.15 If parental/guardian consent will be OPT-OUT, explain why it is not possible or appropriate to seek opt-in consent. [75 words]

N/A

7.16 Have you included with this application a copy of the parent/guardian information sheet? Yes No N/A

7.17 Have you included with this application a copy of the parent/guardian consent form? Yes No N/A

FOR ALL RESEARCH PROJECTS

Will the information sheets fully inform the participant, and where relevant, the head teacher/parental proxy or parent/guardian about…7.18 What the project requires from the participant and what

data will be collected? Yes No7.19 What will be done with participant data during and after

the project, including what the participant can expect with regard to anonymity, confidentiality, security and retention of data?

Yes No

7.20 The participant’s right to withdraw from the study by the deadline specified in the information sheet? Yes No

7.21 If you have answered NO to any of the questions from 7.18-7.21, explain why it is academically necessary for the project to be conducted in a way that will not allow all participants the opportunity to exercise fully-informed consent. [75 words]

N/A

7.22 Will explicit consent be sought for audio (e.g. Dictaphone), video or photographic recording of participants?

Yes No N/A

7.23 Does the project involve deceiving, or covert observation of, participants? Yes No

7.24 Does the project require that participants are debriefed? Yes No7.25 If a debrief is necessary, have you included with this

application a copy of the debriefing sheet? Yes No N/A7.26 If the project requires that participants are debriefed, explain how you

will implement this at the earliest possible opportunity. [75 words]

N/A

7.27 Are participants responding from a personal level rather than as a representative of their organisation? Yes No

42


7.28 If participants need permission from their organisation to participate in the study will such permission been obtained?

Yes No N/A

7.29 If participants are responding as a representative of their organisation, will you seek a signed letter from a manager in the organisation where the research is taking place, giving permission for the researcher to collect the data?

Yes No N/A

43


8. Online and Internet Research

Refer to the STT ERAG guidance notes about conducting online and internet research before completing this section.

8.1 Will any part of your project involve collecting data by means of electronic media, such as the internet or email?

If NO, proceed to Section 9.If YES, complete Questions 8.2 – 8.7.

Yes No

8.2 If YES, explain how electronic media will be used in the project. [75 words]

N/A

8.3 Is there a significant possibility that the project will cause participants to become distressed or harmed beyond the risks encountered in everyday life?

Yes No

8.4 If YES, explain how you will deal with this given the nature of the research. [75 words]

N/A

8.5 Will the project incur any other risks that arise specifically from the use of electronic media? Yes No

8.6 If YES, explain the risks involved and how you plan to deal with them. [75 words]

N/A

8.7 Do you have permission for the online usage of the materials/research instruments that you are intending to use? N/A

8.8 Have you included with this application evidence of permission to use materials/research instruments online?

Yes No N/A

8.9 If NO, explain why not, and how you plan to address the question of permission for online usage of materials/research instruments. [50 words]

N/A

44


9. Supervisor’s Review, Comments and Declaration

9.1 Has all appropriate information been provided by the student? Yes No

9.2 Has the student attached a copy of the participant information sheet?

Yes N/A N

o9.3 Has the student attached a copy of the informed

consent form?Yes N/A N

o9.4 Has the student attached a copy of the debriefing

sheet? Yes N/A No

9.5 Has an NTU risk assessment been (or will this be) undertaken? (It is NOT necessary to include a copy of the risk assessment with this application).

Yes N/A No

9.6 If the proposed research raises any concerns about the physical or psychological wellbeing of the participants or the researcher, have these been addressed appropriately?

Yes N/A No

9.7 If the research is of a sensitive nature has this been addressed appropriately? Yes N/A N

o9.8 Has the applicant shown you evidence of their

DBS/Overseas Police Check?

If NO, in Section 8.10, state as a condition of ethics approval that the applicant should present evidence of the check before starting data collection.

Yes N/A No

9.9 Do you approve the student’s proposed research project? Yes No

9.10 If there are conditions/recommendations to be met before approval can be granted, please list them here.N/A

9.11 Additional comments from the supervisor.

Student needs to show me their interview guide before start of data collection.

Supervisor’s Declaration Please tick

9.12 I have read this form and confirm that it covers all the ethical issues raised by this project fully and frankly.

9.13 These issues have been discussed with the student and she/he has received training in the ethical issues raised by this research.

9.14 I am confident that the student understands the School’s ethics protocols and guidance and will be able to comply with these accordingly.

45


9.15 If the student is undertaking research of a sensitive nature, she/he has the skills and expertise necessary to conduct the research project.

Signed (Supervisor): Date: 18/01/2016

46


10. Student’s Declaration

Please tick the box to indicate your agreement10.1 I request a statement of ethics approval from the School of

Science Technology Non-Invasive Ethics Review and Approval Group and I have answered all questions in this form as honestly and fully as I can.

10.2 I will carry out the project in a way that is fully in line with the NTU Research Ethics Framework.

10.3 I will resubmit the application for ethics approval if the project subsequently changes in any significant way related to the research ethics framework.

10.4 I will conduct the project in the ways described in this application.

10.5 I have read and agree to abide by the code of research ethics issued by the relevant professional society.

10.6 I have read and understood all the relevant guidance notes and guidelines associated with this form.

10.7 I have read and understood my supervisor’s review and comments in Section 9.

10.8 I have ensured that that my supervisor has fully completed and signed Section 9.

10.9 I understand that, at the end of my project, I must include School of Science Technology Ethics Review and Approval Group approval as an appendix within my written submission and comply fully with the conditions of approval as granted.

Signed (Student):

Date:

47


11. Independent Reviewer Form: Student Submissions to SST ERAG

Please complete all three sections. Please return your review online to SST.Ethics @ntu.ac.uk .

Section 1: Student Details

1.1 Student Name1.2 Student Number

Section 2: Your Recommendation to the School of Science and Technology Ethics Review and Approval Group

Please indicate your agreement with ONE of the decisions below by ticking the relevant option.

2.1 Approve (I have no ethical concerns).Approve with Recommendations (I have no ethical concerns. My recommendations to the applicant and their supervisor are outlined in Section 2.2).Approve with Conditions (I have ethical concerns and approve the project subject to the conditions outlined in Section 2.2).Not Approved (I have ethical concerns. The application should be resubmitted to SST ERAG after addressing the concerns outlined in Section 2.2).

2.2 For Approve with Recommendations, Approve with Conditions or Not Approved decisions, outline the points to be addressed by the student and their supervisor before starting data collection or resubmitting the application for ethics approval. [Please use bullet points]

Section 3: Provision of required information

3.1 Has all appropriate information been provided by the applicant? (e.g., Are participant information sheets and informed consent forms/debriefing sheets attached together?)

Yes No

3.2 If the research is of a sensitive nature has this been addressed appropriately?

Yes N/A No

College of Science

48

mailto:[email protected]


School of Science and Technology

Non-Invasive Human Ethics Committee

Notification of Decision

Student’s Name Asher PhythianSupervisor’s Name Dr Mustafa SarkarNTU ID N0424913Course MRes Sport ScienceStart Date 03/02/2016End Date 03/02/2019

Approved - you may commence your research as outlined in your application

You must report to the Chair of the committee any untoward incident which results in completion of an accident report form.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact your project supervisor or alternatively e-mail [email protected].

Appendix C

49



Information Sheet

Dear player,

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this research on the psychological resilience

of athletes who have experienced and recovered from injury. Your answers will enable

greater knowledge to be developed on the topic of resilience and its relationship with injury

recovery. The aim of the study is to find a link between resilience qualities and injury

recovery.

Your honest responses are very important for this research. As such, your

answers will remain strictly confidential and will not be passed on to your coach or

others. Participating in this study is voluntary; therefore, you can withdraw from the

study at any time.

The study will consist of an interview where we will discuss topics regarding your

responses to your injury. The interview will be recorded using a Dictaphone and will be

transcribed for analysis.

To be selected for inclusion in the study participants must have suffered a serious

injury and have recovered positively based on their perception of the following: a return to

pre-injury levels (pace, weight etc.), attaining pre-injury goals, and an absence of injury

related concerns (Podlog & Eklund, 2009).

The privacy of the participants will be maintained throughout the study by keeping all

data in locked file cabinets and/or electronically password protected. To keep anonymity

participants will be given ID number and any names, location or positions that could be

linked with the participant’s identity will be omitted from the results

Asher Phythian

Department of Sports Science

Nottingham Trent University

[email protected]

Appendix D

Informed Consent

50



‘A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF ATHLETES PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE

FOLLOWING SPORTS INJURY’

1. I , agree to participate in the above study.

2. I have read and understood the information regarding the project as provided in the

information sheet.

3. I understand I can withdraw at any time without giving reason and I will not be

penalised for withdrawing nor questioned as to why up until the date of June 20th

4. The procedures regarding my confidentiality have been clearly explained in the

information sheet. (e.g. ID numbers, anonymisation of data etc.)

5. I am aware that the interview will be recorded using a Dictaphone and that the data

will only be seen by the lead research Asher Phythian and his supervisor Mustafa

Sarkar.

6. I confirm I understand what participating in this study entails and understand the

requirements and know of no reason I can’t participate.

7. I was given the opportunity to ask questions and they have been adequately answered.

Participant signature: . Date: .

Appendix E

51


Participant Demographic

General Information

This information will not be shared and is for the researchers use only.

Name……………………………………

D.O.B …………….

Gender

Male Female

What is your sport?

………………………………….

What injury did you suffer?

………………………………………………

How long did your injury keep you out of competitive action? (months)

……………………

What is the name of your current team/club?

…………………………………………………

Including the current season, how many seasons have you competed in your sport?

…………

Including the current season, how many seasons have you competed for your current team?

…………

Appendix F

Interview Transcripts

52


Participant 1

Key:I = InterviewerR = Respondent (CW)

I: So you were out for 8 months with a broken metatarsal, when did you come back fully fit?

R: Was back fully fit around April time, that was when I first got back running, and back into my core stability work, a lot of leg work, plyometric, explosive lower body work, just making up for lost strength and endurance for that 8-month period.

I: So for I’m looking someone who has perceived themselves to have recovered well from there injury based on some criteria reported in some research. Would you say you have had a return to pre injury levels of performance?

R: Yes

I: Would you say you are achieving pre injury level goals?

R: No quite having only been back playing 3 weeks but I do see myself achieving them yes

I: Do you have an absence of injury related concerns?

R: Yes

I: Would you say you had the ability to overcome adversities such as another injury?

R: Yes, after this experience.

I: Can you tell me about your sporting career up till now, your background? What sports do you play, what teams and how long?

R: I first starting playing when I was six years old, with a local team from my area. East Valley United, typical cute youth football team. Played in the YEL like everyone else in Nottingham, then moved to Basford United when I was around 10, having a successful 5 years there, winning everything there is to win in youth football; going to county tournaments, which is a good experience at that age. I had trials at academies such as Leicester, Forest and Stoke during my secondary school days. I actually played EMCL when I was 15 for Poole Town against Basford United’s first team, got about 40mins, most intense game of my life

I: When did you join your current team? And you knew some people there?

R: When I left school, 2012. Yeah some of the lads there brought me to the club as they coached me at East Valley, I have actually played for KMW first team before when I was 15, so I’ve been in and around the club for a while.

53

Asher Phythian, 05/07/16,

Confidence to overcome adversity


I: Have you played any other sports?

R: I played cricket in school, not to a decent standard

I: Can you tell me about any positive experiences you’ve had playing football?

R: Has a I said I’ve won everything there is to win in youth football with my teams, done a lot of sports days at Harvey Hadden sports with school athletics tournaments. I would say I’ve been successful

I: What are you most proud of?

R: My academy trials. I was 15, me and my friend would leave school early to travel to Stoke, I was there for a good period of time. Unfortunately, it got to much with the travelling, it was obviously intensive as you can imagine, especially with my GCSE and travelling to and from Stoke every other night. So I eventually ended the trail early which was a shame but yeah.

I: What about any other negative experiences?

R: My injury and obviously the trial disappointment. I also missed a cup final last year, sitting on the bench.

I: Can you tell me about your experiences as the injury occurred, describe what happened?

R: On the pitch, a few seconds into the game, literally without touching the ball, I was running and I felt a crack in my foot and I huge throbbing sensation came from there and I went down and couldn’t continue, and this was within 15 seconds of being on the pitch. At that point its clear something’s wrong, and it turned out I’d suffered a stress fracture.

I: Did you think it was a serious injury?

R: Yes, I’ve not felt a pain like that before, it was without impact so I just know it would be.

I: Can you tell me about you experience of being injured? During you 8 months off what did you do?

R: It was quite boring in a sense, did a lot of work in the gym, spending time with friends and family, stayed away from football for a while. Because when you’re out injured and watching football it can get quite frustrating and annoying.

I: What about your experiences post injury?

R: It’s different, a lot of new players there, so I felt like a stranger in my own dressing a bit, you know. But there was people I knew so it was absolutely fine just got back into

54


Felt stranger going back into the fold


Removing self from the game


Spent time socializing


Keeping active in the gym


Immediately knew injury was serious


Realized injury immediately


Previous setback


Previous success


the routine of it. To some of the other players it might have been like a new player, but to me back to normal, I was kind of in a mixed zone.

I: When you got told how long you’d be out how did you respond?

R: Well the doctor said 5 weeks, he wanted it in a cast, but I said no and had a foot brace, with a cast you’re limited, it would have been frustrating so I went for brace, but it was still 5 to 6 weeks’ out, but obviously it turned out to be a lot longer.

I: How did you feel with that setback?

R: Frustrated, but it’s just one of those things. I did actually start playing again in Oct but I knew it wasn’t right, so I gave it until Dec and went back to training and I felt a similar pain in my foot again, so I’d thought I’d broke it again, but I went back to the hospital and they said it wasn’t and it should be fine in a couple of weeks, so I just kept resting and resting and resting it until March, April time

I: So what emotions were you feeling at this point?

R: Frustration, eagerness to get out and play. The fact I was out for so much longer than diagnosed didn’t really upset me too much, I was quite laid back about it. It could have been my fault; I may have knocked it or whatever.

I: Post your injury what have your emotions been like?

R: I just happy to get back on the pitch again playing football

I: How did you think the injury would affect your performance?

R: First couple of games I thought I’d be a bit reluctant with tackling or using my left foot to shoot, the foot I broke, just simple stuff with the ball, not running for 8 months affects your agility, so from a physical point of view I was worried about getting my match sharpness back.

I: What about emotionally, how did you think your responses affected your performance?

R: In that sense I don’t think it would affect my performance, I don’t think any of my emotions had an affect really on my performance

I: Could you describe the effect the injury had on you has a footballer?

R: It made me humble, it makes me think how lucky I am, when you see people with disabilities who can’t play with the same able-ness as me, what is 8 months compared to a lifetime. I’ve studies disability in sport as part of my degree, so it does humble you and happy that you can play if you know what I mean?

I: What about your feelings regarding your ability?

55


Education


Humble about ability to play


Confident in own performance and mentality


Worry about match fitness


Happy to be playing again


Laid back attitude – positive


Setbacks in recovery


Laid back mentality


Not listening to doctors’ advice fully


Using friendly players to help integrate back into team


R: I did think I would be behind, I mean my touch was off, my shooting was off, my passing was off, but I hadn’t played in 8 months so I expected that to happen, but once I was back in training and playing I was back to my old self, and back to trying to improve myself.

I: Do you feel the experience will make you stronger?

R: Yeah it will make me work harder, I’m more passionate about the game.

I: What about the effects the injury had on you as a person?

R: I more sociable, obviously I wasn’t playing football on Saturday, I spent more time with family and friends and got a girlfriend

I: So you would say being injured helped you improve relationships?

R: Yeah will friends and family, it’s been good in that sense

I: What about your general well-being?

R: Potentially, well I’m getting out more, seeing different people has been a confidence boosts for me. It’s made me realise I need to keep a physical lifestyle as I go to the gym a lot and I had to go less during this time and I saw differences so I’ve realised the importance of this. If I ever have a loss of motivation, I can think back to this time and push myself.

I: What personal factors that were important in your recovery?

R: Keeping active as much as a can, I mean going to the gym as well, the gym helped me keep focus on my fitness, obviously I couldn’t play so I knew my fitness would deteriorate, as soon as I could I was in the gym, even when my leg was in a brace I would keep active as possible, doing upper body work even sometimes walks, I feel just being active is important in keeping you motivated to not give up. I would sometimes be watching football on TV occasionally, hearing about the lads doing well in the league and cup, spending time with friends as family.

I: What situational factors did you feel were important?

R: Being out and about, being in an environment where I’m not surrounded by the same four walls all the time, spending time with people I know

I: Was there any support from the club?

R: Texts, nothing in terms of training or physio, because it’s not a big club and those things aren’t really compatible with a club of that size. But yeah the texts to show interest, and keep an interest in how I was doing was always nice. Other things were just staying around the game as much as I could, watching the lads. Speaking to them. Just made me motivated to come back.

56


Staying involved and being kept involved by coach helped motivate recovery


Motivation


Not being the same environment


Activity being a motivator


Importance of gym and keeping active


Keeping active important in recovery


Period of inactivity becoming a motivator


Improvement in relationships


Distractions during recovery – positive?


Socializing – injury leading to a positive


Not worried about performance dip


I: Which of these do you feel was the most influential?

R: Definitely getting out and about, keeping active, not focusing on the injury. Being bored and not getting out is a bad thing, people do slip into bad places when they do that sort of thing, not getting out and about. People lose their interest in the sport, like you here about athletes losing motivation and coming back a completely different player and person, I mean its visible to see. You see Owen Hargreaves, he looked like he’d been to hell and back you know, his career didn’t quite recover from the injuries he had, so I thought about that and made sure I came back to the same level if possible

I: Which of these helped you adapt positively?

R: Gym definitely, keeping fit in the gym and keeping my upper body strength was key for me, lower body work was a big help as well as my core strength which is also needed in football. It enabled me to stay fit and keep healthy, it would help me focus on my myself better than I was before which drove me to get back, now I am back I am feeling the benefits.

I: What qualities do you feel enables you to be successful in returning?

R: My mind-set and my passion for sport got me motivated to get back into playing. I keep relaxed, knowing I would get back and this time out wasn’t the end of the world, and my love of the game just pushed me to stay fit

I: Where there any other qualities?

R: Well I think my positive outlook as I said, you need it to keep positive during adversities such as injury, keeping the fire going.

I: Any examples of when you used this?

R: January time, I suffered a setback from the injury, I thought at that point it was time to leave it for a season, just in a moment I lost interest in even bothering to come back because it felt like I wasn’t going to recover for a while, I thought it might be one of those injuries that might affect me for life, but it’s just a broken bone, so I realised this negative thinking wasn’t helpful so I just knuckled down in the gym and starting to think of the benefits.

I: What did motivate you to get back fit?

R: Speaking to the lads and watching a few games, I have two cousins in professional football, talking to them was a big help, they helped me stay positive by telling me about their experiences.

I: Was there other people who helped you through the process?

R: Yeah, I mean I grew up with all my mates playing football, some of them are pros now, seeing these lads doing well on social media does make me want to get back into it. Chatting to my mate in New Zealand who has broken his foot twice, so he knows

57


Seeing success of others as a motivator


Advice from significant others


Support from teammates and people who have experienced the same situation


Positive outlook


Positive outlook


Relaxed mind-set – positive


Passion for sport as a motivator


Focus


Benefits of gym


Using stories from news as ‘what not to do’


Not allowing self to be bored


Not focusing on injury


Keeping active


about my situation, he broke it whilst at forest academy and Nike academy so he knows how to get through tough times.

I: Did you feel sure you could get back to your old self?

R: Yeah I was confident I would get back, I know I shouldn’t but I had the odd kick about when I was injured, so I never thought I would lose my touch or anything wasn’t salvageable so I think I was confident.

I: Did you feel you had any distractions during your recovery, and what were there effect on your recovery?

R: Not really, maybe uni work, was a something that took my mind of football for a while, but I suppose that was a good thing in the sense of keeping away from the frustration side of things, I mean keeping my mind away from football completely and when coming back being completely renewed and refreshed with fully charged batteries, was helpful in my opinion

I: Any other distractions?

R: Not really

I: Where there any other qualities that you thought helped you?

R: Other people’s qualities helped me developed mine, people would say positive things to me and it would make me go yeah, your right

I: Example?

R: I remember my girlfriend saying ‘you’ll be back into it soon, don’t worry about it’, this reminded me strangely. People close to me have a big effect on me so them words sort of regenerated my motivation

I: You’ve spoken about the gym a lot; do you feel like this was a positive distraction that has helped you?

R: Yeah keeping active has definitely helped, during your injury if you can keep active, in any way possible it can only help you, even if it’s just going swimming, lifting weights anything really, it helped me focus on keeping fit.

I: What else from your injury experience that you feel helped you come back?

R: I think deciding when I was ready, I’ll take you back to the beginning of march, a couple of friends invited me to play football, I was like I’m still injured I can’t but they persuaded me and to be honest I felt fine, I did some funny and some playground games like heads and volleys, that gave me confidence and then two weeks later I was back playing for KMW.

I: What quality was the most influential?

58


Activity as a positive distraction


Social support helping motivation


Support from others


Positive distractions


Not definitive negative distractions


Confidence in recovery


Advice from other who has experienced the same situation


R: Keeping positive, and for me staying in a routine of exercise and going to the gym. Had I have stop exercising completely I feel I would have struggled getting back into the routine of football, my muscles would be tight, I would be starting from scratch, people get injured again due to lack of work on other muscles, say I broke my foot, didn’t exercise during my lay off, come back, pull my hamstring.

I: What advice or suggestions would you give to athletes to help them become more resilient to injury?

R: I would definitely say keeping that mind-set of positivity, motivation to keep fit using the gym in any way you can, just doing anything to keep active.

I: What advice would you give to your coach?

R: Obviously it’s difficult at this level with funding, but keeping me more involved would’ve been good, making me come to every game, talking to me more, spending time with the squad so I’m not a stranger when I come back. The use of a physio would’ve been amazing

I: How do you feel the interview went?

R: I felt it went well I was comfortable with it

I: Did you feel you could tell your full story?

R: Yeah

I: Did you feel I lead you or influenced your responses in any way?

R: No

I: Do you have any suggestions regarding the interview?

R: Not really

I: Is there anything you want to add?

R: No I think I said everything

Participant 2

Key: I = InterviewerR = Respondent (DO)

59


Coach keeping injured players involved


Gym as a motivator


Positive mind-set


Importance of keeping active


Keeping positive


I: Whenever I stop the recording, just that press that button there, yeah, and it will stop it. So, yeah, obviously doing my Masters on psychological resilience of injured athletes and people who have come back from their injury successfully, yeah?

R: Okay.

I: So I’ve got like a few like criteria here that people have done research of people who have made successful returns. So would you say you’ve returned to pre-injury levels of performance? You would do, wouldn’t you?

R: Yeah, I think I have I’d say even better. I feel like the injury has given me more time to focus on other elements of my game technically.

I: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

R: I couldn’t actively compete but I could still train, so, without worrying about competing and making the weight of competing and stuff and just focused on working. So, definitely 100%.

I: Would you say you’re attaining or will attain pre-injury level goals?

R: Because of this injury now, I think it’s helped me probably exceed those goals because it’s just given me a different outlook on training and it’s changed my approach to training, obviously being that I can’t compete so with certain training methods. I’m adopting new ones so I think it’s helped me exceed that level.

I: When you’re training or fighting an absence of injury-related concerns, you’re not thinking about the injury?

R: It’s been on my mind a lot, to be honest. I think when you do have an injury, anything to do with maybe that area of the injury, you’re extra careful. Psychologically it does affect you, do you know what I’m saying? So, I’m extra careful now. I’ll be extra careful now when I start sparring and competing again, but even as I’m training because I just wanna make sure that I give myself enough time to heal so I come back better, because I don’t wanna elongate the time I’m out for.

I: Do you reckon, if you had the ability overcome adversity [unclear 0:01:52]?

R: I think I do. This is probably the third or fourth serious injury I’ve had in the last couple of years as well.

I: So you feel like…are you saying the experiences help you?

R: Yeah, more or less. I think there’s only so much you can do about it to the point where you can either sit there and accept the circumstances and just carry on about your business and continue to do what you do, you know what I mean? So, you can’t let it defeat you.

60


Determined to overcome injuries


Previous injuries


Wary of injury getting worse


Injury leading to improvement


Change of outlook on training




No competition distractions


Ability to stay active


Focus on other aspects of game




I: I’m just gonna ask you some questions about your sporting career up to now. Can you tell me a bit about your sporting career [unclear 0:02:27], how you started boxing?

R: So I started boxing when I was about 15. I didn’t actually compete until I was about 19 and I came to university and that was due to education and stuff.

I: You started quite late then?

R: Yeah, I started quite late. And I think it helped me in a way because then I would say I was already at a certain maturity level where I could deal with certain elements of training much better than younger people. There’s a big drop out range from young kids who start boxing, by the time they get to aged 16. Because I feel like when stuff like as in having to train and be disciplined with your training and be disciplined in stuff like nutrition, as a young kid that’s kinda hard to discipline so I think I was already at mature stage. So I started competing from then. Just because really ‘cos I love doing it and one thing led to another.

Prior to that I had to face a lot of adversity because I kept getting injured before major tournaments. So, I was competing for about two or three seasons but didn’t actually enter a major tournament until my fourth year boxing.

I: Really?

R: Yeah, but I think that helps me because by the time I got to my first tournament when I was actually 100%, I was probably 10 times better than the people that were in the tournament, and it resulted in me winning it. So I won two national titles in my first two years of competing.

I’ve been training with England recently, so I’m knocking on the door of England. Hopefully try to make it into GB by the end of next year. I have dual nationality as well, so there’s an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics in Nigeria, but I just feel like it wasn’t the right time now. I feel like it’s a bit too early. I’m still rather…

I: [Over speaking] So you reckon you could definitely get GB?

R: Yes. I’m still rather inexperienced. Like, I’ve fought and competed [unclear 0:4:09] people who’ve had hundreds of fights. I’m still on about 20. But then again, that’s because of all the missed fights, missed competitions. Prior to my injury I had three fights cancelled in a row. Yeah, I’m just enjoying it. I can’t wait to get back and see how next season goes. Hopefully a season free of injuries [laughter].

I: You mentioned some there, but can you tell me about some positive experiences you’ve had.

R: O, positive experience? I would definitely say I think the first national title because I think the third time intended to go to that tournament, being only the first time I actually got to go, it meant so much because I think I trained like my life depended on it and I think I just appreciated it much more. I remember after the final, I was quite emotional about it because it was just so many years, it was such hard training and to

61


Emotional


Appreciation of sport


Dedication


Light hearted


Objective


Confidence


Ability to overcome prior adversity


Passion


Disciplined


Maturity


see the fruits of your labour, I think that gave me so much motivation going forwards. I need to show what you can achieve when you work hard.

I: How old were you when you won that one?

R: I was already 20. I think I was already 20 then. Yeah, I was already 20 years old.

I: And you’d missed a few because of your injuries before that?

R: Yeah, because of the injuries before that and just circumstances, really. Boxing, you have to be dedicated and obviously I couldn’t really commit competition wise during A ‘levels and stuff.

I: What about any negative experiences?

R: Oh, mate, where do you start? So, on the top of the injuries and the missed competitions, of course boxing’s a very…what’s the word? It’s a very controversial sport at times, very biased. I’ve experienced it.

I: [Over speaking] [unclear 0:05:53].

R: I’ve got to national finals and lost on judging decisions that you shouldn’t have lost on, do you know what I’m saying? I’ve had coaches and other boxers, on many occasions as well, come up to me and say, “Oh, you won the fight” and stuff like that. So, it’s based on, socially, I know if I go to a certain area to compete and I’m up against a home fighter, if I don’t knock him out there’s a very slim chance that you can win the fight. Of course, at times that can be really demoralising. And it’s not just happened once, so I’m having to pick myself up from that adversity time and time again. But then again, you don’t stop though. You have to keep going, I can’t let it get the best of me. Maybe it motivates me to just win more convincingly, if anything, so they can’t [unclear 0:09:10].

I: We’re gonna move on to talking about your injury experience. Can you tell me a bit about your experiences of being injured? When you first got injured, what were your training routines like, or what could you do?

R: It was funny, when I actually first got injured I was training that day so I was sparring out there. It was actually a week before the national championships and I think I’d been training so hard because it’s the highest thing you can win as an amateur in England and it’s such a big tournament, even if you make the semi-finals, everyone who’s in the semi-finals is guaranteed a GB assessment. That’s the standard, yeah? That’s the biggest tournament, so the training camp had gone well. That consists a lot of running, pad work, bag work. Basically, more or less up until the tournament, I was training about four or five times a week, maybe twice a day out of those four days.

I had finished the session and I was sparring and I just noticed that my face was tingling a little bit and it was only until I went home and I actually blew my nose and it was by me blowing my nose, the air went through the fracture in my face up into my eye and that when I noticed, okay something’s wrong here. There was no pain or

62


Determination to overcome adversity


Ability to overcome adversity


Light hearted


Source of motivation


anything, so I didn’t feel anything, so I went to A&E and it was question marks, man. In my head I think I was more concerned about my tournament in a week [laughter], do you know what I mean? I think my first thought was go to the hospital, let them patch you up and the bigger question was, can I be ready in a week?

I was in A&E for the best part of that day and I think it was even more bit worrying because the doctors couldn’t explain what it was. They weren’t sure, so over the weekend I spoke to one doctor…I left there and they said just to leave it for now, come back and see a specialist on Monday. But the first doctor I spoke to sort of gave me a glimmer of hope that it was still possible I could compete the next week so I still remained positive, I carried on training, but in the back of my mind something was like ‘Ah, you might miss this tournament again’, but I didn’t want to think of it like that, I carried on training until I saw the specialist on Monday and they confirmed the severity of the issue and that potentially I might have to have surgery on it and stuff like that.

That sort of blew over my head, but what hit me was, you can’t go to the Championships. It sounds really weird though. I think I was more disappointed with the fact that I was missing the Championships than the fact I was injured. Because obviously…

I: [Over speaking] Because this had happened to you before, hadn’t it?

R: Yeah. You put a lot into training, you’re a week before the tournament, you could almost touch it and then that’s it. An element of shock and disappointment, really.

I: Obviously, you’ve broken your eye socket so that didn’t really inhibit your training at all, did it?

R: Yeah, it doesn’t inhibit my training, it’s just that inhibits me from sparring so I can’t do anything contact and in terms of boxing and sparring, that makes up a good proportion of your training.

I: But you’ll still be able to do cardio and other stuff so you can improve yourself in other areas?

R: Yeah, yeah.

I: Could you describe the effect the injury has had on you as an athlete?

R: I think it’s definitely increased my resilience. I think soon after I leaned that I couldn’t compete and I was injured, I think there was a period of maybe one or two days when I just needed to take a little bit of a break from training and stuff because it left me quite, I’d say disappointed. Devastated to a certain extent. I didn’t even when I hear or see about boxing for like two days, I just wanted a complete break. But in terms of the effect it’s had on me, or how it’s helped me, that was the question, right?

I: Yeah, how it’s affected you.

63


Distance self from sport


Disappointment with injury




Disappointment at injury and missing the tournament


Positive about recovery


R: How it has affected me, yeah. It left me in a state of devastation for the first two days, but then I think after that I just tried to look for the positives in and say, “You know what, I’m still a rather inexperienced boxer. It just happens to be, thankfully, my skill level doesn’t match my experience level, but look at it as a positive. Within that two or three months I can’t compete, I can work on my other stuff.” So it’s not all that bad, whereas I could have broken a leg or broken my arm and not been able to move or not being able to train at all. But I was still able to train so I thought, you know what, by the time I do come back I’m gonna be better than I would have had I went at that time.

I: You use it as a positive thinking you’re going to come back…

R: [Over speaking] Yeah, you have to because I feel like, what I was thinking about the first two days in terms of just the disappointment, if I let that affect me then easily things like this can you make you walk away from the sport, do you what I mean? Specially because, having experienced it so many times as well.

I: What were your other injuries? What were the other ones?

R: Oh, so I tore my hamstring one time, ironically playing football, a friendly kickabout [laughter]. Sprained my wrist twice. Obviously, as a boxer you need your wrist. What else have I done? Trapped tendon in my shoulder [laughter].

I: Yeah, need that!

R: And then the other tournaments I’ve missed were obviously being let down by coaches as well. I think those are harder to swallow.

I: When it’s not your fault, yeah.

R: Yeah. I mean the injuries, that’s your fault. Not so much your fault because you don’t plan to injure yourself, that’s circumstance. But the three tournaments I missed that weren’t injuries, one was because I was overlooked at my club, which I felt was kind of wrong because I was probably in the form of my life in comparison to some of the other boxers and it was just that I was new, favouritism, you know how it goes. And the other two were logistically, the coaches just weren’t available that day [laughter], which I wasn’t told ‘til about a few days before. One of them, an entry form had been filled out wrongly [laughter], which meant I was there, I remember I was waiting for the entry form to come up and I checked the list when it came up. I think I read it like10 times hoping that my name would just appear [laughter]. It didn’t appear, literally. I remember the secretary who submitted the form that week calling me and apologised. I remember they said, “Oh, I’m sorry. There’s nothing I could do about it.” I said, “Say sorry to all the hills I ran up.” [Laughter]. Those ones are harder to stomach more because they’re out of your control. Injuries not so much, you know, it’s nature, innit? It can happen to anyone.

I: So do you think the injury and the way you responded to it affected your general wellbeing or you as a person?

64


Objective about the injury, doesn’t blame self


Poor support systems


Poor support systems


Humour


Past injuries helped overcome this one




‘Could’ve been worse’ mindset


Focus on other aspects of game


Positive about experience/skill level


Positive mind-set


Disappointment in injury


R: Positively, yeah. I think it affected me positively because you have to look at the brighter things in life. Going back to, my injury was serious, but it didn’t stop me from training altogether, so that’s a blessing in disguise. I didn’t have to have surgery on it because even when they told me about surgery there was so many other different side…doctors love to tell you about the side-effects or possibilities or, “Oh, this could happen. If your eye bleeds you could lose your sight,” and this and that, so I have to consider myself blessed in that sense. So it affected me positively. It just made me appreciate the sport even more because not being able to spar for two months, that’s like the fun part of boxing for me [laughter], that’s like I’m happy with my little toy at the end. But, yeah, it’s helped me positively because I appreciate what’s around me more.

I: So when the doctor said to you that you might have to have surgery, what was your first thought when he said that?

R: Number one, I’m not a fan of surgery. I’ve had surgeries before but I’m not a fan of surgery. This sounds wrong, but I was just really concern about, can I box next week?

I: If you do the surgery can I box?

R: Yeah. So all the side-effects stuff that the doctor talked about kinda ran over my head a bit, which you will notice with a lot of athletes, right, ‘specially in the sport of boxing. We can be very naughty sometimes with the way we treat our bodies and how we look after ourselves. You push it, you may come back too early from injuries, aggravates stuff, we overlook an awful lot. My limb has to be falling off to go to hospital, literally. If my eye didn’t swell up, I wouldn’t have known about the injury and I would have carried on because I didn’t feel any pain. I don’t know, thinking as an athlete, it was more or less, okay I can’t compete, but when I did talk myself out of the situation a few days later and I was like, right, I actually could have had surgery on my eye. It was that serious. You have to step back and realise you’ve dodged a bullet.

So, I didn’t really feel much about it initially at the time. It was after when I reflected, I was like, okay that could have been serious. You only get two eyes, you can’t replace them.

I: It’s obvious you’ve had a couple of injuries so say if you suffered an injury again, what would you do differently?

R: Prevention is better than cure. It’s better to be careful because I feel like sometimes, as an athlete, I’m hard-headed when it comes to stuff like this, I have to wait for something to get really, really bad for me to go and get it checked out, when initially, it may be at the early stages where you can go to a doctor or physiotherapy and it may have less ramifications at that moment in time. But it’s just stubbornness. That’s one thing I’d do differently. Initially when I was feeling funny after training I should have went straight, but I just waited for it to get serious. That’s one thing I’d do differently.

65


Stubbornness as a negative


Realisation of seriousness. Became objective


Not considering seriousness of injury


Not considering injury?


Appreciation of sport


Positive outlook on life


Training wise, I wouldn’t do anything differently because these things happen. You can’t plan these things. It’s just a freak of nature.

That’s the one thing I’d do differently, I’d be a bit more careful when it I start to see potential injuries.

I: Yeah, prevent them rather than curing them.

We’re going to move onto the recovery process. What personal factors, characteristics do you feel are the most important to help you recover?

R: Factors, okay, I’d like to think I’m very hard-headed and stubborn in the sense of I just don’t know how to quit. Would I call that resilience? I’d say I’m very resilient. I don’t know how to quit. I like to finish what I’ve started. Even if I went to the tournament and let’s say I lost and I didn’t get to where I wanted to get, I’d still feel better than having that question mark of what if. I think the fact that I’m resilient, or head-headed I call it.

In the way of my character I’d say I’m quite diligent ‘cos it was hard going back to training the first week after my injury because I’m not really training for anything. There was no purpose. When you’re training towards a certain goal it helps and obviously knowing that by the time I came back I wasn’t able to compete again, that the competition season’s done. So, in fact I’m not competing until October, which is plenty of time so I could easily have just walked away from training for that period.

I: How long did you not train for?

R: I think it was about two days. I was back in the gym two or three days after because in my head I’m thinking I can only use this time to improve rather than using the time for nothing. So I’d say resilience and motivation. I’m motivated about my faith. I’m a Christian and I think after that time, it sent me into a period of reflection, praying and stuff, so I feel like inspired through my faith. That was probably one of the biggest factors.

I: You feel that that helped you a lot?

R: Yeah.

I: Have you got an example of when your faith has helped you?

R: An example of when it helps me is, everything happens for a reason, my belief in God is that nothing that happens, or he allows to happen, doesn’t happen for no reason, so it could only end well. I looked at it from the sense of, okay, fair enough, it’s another two months where I can just work hard and to refine my skills and come back even better. So, who knows what could have happened had I went. So, in that aspect, everything happens for a reason so you just have to let play out its course.

I: What situation or factors from your own environment would you say were important to recovering?

66


Putting his worry in to his God’s hands, lifts weight off himself


Faith helping to remove negativityq


Faith as a motivator




Need for goals


Diligent


Hard headed


Doesn’t quit


Stubborn


R: Friends and family. Also my environment, I live very close to my boxing gym and my coach is very, very supportive and so there’s a very good infrastructure at the club [unclear 0:19:35] boxing, so I have a great relationship with my coach, bit like another family member. So I think that helped a lot ‘cos they were all sympathetic to the situation and didn’t want to rush me into making any decisions in terms of how I trained or not trained so that helped a lot. The people that I was around, the environment, the club and whatnot. Yeah, just the people I was around.

I: What did the coach do for you whilst you were [unclear 0:20:03], if anything?

R: He was speaking to me quite a lot so there was a lot of phone calls. In the time that I was gym, obviously waiting to find out about my injury, just a lot of moral support. Just ensuring me that everything was going to be alright, a lot of encouragement and things like that. There’s so much they can do in that situation, maybe just to be a mate. Yeah, so friends and family, just encouragement really and reminding me that it’s not over. Delay is not denial, that’s what one of my friends told me and that’s buried in my head. It may be a delay, but it’s not [unclear 0:20:41]. It’s not gonna stop me.

I: That’s a good saying that. So which of all of these factors do you feel was the most influential in helping you recover would you say?

R: Definitely my faith. Definitely my faith because [laughter] it just gave me so much hope that there’s better things to come. Things looked really bleak then. I don’t know, I sort of had, that was all part of the plan this season was to go in the Championships, win or get to the semi-finals, get to GB. Because knowing that I’d already been there already, had it all mapped out, and it didn’t go to plan, so I don’t know, it seemed a bit bleak and I think just my faith gave me the biggest amount of hope in the sense that this is all happening for a reason and it can only get better.

I: What specific qualities do you feel enabled you to be successful [unclear 0:21:40]? Don’t worry if you’re repeating yourself, it’s fine.

R: Okay.

I: So what qualities do you feel helped you return successfully?

R: Qualities? Is that like personal?

I: Yeah. It’s a similar question to the one I asked you before.

R: Okay. What do you mean, like an example?

I: Like having a positive outlook like you’ve mentioned, something like that.

R: I think my attitude. Thankfully I enjoy the sport a lot. I’m not in the sport of boxing for any sort of monetary gain or any sort of achievement, I just genuinely love the sport. I think probably contributes to my resilience within boxing because I just love doing it and I think it would take a hell of a lot to stop me from doing it. So I think

67


Intrinsic passion for sport


Love of sport


Faith, believing injury is all part of his God’s plan


Faith offering hope


Faith helping recovery


Using a term to help motivate


Friends and family encouragement and reassurance


Coach encouragement


Moral support from coach


Coach keeping in contact


Coach like a family member


Club infrastructure


Coach support


Friends and family


that’s probably one of the biggest qualities in terms, just my attitude towards the sport boxing. Dedication as well.

I: What motivated during your time injured to get back fit? Obviously you’ve said you had the support [unclear 0:22:56].

R: Do you know what it is? It was hard. For the first few days of me training it was like, those times I woke up and then I’d be training and I was like, well I’m not really training for anything. It was really hard to get up, get out of bed those mornings because you just don’t move with the same attitude when you’re not working towards anything. That was it. It’s a bit like revising over a topic when there’s no examine. Your approach is different, your attitude towards it is different. So I think it was more my coaches, my coaches and the people around me. My coach, he similarly suffered an injury a few years back, he actually broke his left hand, but he broke it to the extent where he couldn’t punch with it for about a year, two years, and I find it crazy because he carried on training but he just trained with one hand and he said, “Do you know what? I was determined to make my other hand 10 times better so by the time my left hand was…my hand was amazing.” And I thought, okay, you’re crazy, ‘cos I couldn’t do that. It would make just wanna pack it in altogether, so I think my coach is probably the biggest, yeah.

I: Did you feel sure when you got injured that you could return to pre-injury levels of performance and why?

R: I was sure in the sense of because, thankfully, my injury didn’t hamper me from training in general, in terms of it didn’t affect my mobility of anything, it was just purely in terms of my face and just making sure my [unclear 0:24:35]. But I don’t know, I think one of the biggest motivations was that I would not only return to my pre-levels, but exceed them. So I think that served as motivation as well and I feel like I’m already in training and I’m excited for when I start competing again because I can already see that I’ve come on leaps and bounds.

I: When you got injured did you feel that you were going to come back stronger?

R: Yeah, and it gave me time to enjoy the sport as well because obviously, when you’re training towards fights and competitions, it can get all business and sometimes it takes the fun out of it. So I’ve actually enjoyed training over the last few weeks.

I: Would you say that you being able to go in the gym till has helped you stay focused on coming back fit? Has the gym helped that at all?

R: 100% I think, yeah. Just the fact that the people I’m around as well. I do train with quite a few other boxers and they’ve been really supportive and obviously, like I said before, there’s a really big team at my club so that’s helped to motivate me as well.

I: Would you say aspects of your outlook on the situation has helped you return successfully?

R: 100%. If I hadn’t had that positive aspect, I don’t think I would have returned [laughter] because I wasn’t sure if I had enough resilience left in me [unclear

68


Positivity about returning


Surrounded by others


Ability to utilise gym


Positive change of view of training


Ability to enjoy sport




Goal of coming back stronger


Sure of recovery


Coach as a motivator


Speaking to someone with similar experience


Coach as a motivator


Not having a goal – negative


0:26:09after all the other adversity I’d faced] because each one can make you stronger, but then each one can just take away from that [unclear 0:26:15:10allowance] that you have for that disappointment. So, yeah, the positive attitude was the main thing that helped.

I: Were there any distractions you had during your recovery that affected the recovery?

R: [Laughter] Yes, because during my injury I wasn’t actually allowed to blow my nose properly, because apparently that would put pressure on the fracture of my face, so it just made me super extra careful to the point where, and I think there was one day I think my friend accidentally swung their hand and caught me in the face and I was fine, I think it was a day or two later when I started to feel a bit of pain again. So in that period I was like, man, I hope I haven’t ‘cos it was three or four weeks of me feeling great and after that the pain started to come back and I was like, I hope I haven’t made it worse. Then that resolved after a few days but, yeah, that had me kinda scared because the worst thing I wanted to do was to add to the time I was out at the side lines. I was trying to following all the doctor’s advice to the law because you just want to get back as soon as possible.

I: How did you manage the university workload?

R: Actually, the injury helped me manage my balance better because I wasn’t training towards anything, I could relax on my training and the times I trained. Whereas I was training twice a day before, I’m just training maybe once a day in the morning and that gives me the rest of the day to my assignments. So there wasn’t the added pressure of, okay, you’re competing in two weeks, you need to be training twice a day, or I’m not competing, I can still train in the morning and have all the time to get my assignments done. So it’s actually helped me focus a bit more on my assignments.

I: Can you tell me about anyone other than your coach, because you’ve mentioned him, who helped you through the recovery process?

R: Other than my coach? My girlfriend, if I’m allowed to mention that?

I: Yeah, yeah.

R: She’s like my biggest cheerleader. Family as well because I think even if the people around me, my friends and family, can’t really understand boxing, they understand how much it means to me so, of course, I think they saw how disappointed I was at the time. I remember the day after I actually told my family, and I think I must have posted a Facebook status and put it on, even potential opponents that I would have had to have face in the Championships, I was getting messages, well wishes from them. That helped a lot.

I: I’m just gonna close this section now. So, what advice or suggestions would you give to athletes to help them better [unclear 0:29:26]?

69


Support from significant others


Academic distraction during recovery – positive


Following doctors’ advice


Anxiety


Humour


Using previous adversites


R: Number one advice is, it’s always better to get it checked out. Don’t second guess any of your injuries. Prevention is better than cure. And also it’s easier to look at what you see in front of you, like your situation today, because that doesn’t determine your tomorrow. So, yeah, I may be injured today but, figuratively speaking, tomorrow is a new day. Number one is just try and focus a lot more, focus your mind on that period when you come back and start competing again because that will motivate you to getting back to who you are. It’s only temporary. The injury is not gonna last for ever.

I: What suggestions would you make to coaches to help their athletes get better?

R: I would say just being there to support, more support and encouragement. Also I feel like when you’re training, a lot of responsibility is on the coach to dictate what you regularly do. I think at that moment in time, the responsibility should be given to the boxer. So, my coach didn’t tell me have you get training, he gave me the choice. He said, “Well, if you wanna carry on training here and you need and whatnot,” so it was a bit like roles were reversed. The last thing you want to do when you’re injured is your coach is forcing you to do this, or train, [unclear 0:30:57] itself helps a lot. Yeah, just giving the responsibility to them to know that what they want to do, how much they wanna train and when they wanna come back is in their own time.

I: Any comments about the interview? I’ve got to ask, so how do you think the interview went?

R: Interview went really well. You’re a great interviewer, you should have a talk show [laughter].

I: [Laughter] Did you feel you could tell your fully story?

R: Yeah, 100%. I feel like the questions covered everything and there was a wide scope, so yeah.

I: Did you feel like I led your responses in any way?

R: No, I think the questions were perfectly phrased and there was a good balance so I knew how to answer, I wasn’t led to an answer.

I: Have you any comments or suggestions about the interview itself?

R: Not suggestions, but just comments like, yeah, it was actually thoroughly put together and one I enjoyed very, very much [laughter].

I: Is there anything we haven’t talked about your experience of being injured or anything you want to?

R: No, I think we’ve covered everything.

I: Cool. That’s it then.

Participant 3

70


Having say in own recovery


Coach support and encouragement


Focussed on comeback


Understand severity of injury


Key: I = InterviewerD = Respondent (DT)s.l. = sounds like

I: So I’m recording now, so basically if want to stop the recording at any time just press that stop button and we’ll stop it.

D: Okay.

I: So basically I’m doing my Masters on physiological resilience of injured athletes and I’m looking for physiological or resilient characteristics that have helped you recover from your injury and come back successfully. I’ve got some criteria here that you say yes or no to if you feel these apply to you regarding your successful return. You feel like you’ve returned to pre-injury levels of performance? Since your injury you’re back to playing how you were before?

D: Yes I think so.

I: You’re attaining pre-injury level goals that you had set or…?

D: Yeah.

I: …or you think you could?

D: Yeah.

I: An absence of injury related concerns? So you’re not thinking about your thumb [s.l. whilst 00:00:42] you’re injured?

D: Not anymore, no.

I: And the ability to overcome adversities?

D: Yes.

I: Cool. Okay, so you broke your thumb?

D: Yes.

I: How did that happen?

D: Well I was playing in goal for Kimberley Miners Welfare…

I: How long ago was this?

D: This was about six months ago and there was a cross coming in, I was playing goal, it was a bouncing ball and it sort of came across and another player was coming and

71


meeting it at the same time, I caught the ball and then he also tried to kick it and he kicked my thumb.

I: Did you realise it was broken at the time?

D: I didn’t, no; I just played on ‘cause…

I: You carried on playing?

D: Yeah, I was determined to play on, yeah.

I: So you were out for four months, did you miss many games or…?

D: Yeah I missed four months of the season and it was towards the end of the season so I missed a lot of games.

I: And you [unclear 00:01:35] football, obviously. We’re gonna talk about some general questions regarding your footballing career.

D: Okay.

I: So can you tell me a bit about your footballing career up ‘til now? So where you started, how old were you and who you’ve played for and what you’ve won and so forth.

D: I originally started playing outfield for Priory Celtic Under 7’s and then within…playing outfield for two seasons, the goalie got scouted, Peter [s.l. McGloin 00:02:05], he went to Notts County so then I got chucked in goal and…

I: Why was that?

D: Because they saw me in training and thought that I was good in goal, so that was how I got in goal. So from then on I’ve played for my Priory Celtic then Wollaton Sports for a few seasons, played for my school for county level, then I went…Wollaton Sports to Kimberley, no to Basford United. Sorry I can’t remember…

I: Played for so many teams.

D: Yeah, Basford United then Kimberley Miners Welfare and that’s just where we are now.

I: So have you been successful regarding trophies and stuff?

D: I’d like to think so, yeah, for Trinity our school we won the County Cup, we’ve won the Cup for Kimberley Miners Welfare, we’ve won the league most years for Wollaton Sports and Priory Celtic so we’ve always been competitive and…

I: You’ve always been a top goalkeeper then?

D: Yeah. I should’ve been scouted but…

72


Confidence/Humour


Quite successful at amateur level


Dangerous mind-set – risk of worsening injury


Determination


I: So can you tell me a bit about any positive experiences you had in sport? Things that stand out to you about your sporting career?

D: I think winning is always a good experience just ‘cause it’s a good feeling to win. I’ve won awards, there’s the Player’s Player, Parents Player, it’s always something to put on your CV and always something that makes you feel good.

I: Tell me about one your cup wins then, what the circumstances were and when did they happen?

D: Last year we played the NSL Junior Cup Final, I played in goal, we won 1-0, made some good saves, it was good to play in such a large amount of people because it’s always more fun I think if you…

I: [Over speaking] got stands and stuff or is it…?

D: I think it’s got one small stand with a [unclear 00:04:22].

I: [Over speaking] where you play normally there?

D: Yeah.

I: So it’s a big occasion for you [unclear 00:04:24]?

D: Yeah, more than usual. I think there were about 300 people there so it was a lot more than the usual games.

I: What are you most proud of in your sporting career? Would it be that cup final you spoke of or you mentioned playing county level for your school, what would you say you’re most proud of?

D: I would say winning the County Cup ‘cause that’s a big achievement if your…

I: That was with your school?

D: With my school yeah.

I: How old were you when that happened?

D: I think that was year 10. We won in it year 7 so I was 11 in year 7. I think we won in year 10 and 11 so that would be 15 and 16 and sixth form and that was 17.

I: So you’ve won it a few times.

D: Yeah.

I: Was that because of you or because your team was good?

73


Extrinsic motivator?


Enjoys experience of winning


D: It’s always a team; I couldn’t win just playing in goal on my own so it’s always a team sport, so yeah.

I: Have you ever played outfield since your young days?

D: I have actually; I played for Kimberley Trojans for a season and purely because I enjoy playing outfield more because it’s just more of a run around and you’re not waiting for stuff to happen. Played for a season, scored eight goals, I like to think I could go outfield but I’m just in goal at the moment because I’m better there.

I: So can you tell me about any negative experiences in your sport? Other than your injury that’s just happened?

D: Other than my injury I’d probably say getting sent off. It happens more often when I’m in goal because I’m usually the last man more often.

I: How many times have you been sent off?

D: I think probably twice and that’s usually for being the last man, nothing malicious or anything.

I: So let’s talk about your injury now. Can you tell me about how you were feeling before you got injured about your footballing life, were you enjoying it? Did you think you were being successful? It was going good or…?

D: Yeah I thought I was really good in goal and it was possibly a career opportunity so it was annoying to get injured at that time and it cost me my position in the team because I was the only goalkeeper and…

I: So then they had to go and get someone else?

D: Yeah they signed someone else so that was annoying but it just made the whole injury worse.

I: But prior to getting the injury, everything was going good for you?

D: Yeah, I enjoyed football. Football was one of my favourite hobbies.

I: So when you got injured, obviously you’ve told me how it happened but when you found out how did you feel? Did you go to the doctors straight after the game or…?

D: I went to A&E after the game because it was painful and it swelled up to a really big size so I obviously thought something was wrong. At the time I just thought it might have been a sprain or something like that but it turned out it was a broken thumb and it was just a bit depressing because I knew I’d be out for a while and I’d lose my position in the team.

I: Well obviously your hand’s a bit important for a goalkeeper…

74


Down/Depressed


Losing spot made injury worse


Annoyed


Annoyed and lost opportunity


Understands importance of team


Humble


D: Yeah I know, you can’t really say…

I: [Over speaking] have to carry on [unclear 00:07:55].

D: Yeah with like a cast or something like a Jamie Vardy cast.

I: But you couldn’t.

D: No.

I: So you were obviously depressed, how else did you feel? Did you feel you could come back? Did you feel you would come back and…?

D: I would say frustrated because I knew I’d be out for a while and I could possibly…

I: How long did they tell you you’d be out for? Did they say you’d be out for the four months?

D: Yeah, four months definitely out just to give it time to recover so it wouldn’t happen again or make the injury worse.

I: Did they put you in a cast at all and how long was that on for and what was that like?

D: Yeah so initially I was in a cast for two months just to protect the thumb and stop me moving it and just so that it would solidify…

I: [Over speaking] put it back in position don’t they.

D: Yeah and then after the two months it was just no exercise and just keep exercise to a minimum around the house and everything like that.

I: What just ‘cause of the hand or are you just making that up…

D: No, it was just resting it.

I: So since you’ve been back from your injury, what has it been like playing football and are you back to level you were at before? Are you enjoying it as much? [Unclear 00:09:05] more than you did before?

D: Enjoy it more ‘cause I suppose you take it for granted when you’re not injured and when you’re not playing. Yeah, I’m probably a bit more worried about injuring it again just because of how annoying it was when I was out but you can’t really think like that I suppose ‘cause it affects your performance.

I: So whilst you were injured, obviously you said you had to rest your hand, were there any other things you were doing exercise-wise during that period?

75


Injury leading to greater enjoyment of sport


Frustrated


D: After the two months I was told to start exercising, like gentle exercises on my thumb just to get used to the movement again and stretch the ligaments and everything like that. So yeah, that was fine.

I: Obviously you couldn’t play football, what was your life filled with? What were you doing with yourself?

D: I was just mostly playing on my PlayStation just to fill the time I suppose that I would’ve been playing football. Watching football on the telly.

I: Did you feel that helped, watching the football on the telly?

D: Yeah, I suppose it takes your mind off it a bit and you can enjoy football without actually playing.

I: Did you do any other exercises whilst you were injured for the rest of your body or…?

D: I wanted to keep myself fit so I went to the gym all the time just to maintain my physique and everything like that so I could come back and make a good comeback. I spent time with my family as well.

I: [Unclear 00:10:36] on the Saturdays or…?

D: Yeah.

I: Spend more time with the family [unclear 00:10:40].

D: Yeah.

I: I suppose that’s helpful. So how did you think the injury and your responses to it would affect your performance or did you think the injury would affect your performance?

D: I suppose coming back the first time you’re a bit more tentative about using your thumb and going into situations where you could injure it but then as you get used to it you just realise that it’s always the same, there’s always a chance of getting injured so you just have to play anyway.

I: Did you feel like your reaction to being injured has helped your performance or hindered your performance? The way the injury made you feel, do you feel that? When you said you felt depressed, do you feel that’s hindered your performance at all since you’ve gone back?

D: I think it can because you’re more worried about getting injured and then going through the whole recovery process and you remember the time that you didn’t play football and stuff like that but, yeah.

I: Could you describe the affect the injury had had on you as an athlete or as a goalkeeper?

76


Overcoming fear of re-injury


Maintenance of fitness and physique, to help comeback


Kept fit in the gym


Watching the sport to help distract from injury


Watching the sport to help distract from injury


D: So I’d say I’m more driven to succeed as a goalkeeper, it makes me more hungry.

I: You just wanna become better you’re saying?

D: Yeah.

I: So what about as a person, personally? You as an individual, how do you feel the injury has affected you in that way?

D: I suppose it’s made you a more stronger individual ‘cause like they say, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I know I can go out and get injured again and come back and you can always recover and come back. Yeah, it makes you a stronger person.

I: Do you think the injury and your responses to this injury have affected your general wellbeing, your health?

D: I wouldn’t say so no because it was such a small injury, I could still go to the gym, I could still exercise it was just my thumb that was limited so it hasn’t really affected…

I: Would you say the gym has helped you during your injury experience as a distraction or anything or would you say it’s hindered?

D: Yeah it’s definitely helped, I suppose exercise releases endorphins so you tend to forget about stuff and the gym makes you take your mind off things.

I: Now we’re gonna talk about your recovery and the process of that. What personal factors or characteristics of yourself do you feel were most important during your recovery from the injury?

D: I would say support from my family.

I: Personal factors within yourself, characteristics within yourself?

D: I’d say a positive attitude that I would come back and I would be able to get my position back as the goalkeeper and then a drive to succeed, so still going to the gym, keeping myself fit, keeping myself active and not giving up.

I: You thought those things helped you get back fit? D: Yeah definitely the positive attitude and determination, yeah.

I: Can you give me an example of when you used your positive attitude and it helped you in your recovery process?

D: I suppose I’m confident in my own ability as a goalkeeper and positive that I’d be able to…whoever came in as my replacement that I’d be better than them and get my position back.

77


Confidence


Positive attitude and determination


Keep active as a distraction


Confident of comeback and getting back into the team


Support from family as a help during recovery


Gym as a positive distraction


Positive outlook on situation


Injury has made him more resilient


Positive outlook


Injury leading to increased drive


I: How long did that actually take once you came back? Did you get put straight back in or was you [unclear 00:14:22]?

D: I got put straight back in because the guy who came in was relatively inexperienced so it was lucky for me but I’m always confident, yeah.

I: So what about your determination? Elaborate on that if you can. Have you got an example of a thought where you were determined to come back?

D: So I’d say I’m not gonna give up and just say that’s it for the season, I thought I’ll get myself in the gym, I’ll keep myself fit.

I: Oh yeah, so I suppose it was half way through the season when you got injured wasn’t it? You could’ve…

D: Yeah, forget it for the season, I’ll come back…

I: ...but you wanted to get back.

D: Yeah I wanted to get back.

I: Was there a certain goal when you wanted to get back for or did you just wanna get back playing as fast as you could?

D: I suppose I wanted to get back to help my team because I knew that we’d do better with me in the team. [Unclear 00:15:26] to help my team out and plus I enjoy playing football and its one of my favourite hobbies.

I: So what about factors within your environment? [Unclear 00:15:35] things that were going on in your life.

D: I suppose support from the people at the hospital and from people at my home, family, just to take my mind off it and able to fill my time with other things.

I: What support did you get from the hospital? Did they give you physio or…?

D: So they just recommended what I should do, the optimum things that I should do to come back and have a healthy thumb and be able to play and not worry about getting injured again or reinjuring it. My family I’d say just being able to talk to them and stuff like that.

I: They helped you through the process did they?

D: Yeah.

I: Was there anything that Kimberley did to help you in the situation or…?

D: I got a few texts of encouragement from the manager just to keep going and stuff like that but that was probably about it.

78


Encouragement from manager


Support from family


Advice


Support from family as a positive distraction


Support from hospital staff


Enjoyment of the game


Confidence in ability and importance in team


Putting past negativity behind him and looking forward


Determined to keep self-fit and not give up


Confidence


I: There was no support further than that?

D: No, I suppose ‘cause we’re such a small-scale team it’s just limited to that. It’s just that sort of level of…

I: So grouping both the personal and your situational factors together, which do you feel was the most influential for yourself in recovering from your injury?

D: I think personal is always more important because…

I: Sorry, which specific personal factor that you said?

D: Definitely being positive and thinking that you can come back. Having the confidence and everything like that.

I: One more question on that, which of these, if any, helped you adapt positively? So you could just say all of them or none of them or…?

D: I feel like I’m repeating myself a little bit but I’d probably say positive outlook and determination to succeed probably.

I: So now we’re just gonna move onto resilient qualities that you may have. What specific qualities do you feel enabled you to be successful on return from your injury?

D: Confidence definitely, not having the fear of getting injured again. Yeah, just those two were the most important I think.

I: Don’t worry if you’re repeating yourself, I’m trying to get a proper in-depth into your brain. You’ve talked about your positive attitude towards your recovery, would you say this has definitely helped you return successfully?

D: Yeah definitely.

I: So whilst you were out what motivated you to get back fit?

D: Just my love of football, helping my team mates out, being able to [unclear 00:18:45]…

I: [Over speaking] got a good relationship with [unclear 00:18:47] team?

D: Yeah definitely. [Unclear 00:18:49] best friends since [unclear 00:18:50]. Yeah, definitely.

I: What type of things do you do with your team mates socially? Do you have club nights out and stuff?

D: Yeah we’ve got an end of the season night out; we have a drink at the end of each game. It’s just nice to socialise.

79


Passion for gameWanting to help mates


Confidence


Positive mind-set


I: So you would say that the relationship you have with your team has motivated you to get back?

D: Yeah, definitely.

I: [Unclear 00:19:15]. Any other motives?

D: Just to keep fit, the gym. Yeah, just doing exercise outdoors.

I: Did you feel sure when you got injured that you would be able to return to the same level that you finished when you got injured?

D: It was only a small injury so I never had any worries about coming back or getting to the same level with it being such a small injury.

I: So there wasn’t a point during your recovery where you thought I’m a bit nervous about it?

D: Not really, the people saw I at the doctors reassured me that it would go back to the level [s.l. that it could 00:20:04] and it would just be as strong as it was.

I: So there wasn’t any worry about the thumb breaking again it was just…?

D: No, I was just the time.

I: Neither in your head either at all, you knew you were gonna come back the same level?

D: No. I’ve fractured my thumb a few times before but I suppose not as badly as this.

I: Saying you’ve been injured before, would you say those experiences helped you in this instance?

D: Yeah definitely and ‘cause I knew that my thumb would be as strong. I suppose it was a bit different this time because it was a worse injury but I didn’t really…

I: You knew in your head that you’d be able to come back…

D: Yes and perform at the same level.

I: Were there any distractions you had during your recovery that you would say affected your recovery?

D: I suppose outside of football I didn’t have a job during that time, I was unemployed so it was definitely a distraction ‘cause I needed to get a job and I needed to have money coming in so yeah, that was always a distraction.

I: Would you say that hindered your recovery process?

D: I wouldn’t say so. Purely because it was just a broken thumb.

80


Type of injury may affect need for resilience


Distraction – negative?


Past injuries as a help


Reassurance from hospital staff


Confidence in recovery Playing down injuryNot worrying


I: Yeah, you could still go about day-to-day life.

D: Yeah.

I: Would you say it distracted you in your recovery?

D: Getting a job did yeah.

I: Anything else that distracted you during your recovery in your life at all? Sporting-wise or…?

D: Not really, I live a very simple life; I just watch a lot of telly and just keep myself to myself most of the time, so yeah.

I: You talked about social rapport being important in your recovery process and elaborate on that a bit more now if you can. Can you tell me about anyone—so you said your family but be as specific as you can—who helped you through the recovery process?

D: I’d definitely say my mum, I suppose she helps keep a positive outlook and just a positive mental attitude that things…just saying positive and things were gonna get better.

I: What type of things would she say to you that would give you this positive attitude?

D: She’d just say that it’s gonna get better and just keep thinking positively and just fill your time with other things and all that helped.

I: You talked about the help at the club, what type of things would your manager say to you?

D: He’d say we missed you this week or stuff like that and it would always help with confidence.

I: Is that part of what helped you to get you determined to come back would you say?

D: Yeah if the team isn’t performing well it’s always a motive to come back and help the team do better performances.

I: What about the doctors? Obviously they gave you their support through the cast and the healthcare and whatever, did anything they say help you?

D: They reassured me that I would definitely be able to play football again after, it would just be a timeout recovering from it and if I did the right things that it would be back to normal.

81


Motive to help weakened team


Coach support, leading to confidence boost


Mother as a support, help in keeping positive attitude


I: If you got injured again would you do anything differently or look at it differently to what you’ve done this time?

D: No I think having the experience of being injured this time has probably helped a lot. If I got injured again I know the things that will help and I wouldn’t change anything because it was the first time I got injured and I didn’t know what would help if that makes sense but now I’ve got an idea.

I: Now you know [unclear 00:24:03] what to do.

D: Yeah.

I: Okay so that’s that bit done, so I’m just gonna go back to your experience of being injured. When you got told by the doctors, what emotions were you aware of? So they’ve gone to you, Dan you’re gonna be out for four months with this or did they say four months straight away or did they say it’ll be…?

D: They said at least four months if I wanted to get back to…it would properly heal.

I: Okay and what emotions were you aware of at the time when they said that?

D: I’d say disappointment and just negative emotions.

I: And how long did you feel those emotions before your positive attitude came out would you say?

D: I’d say about an hour and then after I’d spoken to some other people and…

I: After you’d spoken to the doctors about…

D: Yeah, I suppose the doctors did help straight away with just saying that it would definitely [unclear 00:25:13]…

I: [Over speaking] straight away [unclear 00:25:14]?

D: Yeah, that was helpful.

I: Since you’ve recovered, still talking about your injury experience, when you came back, your first game, how did you feel then? What emotions were you aware of at that point?

D: I suppose the emotions I felt were just appreciating being able to play football again, just happy I suppose and I suppose I was a little bit wary of my thumb, reinjuring my thumb, how it would hold up against proper leather in the ball and if it would hold up like that but once that was out of the way I was just really happy and appreciative of playing football again.

I: So how long would you say you were wary of your thumb?

D: I suppose the first time someone shoots and it hits or you save it…

82


New appreciation for game


Got over disappointment quickly


Happy with way he dealt with injury


I: [Over speaking] quickly then, a few shots.

D: Yeah, after a few stops, this is alright, we can carry on.

I: So now [unclear 00:26:21] go over again some of the sections. Recovery processes again, what would you say you did to help your thumb recover or what were some of the exercises? Can you talk me through them or what you did in the gym on the other parts of your body? Elaborate on that if you can.

D: Exercising my thumb for the first two months was just completely resting it and allowing it to heal in the cast, not doing anything strenuous. Then I suppose while I was at the gym I was keeping my physique, I was doing chest presses, chest [s.l. bars 00:27:03], shoulder press, abdominal exercises and leg exercises, just keeping the whole of my body fit but just keeping my thumb relaxed and able to heal. Then after that two months I was told to exercise my ligaments ‘cause they weren’t used to the exercises and just keeping it flexible.

I: So would you say that the gym has been helpful as a…’cause you’ve been quite positive in your attitude towards it anyway but would you say that the gym has been a distraction, it would distract you from any negative feelings you may have had or…?

D: I suppose going to the gym is positive ‘cause it’s keeping yourself…if you keep yourself in shape it’s a positive thing because you think you’re gonna get back and it’s just a good thing to go, to think, yes, I’m gonna go back, I’m gonna go and play again, I need to keep in shape so it just definitely helped with the recovery process.

I: To conclude, based on all the qualities you’ve said, what would you feel was the most important personal quality within yourself that’s helped you recover from this injury successfully?

D: I’d say my positive attitude, support from my friends and family, I’d say confidence probably the most because if you think about it, if I didn’t have the confidence to say that I’m better than the goalie that’s coming in, I probably would’ve just given up and not had all these…the social support wouldn’t have mattered and the positive attitude wouldn’t have mattered if I didn’t think I was better than the other goalie and I suppose that’s one of the most important things.

I: So you said confidence is the most [unclear 00:29:09] for you…

D: Yeah I think that’s the most important.

I: So now we’re just gonna go onto a suggestion section, so what you would suggest to other athletes in this situation. So what advice or suggestions would you give to athletes to help them become more resilient to an injury? Say someone at your club gets injured, what would you say to help them become resilient to the injury and recover successfully?

83


Confidence in ability


Importance of keeping active


Gym as a positive distraction


Staying fit in distractions


D: I’d definitely encourage them to have that drive to succeed and get back as soon as possible, do everything you can what the doctors have said, no injuries, staying at the gym, maybe try and keep your whole body fit so you can make a full recovery when you get back. I’d definitely say confidence as well because if you’re confident in yourself you’ll want to get back in straight away if you think you’re better than most of the rest of the team. I know some people might not be as confident as I was about my recovery but I would definitely recommended trying to remain confident about your recovery as it helps the process I think and then I’d say the most important points are confidence obviously, staying fit by going to the gym, taking your mind off it and doing the rest of your body and then just keeping that positive outlook.

I: Just a side point, why would you say having a positive outlook is important in getting back fit successfully? If you can elaborate on that.

D: Because having the positive outlook is the most important thing ‘cause otherwise you just give up, you’d just think negatively all the time, you’d just be dejected, you wouldn’t want to go…you’d just give up.

I: So what suggestions would you make to your coach to help them better prepare someone who’s gonna be injured get back fit?

D: I would just say provide that support of we want you to get better, we missing having you in the team and it always helps I’d say, just the support.

I: Is there anything else you could do? ‘Cause obviously you said your clubs not big enough to have other support but do you reckon there’s anything else he could do himself rather than just text you that would help? Off the top of your head if you can think, if you can’t don’t worry about it.

D: I suppose sometimes he massages players before a game, I suppose he could, depending on what your injury is, he could massage it but obviously with my thumb he could just [unclear 00:32:10] use it as experience.

I: Did he keep you involved at all during your injury or did you see the team or were you completely away from it?

D: I suppose he didn’t isolate me from the team, he’s always inviting, do you wanna come and watch and be part of the team then feel like [unclear 00:32:27] but that was always an option. I never felt like I was isolated from the team or anything like that.

I: So what recommendations would you make to your team Kimberley to help the coaches and athletes in the process of injury?

D: I’d definitely say getting the coaching staff onto first aid courses, recognising injuries. I suppose ‘cause I didn’t know I’d broken my thumb…

I: Yeah so you could’ve made it worse.

84


Keeping players involved


Importance of coach support


Importance of positive outlook in the injury recovery process


Gym as a positive distraction – focus on something other than injury


CONFIDENCE*


Listen to doctors advice and keep active as much as possible


Have a drive to succeed


D: Yeah I could’ve made it worse. Recognising the injury early and getting the help that you need to come back quickly and then also psychological support but I know that might be stretching it, the size of the club that I’m at but that definitely would help.

I: Why would you say that? Elaborate if you can.

D: Without being positive and confident it would just be a lot harder to get back and having psychological support would help develop these two qualities because I’ve seen on the BBC Sport website articles such as Ronnie O’Sullivan fallen out of love with the game of snooker and psychologists coming in and helping him through that.

I: That’s the end of the interview; I’ve just got a few quick questions which are yes or no answers regarding the interview. So how do you think the interview went? That’s not a yes or no answer but…

D: I really enjoyed it, yeah. I suppose it’s an insight to help me think about it and how I felt.

I: Do you feel you could tell your full story regarding your injury?

D: Yeah, no issues.

I: Did you feel I led or influenced your responses in any way?

D: No, not really.

I: Have you any comments or suggestions about my interview technique or the interview itself?

D: No, I thought it was brilliant.

I: Finally, is there anything that we haven’t talked about that you’re able to tell me about your experience of resilience during your sport injury?

D: Nothing I’ve not mentioned already.

I: Thank you very much.

Participant 4

Key:InterviewerRespondent (JKa)

I have a few criteria of what other athletes have perceived a successful recovery to be in terms of their injury, if you could just give me a yes or no answer if you feel these apply to you?

You have returned to a pre injury levels of performance?

85


Psychological support to help develop confidence


Recognising the injury and seeking help


Yes

Do you believe you are attaining pre injury level goals?

Yep

Do you have an absence of injury related concerns?

What does that mean?

When you’re playing you don’t think about your injury?

Oh no.

You feel you have the ability to overcome adversities such as your injury?

Yes

Can you tell me a bit about your sporting career up till now?

I started playing football when I was like 8, I was never high professional wise, I think the max I played was semi pro for Hucknall, and that was when I was like 16 so ever since then, because when you get to semi pro there is a lot more training and stuff involved so I started training more, we didn’t have a psychologist or anything like that, but I dropped out after like, I think half a season, because they said they would put me in the first team and they never did. So obviously after that I started playing in a Saturday league, normal again, but at the moment so since I was 18 I’ve been playing for the same team, so this has been…

What teams that?

Bridgeford, this is my 4th season now, that’s when I got my first injury, so that was the pre-season of this season just gone, that was about 6 weeks out.

Was that your first injury then?

First one where I was out for a long period, I’ve never been injured for more than a few weeks.

Played any other sports?

I played basketball when I was younger, I was sick! I played with Djanogly when I was like in year 9 or 10, we won two championships in a row, I was small as *£#t but I was still sick.

Can you tell me about any positive experiences from your football?

Errrrrm, I don’t know, one of the main things for me is to be able to express myself, sport is in a sense just lets you be yourself in a way, the other is the social side, meeting new people and sometime you meet people who are on the same level as you, so obviously there is no like ego or anything like that, especially because I dropped from semi pro to like amateur

86


Enjoyment of social side of sportNot in sport for the competitive side


Enjoyment of sport


First injury


level I was, I kind of thought I was a lot better than everyone there. Because it’s like Saturdays and you don’t take it that serious, you can do what you want, there isn’t stress on you.

What are some of your major accomplishments from sports?

The two basketball ones, when we won two championships in a row with school, in year 9 and 10, after that was when I started playing football as well, at 14, properly anyway, for a team. And errrm football wise, I’ve played in quite a few tournaments… with a team, I’ve played for 3 teams altogether, and I think I’ve only won one thing, that’s terrible isn’t it? Terrible. We are in the semi-final of something now though. But yeah accomplishments, winning that tournament, not many things. Maybe picking up self-confidence, playing amateur, at the team I’m at now, better than the ones I’ve been at before, in the NSL, the divisions quite high, so I’ve feel I’ve improved.

What about any negative experiences?

I think being benched. I think at the start especially when I came back from injury actually, I was benched for like the first two weeks, because somebody had taken my place, I was pissed, I would point out his mistakes to the manager, and say I wouldn’t do that. But yeah that was one of them, the injury was obviously a big one as well, I’d never been out for that long, the max was a swollen ankle, never 6 weeks.

What about your time at Hucknall?

That was annoying because I think the main reason for them was because like, they said I wasn’t physically big enough, because they put me wide, but I wanted to play in the middle, but he said I wasn’t big enough so I had to go wide, I’m not even fast, but because I’m short they think I’m quick, so yeah that was disappointing. That made me feel like I wasn’t good enough so when I did step down to my current team for the first couple weeks I actually did play wing. It was the whole Henry thing, you know when he came from Juve, and then they played me in the middle, and I had a good season, my first season I played mainly wing, second season they put me in the middle, I think that season I got, like, I played about 15 games, and I got at least 10 assists and 5 goals, so that was pretty sick, I was buzzing. And then after that I got injured in my 4th season so it’s been disrupted.

So can you tell me your experience of being injured? Starting with your feelings before your injury, how you felt about your performances?

Injury happen last game of pre season, so I was playing really well, I was playing still in the middle, I was doing everything right, I was pushing for the first team, so before the injury, they said to me keep doing well the first team manager is watching you if you carry on you’ll be in the first team, but then I got injured

What league are the 1st team in?

They are moving, before they were premier, now they are NSL, but I know I could play in that team and that league, I’m better than some of those players, but another reason I don’t play for them is because I don’t go training apparently So yeah it happened on the last game, so I was quite disappointed, because for the past 3 years, they’ve been saying the same

87


Got injured at the wrong time


Dropped down a level and was successful which he enjoyed


Adversity, being told not big enough to play a certain position


First injury


Angry at being dropped – a motivation to come back strong?


See’s football as a way to build himself up – i.e. confidence


Enjoys the relaxed nature of amateur football


things, ah you’re going you’re going to go in the first team if you carry on doing well, and this year the manager was watching and I get injured

What happened when you actually got injured? What were you feeling when it happened?

It was just pain, I didn’t feel anything else.

Did you not think, what the injury could mean?

No, I just thought it was too bad I tried running it off, but I think that kind of made it worse, so I carried on running and finished the game, but at the end I could barely walk, but I thought still it would be better by the next day and then the next, I had an ice bath, didn’t get better after 2 weeks and I eventually went to the doctor, who checked me out and diagnosed it. He said there was knot in my muscle, it sounds bad but a lot of people do it, it’s when the muscle is work so hard it knots itself, kind of like cramp but longer, for those last two weeks its was 50/50 but I didn’t want to take the risk and have a little kick and pull it again and start all over again. So I just waited those extra two weeks as a precaution

Since you’ve come back from the injury how have you felt playing? You said you weren’t back in the team straight away…

Hmm yeah, I don’t know if it was because of the hamstring or recently I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish, I haven’t been running a lot to be fair, like I haven’t been doing much cardio, I feel less sharp, I don’t know if it is because of the injury, errrrm but now. Do mean right now how I feel?

Yes

Right now I feel pretty much fine, back to, hm not quite has good form wise as pre-season but still good enough, I scored the other day, we won 3-2, I was buzzing, it was a tap in but a goals a goal.

So you say you went to the doctors, did they give you a time limit?

They said this normally takes, 6 to 8 weeks, but I usually would say doctors exaggerate, so after 6 weeks I thought it was pretty much done, because I could fully bend my leg, but when I started to kick the ball a bit, I didn’t feel it really hard, but I felt it a little bit, but it wasn’t enough to make me have to start all over again but a little twitch, so I left it again for another two weeks and just carried on like having like ice baths whatever putting deep heat on it for another 2 weeks and after that it was fine.

How did you think the injury and your responses would affect your performance?

I think when I got back, I played a couple of games with tape on my leg, just to help me psychologically really, that extra protection, but because the first game went so well, like for some reason I didn’t feel unfit, or maybe its because everyone else is. But yeah after the first game is was fine. I don’t think I was consciously worried, maybe sub consciously that’s why

88


Importance of keeping active – opposite side


Not reacting to the injury soon enough


I wore the tape, because usually I don’t wear it, because you get ripped from the lads. So I put them on for the first game but after that I took them off because I realised it was okay now.

Could you describe the effect your injury had on you as an athlete?

Well for the first week I could do anything, like I couldn’t go to the gym, I could just about walk, so that limited the things I could do, I couldn’t train in the gym at all, because even upper body work I could feel the strain on my hamstring. In that first week I would not go out, because the more walking I did the more it would hurt and it would get tight again. So for the first week it was very restrictive and that was so frustrating, I had to be really strong to get through that week, I know it’s a short time but to not being able to do anything I wanted really. But after that it started getting better, I started going to the gym, I wouldn’t do running or cardio, so it was just upper body I would work on.

So you would say it had a negative effect on you?

Only during the recovery period, after that I feel it had made me appreciate the game more

So since you’ve been back then, has it had an effect on your general well being?

I think 6 weeks was kind of long, I was… not depressed but down, especially in that first week, probably starting missing football in the 2nd and 3rd week, obviously not playing for that long is frustrating, especially when all your mates are still playing and talking about it in group chats and stuff, it makes me wish I was there, it got to the point where my friends used to play on the weekend, not weekend I mean weekdays, this is how sad it got, I was that bored and wanted to play so much I would go and watch them play, in the rain and cold, that how bad it was

I was going to ask, did you try and avoid the game or?

No I couldn’t, I tried but I couldn’t, in the first week I did, but then I just went to watch, even when I was out I would walk kicking a ball around or whatever.

What personal factors do you feel were important in your recovery? What characteristics?

After my injury or?

During your recovery, what helped you?

I think, what did help me…? I think keeping involved, and going to watch them play kind of took my mind of it, in a sense, I was thinking another week another week another week, I’ll be back next week and I kept thinking like that. So after I started going to the games, it kind of helped me focus on getting back and I set goals of getting through each week, so just immersing myself into it helped me

Any other characteristics of yours that helped you would you say?

Maybe because I’m quite an out-going person I like get involved with people, so it’s like I wasn’t blocked off from the world, I made sure I was kept involved by carrying on talking to people. I frequently talked to my manager as well.

89


Out-going nature helped keep himself involved


Watching games lead to focus on getting backLead to a focus of setting goals


Keeping involved in the game


Watching the game


Went to watch games to stay involved with the game


Leading to greater appreciation of the game


Keeping active


Strong mindset to get over initial tough week


That relates to the next question. What situational factors helped you in your recovery?

Okay yeah talking to the coach helped, so every week, after every game I said to him, I would ask him the score, that’s if I wasn’t there watching, who played well, who scored things like that. And we’d have a conversation and he’d ask about my injury, asking me when I’d be back, saying hurry up we need to back, little things like that just helped me stay positive

Anything else in your environment at that time that helped you recover?

Not that I can think of

Okay so which of the factors that you said do you feel was the most influential on your positive recovery?

I think the coaches support, the things encouraging me to come back, making me feel needed and wanted and gave me a drive to come back, sometimes that works in a backwards way, like if you’re told we need you back you might rush and make the injury worse, but I never felt pressured.

What specific qualities enabled you to be successful in returning from your injury? Don’t worry if you repeat yourself

Well I don’t if this is relevant or not but I found a video of me when I was 16 playing football at power league and I was sick, so that motivated me to be like I’m going to be like that again (laughter). Also the things I’ve said about my coach helped motivate me. So reminiscing and looking at past performances that helped.

What about any other characteristics?

I think staying and remaining upbeat… so even if I was down for the first couple of weeks I knew I was going to come back, I the start at thought I might not be as good as I was, but then I realised that I will, the injury isn’t that serious, if I was as good as that then, then I can get back to that, I knew that I was that good and this injury or any other injury would stop me being that good if I kept my belief.

When you were injured what motivated you to get back fit? You’ve mentioned your coach

I missed playing football so much, they was no running or cardio involved at all so I was missing exercise, so that made me want that back more than ever, I wanted to go to the gym and obviously be back playing, also being with the lads motivated me to get back in the changing room

Did you feel sure you would get back to your pre-injury level performance?

Not at first no, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t, because I thought that I would lose more fitness then I did and I would have to work on that again. But as the injury lay off went by I knew I’d be okay really. Because when I got back after the first game I was still sharp and I

90


Missing the game, missing being active Staying involved with team mates, motivated him


Confidence is ability and getting back to that ability


Staying upbeat


Looking at past performances helped motivate to get back to that level


Coach support


Interaction with the coach Keeping involved


didn’t have to work that much, after the first game I really enjoyed it and realised what I was missing that motivated to want to do all the work on my fitness again, I got a buzz out of it?

During your time when you were injured, your recovery, did you have any major distractions that effected your recovery?

I think Uni was a major distraction, it happened whilst I was there, so maybe trying to complete uni work was a priority over getting fit. So academic things. It was just after pre-season so uni had just started so when you start uni you start worrying about exams straight away, and deadlines so that was very distracting. Another thing was money wise, I had to try and find a job, so that was another stress. But for me when I play football it kind of gets me away from all that, it takes my mind off that life stress, in it had a reverse effect on me really it made me even more focussed to get back so I could take my mind off all the other things

Have you got any examples of how social support helped you through your injury? You spoke about your coach

The coach is the main one, no one else really knew, my friends didn’t take it that seriously and would make fun of me so that’s not really a good answer (laughter).

Any more qualities that helped you?

I think I was just determined, which kind of links to things I’ve said, like looking at old videos, watching my friends play, which made me determined to get back playing again. And my goal for after injury was to be better than I was before I was injured, I knew it wouldn’t happen straight away but I was striving for that goal.

Going back to your recovery process. Can you think of any other factors from your environment that helped you?

I could talk about my religion?

Yes, that’s fine

I think my religion helped me, when I was down I felt isolated, when I was playing that is, even though I was there most games I felt isolated that I wasn’t playing and having fun, I wasn’t jealous but I just felt alone for a couple weeks, I felt they didn’t need me, so it that period I think religion really helped, I prayed quite a bit, it disciplined me as well, helped me think it’s going to pass, it will pass, don’t worry I’ll get better.

Do you have any advice or suggestions you would give to athletes to help them become more resilient to injuries?

I think speaking to someone, if you are feeling down speak to the coach, the captain, someone you are close to on the team that really helps and erm keep your head up, even if it was a big injury, mine was only 6 weeks, but I know people who have broken their leg and come back just as good, so keeping the positive mind-set knowing that it could be worse and I could be back better.

91


Importance of having support to help you through the porocess


Religion helped focus, reduce feeling of isolation


Religion as a help with recovery process


Having goals


Determination to get back – motivation


Coach support


Distractions don’t have an effect of him


Negative stress


A major distraction, could this be important as leads to not thinking about injury


Growing of confidence


Any suggestions to coaches and managers to help athletes who have been injured?

I think one thing the coach didn’t do, I was obviously kept involved but they have social events, and because I hadn’t played I felt like I wasn’t welcome or I shouldn’t go because I hadn’t played half the season, so maybe if they put on events that involved any injured players, so if someone broke their leg and couldn’t go out maybe do something different they could do.

What recommendation would you make to a club to help the injury experience?

I don’t know how professional clubs work, if they keep them involved, I know some players become depressed, so there must be something wrong support wise, so like I said before team meetings, or even psychological support, that could help people understand what they are going through.

How do you feel the interview went?

Good

Did you feel you could tell your full story?

Yeah

Did you feel I lead you or influenced your responses in any way?

No

Do you have any suggestions regarding the interview?

No

Is there anything you want to add?

No

Participant 5

Key:InterviewerRespondent (JKn)

I have a few criteria of what other athletes have perceived a successful recovery to be in terms of their injury, if you could just give me a yes or no answer if you feel these apply to you?

When you got back you returned to pre injury levels of performance, same as you were before?

92


Importance of support


Importance of keeping involved in team


Keeping positive


Yeah

Achieving or attaining pre injury level goals? Any goals you had before you think you can achieve?

Yeah

An absence of injury related concerns, so you’re not thinking about the injury when you’re playing?

Not sure I haven’t been back playing properly yet.

So you’ve not played a full game yet?

No, first game back varsity (laughter)

Okay, that’s fine, so based on your training sessions was your injury on your mind?

No

Do you feel you have the ability to overcome adversities such as injury again in the future?

Yes

So I’ll ask a few questions about your background now, so can you tell me about your rugby career up till now?

Errr so I played, starting playing, when I was 10, I think. Played for a club called Havant back home, then at 16, I got picked up and joined London Irish academy, did 2 years there, played erm, a bit of A league, which is like, sort of like reserves team, and then got signed at Nottingham, and joined the uni, so I did 2 years of that, made my championship debut, errrm and then yeah that’s it.

So did you join NTU because of signing for Nottingham?

Yeah I joined NTU because I Nottingham sent me here

Alright, did you play any other sports?

Yeah I played a bit of football until I was 16So can you tell me about any positive experiences you’ve had in rugby?

Erm, yeah, like, I mean I’ve achieved, I’ve played like a professional level so I’ve achieved goals I’ve probably set for myself when I was like 10/11 years old, so like, sort of like a dream come true sort of thing.

Cool, so what would you consider to be your greatest achievements in your career so far? What are you most proud of?

93


Happy to be playing sport – dream come true


Probably, I was captain for the U’18’s academy at London Irish, we won the academy tournament.

Have you played against any players who have played in the Premiership or anything?

I’ve played with quite a few, ive played against players like, do you know Antony Watson? He’s playing for England, he plays, he was at Irish when I was there, so yeah.

What about any negative experiences you’ve had, apart from this injury?

Errm like, I got let go at London irish when I was 18, which was sort of, I was led to believe I was getting signed and then they didn’t have the money to keep me on so, it was sort of a bit of a last minute ditch and join uni (laughter) which wasn’t the best.

So now we’ll move onto your injury experiences. So before you got injured what or how you feeling about your career and how you playing?

I was pretty good I was going to go into another season with Nottingham, and then I was vice captain for the uni team as well this year, so it was going alright, I thought I was getting back on track following the disappointment of being released from Irish.

So during your injury what were your experiences like, what were you doing day to day?

Erm I dunno, I was pretty negative, for the first, because I was in my cast for literally like, I was in my cast from there to there (jesters to where the cast was) so I couldn’t move for like, I was in that for like 16 weeks, yeah so I was pretty grumpy to start with…

So you couldn’t do gym work or anything?

I wasn’t allowed to do anything at all for, I think it was like 9 weeks, because the bones weren’t like together at all, so like a small movement could like misplace them, that was the most difficult time really, not being able to do anything at all

Can you talk me through how it actually happened?

Yeah, so I got tackled and then errm, just literally like went back on it and like must’ve just landed, they said I landed on my shoulder but, there was nowhere for the power of that tackle to go so it just went straight through the bone.

What emotions do you remember from that time?

I can just remember the pain really, yeah.

Obviously you haven’t had a game yet, but in your training sessions how have you been feeling?

Yeah it’s been good, been a but unfit (laughter) but I’ll get that back with game time

So, during your time off have you been able to keep fit at all or have you been drinking and so on?

94


Frustration


Disappointment


Humor


Previous adversity


Yeah, just been enjoying university really. The student life, probably been the only time in my career so far I’ve been able to have that type of fun, but I’m feeling it now obviously.

So how did you think the injury would affect your performance when you got it?

Well I couldn’t do anything...

When you got it did you think it would affect your performance when you were back fit?

I was so worried about my performance, I just knew, like I lost, I mean I gained like 10kg when I was injured so like my good playing weight is like 88kg, I was sort of like 96/97 which is like unhealthy for me, yeah I put on the weight but lost a lot of muscle so that was my biggest concern, my performance was never in my mind I trust my ability. I just got fat basically.

What affect did the injury have on you as an athlete?

Erm it was really frustrating, I’m a pretty active person anyway so like not being able to do anything at all and then like it was frustrating because it had an effect on uni and stuff as well like as it was my right hand I couldn’t write, I had to do the old, record it and then type it up with one finger (laughter). I think it made me more grateful of when I am fit and what I can do.

Since you’ve had the cast off what have you been doing?

Been in the gym a lot, been working with the S&C coaches and stuff, to get back fit and get my wrist strong. Being able to get back in the gym really got me back motivated to getting fit and stop me being grumpy and stuff, so that was the turning point really.

How long were you out for again?

Errrm about 8months altogether

Now I’ll ask you about the process of recovery. So what factors within yourself do you feel were most important in your recovery from your injury?

Erm probably my confidence like, I think if I didn’t sort of back myself to get back to where I was I think… cause I got to a pretty low point when I was injured in terms of like I was almost sort of ready to give it up, sack it off and stuff, because it had got that long like everytime I went to the hospital they told me it would be like 4 more weeks, 4 more weeks, I as just pffft. So I think like sort of my resilience and my confidence in my ability got me through it.

What environmental factors, or things around you helped you recover?

Definitley having the coaching set up, and having like Falks ringing me every week like, the S&C coaches helping me the whole time giving me goals and plans, so that helped

Which of these do you feel was most important?

95


Goals


Coach support


Confidence


People think resilience = confidence?


Confidence


Being able to be active was a turning point


Gym as a motivator


Being active


Being active, losing that leads to frustration




Highlights importance of staying as fit as possibleIf no activity is possible watching diet


Positive distraction from injury


Probably my personal factors, I feel you can have all the support in the world but if you don’t believe in yourself and have the confidence to push yourself through the bad times and stuff you’d struggle maybe.

What specific factors do you feel enabled you to be successful in returning from your injury?

I think my drive, like sort of I’ve always been quite successful in sports so I was driven to get back to that success

So past successes encourage helped you?

Yeah I suppose.

So would you say aspects of your outlook on the situation helped you?

Yeah I would say so yeah

Have you got an example of when your outlook helped you, you think?

Yeah well originally, they originally said I wouldn’t play again, this season, but when I got it off (the cast) I went and saw the physios and they said I could probably play in varsity, so it was sort of that end goal which drove me, that was my aim, that was the date in my head so I had to be back for that.

Will you win?

Should do hopefully

What is the Uni of team like?

They are in the league above us but they’ve lost every game.

So what motivated you during your layoff to get you back fit?

Apart of it was quite a few of us were injured at the same time so It wasn’t just me in the situation, the fact here was 3 of us we were doing like every recovery session with each other so it made it a lot easier.

What would a session involve?

We used to go, I think we had gym Mondays, then when they were playing we’d go and do a fitness session, then fitness on Thursday, and then gym again on Friday.

So having other people around you helped motivate you to get back fit?

Yeah basically.

Was there any other people who helped your recovery?

96


Frequent activity


People in situation going through the same situations as a motivatorSocial support


Having an end goal to the injury, as a motivator


Drive to get back to success


Confidence is important


Err yeah my mum, being my mum like rang me all the time asking me if I was alright, erm my girlfriend did everything for me, she still does to be honest (laughter)

Where you sure when got your injury that you would be able to return to the same level?

There was a point, when I’d just broken it, they said, like the hospital actually said that they were a chance that I wouldn’t be able to play again that’s how bad the break was, like at all. So they originally wanted me to have a pole down the back of my arm, and if I had that then it would make either end of my arm really weak so they said I couldn’t but that was the only point I wasn’t confident

How did you feel when they said that?

I was gutted

What would you have done if you couldn’t play again?

I’d have had to try a bit harder at uni and get a good grade (laughter)

Did you have any distractions during your recovery period that affected your recovery?

I didn’t have much uni work because I was doing it with one hand and stuff, I had a 3000-word essay in just before Christmas which I had to do, so mainly it was just my academic commitments.

Have you got any more examples of when your coaches helped your recovery?

The physios especially, I was having two or three sessions a week just trying like to build my arm up as much as possible whilst it was in the cast, so when it was out the cast I could hit the ground running.

So in your personal time when you were injured what did you do? Pure uni work or?

No, I was doing a bit of coaching, Falks got me in and I was doing some coaching with the 3rd

team and the womans team

How did you find that?

Boring, not something I’d want to do, no good at it to be honest

Say if you suffered your injury again, what would you do differently?I would probably watch my diet more, I didn’t watch it really, I was a bit like #*#* it.

Was there anyone giving you advice and telling you what to eat?

Yeah there was but I ignored it, I was like I’m allowed to do what I want (laughter)

You said you had the three lads training with you, was there anything the club or NTU did for you to stay involved with the team?

97


Got involved with other areas of club, help think tactically?


Support from phsyios


Shows strength to comeback and stay strong mentally when being told that


Support from family and significant others


Yeah like Falks would ask us each week if we wanted to go on away trips, we were expected to be at training each week, just to keep involved

Did you ever go on the away days?

Yeah a couple

Okay what advice would you give to athletes to help them become more resilient to injury?

Erm, just set goals, like I think the first sort of month of my injury I didn’t really see an end to the injury, but I sort of then sat down with Falksy and the physios and actually set goals and targets of where I wanted to be in 4 weeks, 8 weeks

What suggestions would you make to coaches?

More, closer monitoring, it was fine for me because I wanted to get back, but if there was someone who wasn’t as motivated then they could slip off quite easily

Any recommendations for clubs or NTU maybe?

Yeah I think like maybe like some, one on one maybe psychology sessions, because like especially for a couple months I was down, so like maybe some sessions to keep your mind going almost and not take over.

So that’s pretty much it, just got some end questions.

How do you feel the interview went?

It was good

Did you feel you could tell your full story?

Yeah

Did you feel I lead you or influenced your responses in any way?

No

Do you have any suggestions regarding the interview?

No it was good.Is there anything you want to add?

No I don’t think so

98


Psychological support


Close monitoring of progress from medical and coach support


Have goals that you set out to reach at intervals


Keeping involved in the squad


Participant 6

Key: I = InterviewerR = Respondents.l. = sounds like

I: Successful return from injury, like so I’ve got some criteria, so I just want to get to some answer if this applies to you

R: Okay.

I: Right, would you say you’ve returned to pre injury levels of performance?

R: Erm, yes

I: You’re back playing now yeah?

R: Yep.

I: And would you say you’re attaining pre injury level goals or will attain pre injury level goals?

R: Yeah I will, yep, not quite there yet.

I: And any absence of injury later concerns, so you’re not worried about injury when you’re playing?

R: Err, no, no.

I: And the ability to overcome such an injury

R: Yes

I: So could you tell me a bit about your sporting background?

R: Okay, so played rugby since the age of 4 up to the age of 16 injuries free, didn’t pick up any injuries then I’ve had a spell of about three seasons where I’ve just picked up some major injuries, so I’ve broken my ankle, shoulders have gone and current season my knee has gone, so I did that in last May, had an operation

I: Where was that, on your knee?

R: Left knee, yeah, yeah so I had a meniscus tear in my knee so I had an operation, stitched it back together then November time it went again and so I had to have another operation where they cut out the meniscus. So yeah, so I’m back now, sort of like 11 months down the line, just started doing contact training again, potential game Sunday, yeah so I’m pretty much back, match fit now.

99


Two operations as part of this injury


Previous injury experiences


I: So what kind of club levels have you played at?

R: So I’ve represented County, I’ve been in Academies, I’ve represented colleges and then sort of like England Counties, divisional level.

I: You’re playing for Trent Uni now?

R: Yeah, playing for Trent Union now so I’m in my second year, err played first team last year, varsity last year and obviously this year nothing.

I: So what are you studying at uni?

R: So I’m doing sports science and coaching, yeah.

I: Second year?

R: Yeah

I: Do you do anything only part time or anything or is it full time?

R: Full time

I: So what about any positive, what are your positive experiences from your career so far?

R: Erm, positive it depends from the career. I get a buzz from playing, so going out there, enjoy the game, when you go out on the rugby pitch you forget about everything else that’s going on in your life, so it’s just a good time to just shut your life away and the social element as well. Socialising with players is good. Drinking with the lads, it’s good fun. So yeah, enjoyment and I get a buzz from the competitive…

I: What about like erm, personal highlights of your career, like achievements?

R: Achievements I got selected for the England Counties team last year but then due to injury couldn’t play. And then I suppose being involved in Northampton Saints, got through to there

I: So what like is that, Trent is the premiership and so…

R: So Northampton we’re in the premiership so I’d work my way through like the academy level there, yeah and then obviously injuries, so yeah I got released from there.

I: So obviously these are negative experiences but what like any other negative experiences?

R: Erm, I think motivation levels when you get injured struggle. Obviously I’ve had quite a few and it is up and down the whole way. The thing with an injury is it’ll be going really well, especially with the knee I’ve found, it’s been going really well and

100


Injuries leading to setbacks – many previous adversities


Previous injury setback


Competitive


Social side of the sport


Passion for the gameRugby as a release from life stressors


Semi-professional level


then you just get sat back down and you have to take two steps back again. I got caught in that for the first six months, made progressions and then had to step back, and you’re not just getting anywhere. So yeah, the motivation levels, it’s quite hard to keep your motivation and come back to it, and keep a positive mind set that’s pretty tricky.

I: So now we need to talk about your injury experience. So, before your injury like, how were you feeling about, before this particular injury, how do you feel about your performance?

R: Yeah, I was feeling good, feeling confident, playing fairly well.

I: You were playing for Trent?

R: Yeah, so playing for Trent, so my last game that I played was a varsity game, we won that, so yeah as far as confidence levels were going, yeah I was feeling really good within rugby.

I: So during your injury like, what would you be doing? Obviously you couldn’t be playing so…

R: Yeah, so for the first half it was fairly limited. I couldn’t really do much.

I: Did you have a cast on or?

R: Yeah, so I had a brace on for a total of about three months and that’s combined both…

I: So during that period what would you have filled the time with?

R: Yeah, I mean during that period it was very static. So I was living a sedentary lifestyle, I’m talking sitting on the settee all day and watching tele, so that was my life for the majority.

I: How did you feel about doing that?

R: It’s horrible. Yeah, it’s horrible. It’s, and that’s what gets you down, the fact that you can’t exercise, you can’t get out there. So yeah, that’s a tough aspect. And then, obviously when you then get put onto crutches you can move around a little bit more so that’s quite nice, so as soon as I could I got back into the gym, just doing upper body work and then obviously once that progressed it was…

I: Did you feel that helped you?

R: Yeah, yeah being able to move around, the biggest for me was when I found being able to run again.

I: Yeah, how long did that take?

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Activity helping process


As soon as activity back in – more positive


Period of inactivity most difficult


Lack of activity in first 3 months


Confident


Confident in own ability


Importance of keeping motivated and positive mind set – even during tough times of recovery


R: So, I mean that’s only January I started running. Yeah, so even before the first, second op I wasn’t running I was only walking. So that moment where you can start running again, that’s where I found like the biggest kind of, you know relief from the whole process.

I: So, obviously you’ve said you spent your time in the gym when you could, what other things would you be doing? Like in your actual life?

R: So I suppose studying. Studying, because I couldn’t do any sport or anything, so yeah studying and socialising, my friends really to try and keep your attitude high.

I: Yeah. So since your injury, what have you like, how are you feeling since you’ve been back playing?

R: As in back now? Yeah I’m feeling good again. I think the biggest thing that I needed to overcome was trusting my knee again because obviously I’ve had two operations, you’re a bit wary of it but I’m back to a level now where I’ve got full trust back into my knee and yeah, I’m confident in that and it’s all about getting my performance back to where it was, so I’m obviously still a bit rusty but that’ll come.

I: So talking about your other injuries before, what did you say you had problems with your shoulders?

R: Yeah so I dislocated both shoulders and I’ve broken my right ankle.

I: What did you feel like was the most important factor there, within yourself that helped you get back from this?

R: Err, my love for playing rugby. It’s that buzz that I get out on the pitch

I: So you wanted to get back.

R: Yeah, so I think yeah, a lot of people if they go through that amount of injuries, operations, like you would, yeah, you’d be tempted to give up but that didn’t go across, yeah, no. Apart from maybe slightly in this one injury. When it got to the point where I wasn’t progressing I just didn’t think I was every going to get back to it again, so that was the moment where I started doubting “is it worth coming back”. But yeah, that was only like…

I: So was that before or after your second operation?

R: That was just before, I’d say just before my second and then just after my second as well.

I: Yeah

R: ‘Cause it’s just a long process and you get that, yeah, well not being able to run you think “right I’m definitely not getting back fit”.

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Lack of activity around operations led to decrease in motivation


Passion led to mind-set of not giving up


passion for game


3 serious injuries overall


Confidence in self to get back from injury to previous level


Support from friends


Focus of studies


Relief of being able to move/ be active


I: So similar to that, what’s the worse time during your injury that you thought you wouldn’t be able to play again?

R: Yeah, so it’s around that second operation where, mainly before where you’re just not getting anywhere, you’re not progressing, you’re not getting any worse.

I: So, yeah when you knew you were gonna come back from your, how did you think it would affect your performance? Did you think it would or…?

R: No, I didn’t think it would affect it at all. No, as soon as I was back, got told this is when I’m gonna get back playing, that’s when all the rehab started kicking in and that’s where I really progressed with everything. So as soon as that goal was set, and there was no doubt in my mind as soon as I got told I’ll be back playing, yeah.

I: So could you describe the effect the injury had on you as an athlete? Would you feel it’s improved you as an athlete?

R: Yeah. I think it has. Purely from this season there’s been players that have come into the team that are good players and I’ve been able to look at them and see how that’ll influence, like improve my performance and see what I need to improve to make sure that I get a spot back. So I’ll give you an example, I need to make sure that I offer a little bit more attack rather than just short line, so like a rugby specific example. So yeah, and again, when you’re watching tele because you can’t play, I think you take it in a little bit more, because you’re kind of like, almost as if, pretend that you’re playing as you’re watching the tele.

I: Yeah, well I know Jacob said that he’d been having coaching, have you been having…?

R: Yeah, so yeah actually yeah, no, yeah, so I’ve been helping it, so I’ve been doing a little bit more than Jacob so yeah, so I took over the period before Christmas, I took over the women’s rugby and I was the head backs coach for them. So yeah, so that was weekly, yeah so I tried to progress them, which was good ‘cause it keeps you involved within it and, to be honest I forgot about that but thanks. Yeah, no, so that kind of I mean, coaching I don’t enjoy but the fact that I needed that at the time…

I: Kept you involved in something yeah? So could you describe the affect the injury had on you as a person?

R: It’s, it’s probably made me more determined I’d say, and because it’s been so difficult and because I’ve tested myself in the sense that erm, I’ve got back to fit now, it’s almost a sense that I feel like if I can get back fit from this, I can pretty much do everything.

I: Yeah

R: In a sense of recovering from a, not anything. I’m gonna conquer the world!

I: Yeah, so if you got into the game you’ll definitely be able to come back, you wouldn’t knee jerk?

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Given him the mind-set of getting back from any injury or adversityLead to greater determination


Kept involved in club doing coaching – helped improve tactical side


Used injury lay-off to improve tactically and work out weaknesses that he can improve to get back in the team


Improved as an athlete


Confidence in comebackUse of goals a focus and motivator


Lack of activity and progression led to decrease in motivation – having goals that highlight progression could help this situation – goals set by club physio of S+C team – help that decreases the negativity regarding setbacks


R: No.

I: Do you feel the injury and your response has affected your general health or wellbeing?

R: No. No.

I: No, you still feel as fit as you were?

R: Still as fit as I was, yeah.

I: So move on to that recovery approach process now. So what personal factors within yourself do you feel were most important for you recovering from that injured, injury? Any characteristics you may have or…?

R: Yeah, I’d say the determination to get back to it. The, yeah the need to get back out on the pitch playing again. Erm, yeah I’d say they’re, that’s the main, yeah, attribute.

I: They’re your personal ones, but what about any like situational factors to the environment, like what the club’s done for your or…?

R: Yeah so the club, the university have offered quite a bit so I’ve been having physio every week since we’ve been here which is saving quite a lot of money which has been quite nice. So yeah, they’ve supported me in that sense. They’ve given me the guidance that I need. I’ve then been using the NHS same, same sort of procedure with the physio, seen people regularly there. And again, I think it’s also the support from family and friends as well. Erm, I’m quite lucky to have a tight family, they get in contact with me quite a lot and again if someone’s asking you how it’s all going it drives you on. Probably, I didn’t notice at the time, but you wanna get back to it for them as well.

I: Was there anything that the, say, obviously they put on, you were training the women’s team, was there anything else that they did for you or…?

R: Oh, also as far as when I got back to the rehab stage of things, where I was back able to do stuff in the gym, I was having one to one sessions with a strength and conditioning coach.

I: Do you think that helped?

R: That helped massively yeah, and it’s actually benefited me long term because my squat now for example has got a lot better than what it was before I did it, so in some respect this injury has been beneficial. But no, yeah so I was having that again weekly, err one to one sessions.

I: Which of these do you feel is most influentially the personal or the situational?

R: Erm, I suppose it’s combined, but, err getting back to the actual playing again, I’d say it’s those one to one strength and conditioning programmes, so if a lot of people, if

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Improvement in technical aspects of gym work – due to support


Support from S+C coaches


Support from friends and family helped drive and motivate


Medical and physio support – educated advice


Drive to get back playing – fuelled by love of sport?


Mental determination


they don’t have that they use their own initiative when in fact you need someone who knows what they’re talking about to guide you through the steps.

I: Sometimes if you don’t have the push from someone else you might lose motivation.

R: Yeah

I: So which of these do you think helped you with that most positively? Obviously that’s a similar question, if you’re feel you’re repeating yourself then…

R: Yeah again, the strength and conditioning coach, I’ve got a good relationship with him now and he’s constantly asking me how I’m doing, and again the physio that I’ve had, so I’ve been seeing the same one, they just engage with you and it, they want you to get back fit as much as sort of you do.

I: Cool. So now moving onto your personal qualities again.

R: Okay.

I: So what specific qualities do you feel enabled you to be successful on returning from injury other than determination and that?

R: Err, okay, let me have a little think about this. Erm, so I’d say I’m quite an outgoing person as it is. Erm, I’m quite, I’d say I’ve quite an addictive personality, so in the sense of when I get my mind set on something I do go for it. So it’s that, again, enthusiasm that I show towards something. So during the injury stage I probably focussed on other things, erm as well so engaging with the women’s rugby, it’s just a bit of a side track but then as soon as I knew I could get back fit, I channelled everything in on the rehab side of things to get me back.

I: So erm, so would you say aspects of your outlook on the situation would have helped you return successfully?

R: Yeah. If I, yeah if I could have known that I would actually get back fit during that time that I found it quite hard, err I, that probably would have benefited me ‘cause I could have focussed a little bit more. Erm, yeah on getting back.

I: Have you got like an example or a story when you thought you had a positive outlook and it’s helped you?

R: A positive outlook? Yeah, when I, the most positive thing I can think of is when I finally got discharged from the hospital. So I’d been discharged, he’s basically given me the free range to go and do what I wanted as far as my knee’ll take it. So that’s, I can remember walking out of hospital thinking “this is a really nice feeling, everything off my back, I’m not tied to the, they’re not worried about me any more so I can just get on with it.”

I: Play your game, yeah. So don’t worry about repeating yourself again, but what’s motivated you during your time to get back fit?

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Highlighting how lack of focus at one point disadvantaged him overall


Focus of other aspects to not think of injury and then re-focussed when recovery could really kick on


Enthusiasm


Strong character


Out-going nature


Support with recovery


Support and guidance on how to improve and a motivator


R: Err, I’d say from all the people that have showed interest in me throughout, whether that’s physios, family even coaches as well, it’s kind of wanting to fulfil their need for me to get back as well. So a lot of it is me being selfish that I want to get back playing, but again trying to yeah, not disappoint everyone around you who’s, I’d say my dad especially ‘cause since of a young age, he’s drove me around to training every day, so yeah making sure that, yeah he doesn’t feel disappointed in me.

I: Do you feel sure that you could, when you got injured originally with the knee, did you feel sure you could return to pre injury levels? And if you did why did you feel like that? If you didn’t why did you feel like that?

R: Yeah, I did. I never doubted I’d come back a worse player. I think it’s, although it’s an injury, I have a mentality that it’ll always get better and it’ll get back to what it was. So, and it’s again one of those things if you’ve got an injury you kind of compensate in a way, so you try and improve other areas of your game. So I’ve now faced the fact now that the side step of my left leg isn’t going to be as strong because of the knee, it isn’t that strong, so I’ve then tried to work further on my right step, yeah, and just improve other evasive ways of playing. So yeah, I don’t think getting injured can impede your pre performance.

I: So tell me about any distractions you may have had during your recovery?

R: Erm, one distraction was after both operations my appetite went through the roof and I put on quite a bit of weight. Yeah so, again that affected me. Like when you’re sitting down and you’re not in your prime condition and you’re looking in the mirror and you don’t look so great, err yeah that was a factor.

I: Did that then like help you then?

R: Yeah, so again, it’s being vain, you look in the mirror, you’re not happy, yeah, so then you sort out your diet which I have now done. But yeah, no, that just gets you down. It’s another thing, not only can you can’t move, you don’t look great. You’ve got people coming up to you say, oh right you’ve put on weight. Yeah cheers mate.

I: So tell me about anyone, if anyone, who had helped you through this recovery process?

R: So anyone in particular? I’d say, I’d say my biggest thank you would be the physio purely in the sense that he understood my situation and more so that he’s kind of pulled the reigns in a bit ‘cause I have a tendency to go 100 miles an hour at something, so he knew that about me and he tried to like calm me down a bit and make sure I don’t overdo it, and I think without that I probably would have got carried away, skipped the whole needing to strengthen up my knee enough and yeah gone straight back into playing. So I’d say yeah, I’d say the physio.

I: So obviously you said you got, when did you start getting back to the gym again?

R: So, upper body work it was about three months after the first op.

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Importance of support of physio


Weight gain led to focus of losing


Used injury as a way to improve – positive outlook on the situation




Wanting to get back for people who have supported him


Support as a motivator


I: And did you feel that helped you take your mind off?

R: Yeah, yeah, because yeah, you miss the gym, you miss like lifting weights in that sense. But also it’s a bit of ache to the fate ‘cause you’ve lost so most strength so again that’s another factor that you need to be positive and engage yourself with the gym and you need to get back to the strength you were. But yeah, as soon as you can start going to the gym again, it just releases something that you get a buzz from and you can let some steam out.

I: I’m just going to ask some advice questions. So what advice or suggestions would you give to athletes that’ll become more resilient to an injury?

R: Err, you’ve got to stay positive throughout. Although sometimes you may think you’re never gonna get back fit, you need to stay positive and look to those people sort of around you to give you support. If you haven’t got that support I don’t think it’s a massive issue, you’ve just got to support yourself more. But yeah, it’s that positive mind set throughout, that even if someone says to you, you’re not gonna get back fit, like you’ve still gotta believe that you can.

I: Erm, so you make any suggestions to coaches or managers to help them better prepare athletes?

R: Yeah so I’ve been quite lucky with uni coach that he’s given me the opportunities with the physio, strength and conditioning, so I think as a coach you’ve just got to show loads of support and give them the support they need to get back fit because if you, yeah they get fit and then you leave them alone, they can, you know distance themselves away from the sport. I know the coach when I was getting back fit he started saying “right you need to start coming to the gym with the boys to get yourself back into the squad and back socialising with all the lads”.

I: Yeah, Jacob said he had to go to all the games and stuff as well.

R: Yeah, so yeah, throughout we went to all the games and yeah the coach, yeah wanted us to do that, it’s again that you just need to make sure you stay engaged, coaching the women obviously helped me but erm, you’ve just got to make sure that you stay attached.

I: So what recommendations would you make to sport organisations such as NTU to help make athletes and the coaches? I think they’ve a very good job.

R: Yeah, they have done a good job. It’s those additional support aspects of the strengthening, condition and physio. I’d say one thing that the uni, I know that they’re all about the elite performance but they’re like, there’s common cases of this, lower down like the performance sort of in the fourth, fifth team, which they don’t get the same support as people within the first team. Obviously the uni, there’s a reason behind that because they want the first team to do well, but I think some people will also need support. I reckon if they would’ve received that support, maybe they’ve dropped out but with the uni they probably could’ve still been playing.

I: How do you feel the interview went?

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Importance of having support networks – does that filter down to all players?


Staying involved


Importance of support networks in recovery


Look for support from people around you


Importance of keeping positive


Importance of activity and positive nature working in the gym


R: Yeah it went very well.

I: Did you feel you could tell your full story?

R: Yes

I: Do you feel I influenced your responses in any way?

R: No

I: Have you any comments or suggestions about the interview itself?

R: Erm, no.

I: And finally is there anything we haven’t talked about regarding your injury that you feel you want to…?

R: I think we covered everything.

Appendix G

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Information for authors.

PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT AND EXERCISE

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An Official Journal of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC)AUTHOR INFORMATION PACKTABLE OF CONTENTS.

XXX.

• Description• Audience• Impact Factor• Abstracting and Indexing• Editorial Board• Guide for Authorsp.1p.2p.2p.2p.2p.4ISSN: 1469-0292DESCRIPTION.

Psychology of Sport and Exercise is an international forum for scholarly reports in the psychologyof sport and exercise, broadly defined. The journal is open to the use of diverse methodologicalapproaches. Manuscripts that will be considered for publication will present results from high qualityempirical research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, commentaries concerning already publishedPSE papers or topics of general interest for PSE readers, protocol papers for trials, and reportsof professional practice (which will need to demonstrate academic rigour and go beyond meredescription. The CONSORT guidelines consort-statement need to be followed for protocol papers fortrials; authors should present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter the CONSORTchecklist. For meta-analysis, the PRISMA prisma-statement guidelines should be followed; authorsshould present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter the PRISMA checklist. Forsystematic reviews it is recommended that the PRISMA guidelines are followed, although it is notcompulsory. Authors interested in submitting replications of published studies need to contact theEditors-in-Chief before they start their replication. We are not interested in manuscripts that aim totest the psychometric properties of an existing scale from English to another language, unless newvalidation methods are used which address previously unanswered research questions. Benefits to authorsWe also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discountson Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any furtherinformation or help, please visit our support pages: http://support.elsevier.com Additional informationIf you wish to contact one of the Editors-in-Chief for any reason, (e.g. becoming a

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reviewer, interestin joining editorial board, issue about journal policy) please email Nikos Ntoumanis or Bernd Strauss(please go to "View full editorial board list" to send an email). All manuscripts should be presentedas concisely as possible, and our preference is to receive manuscripts that are 30 pages in length orless including references, tables and figures. Longer submissions are allowed (mainly for multi-studypapers or other relevant reasons which have to be explained in the letter to the editors; the finaldecision is to the editors' discretion). For most papers, authors should consider making available someof their material as supplementary electronic material to keep the overall page limit within 30 pages.All submissions are screened by one of the two editors before they are sent out for review to assesstheir suitability for the journal. Hence, there is no need to contact the editors prior to submission.The editors will also consider brief reports and research notes for publication and such submissionsAUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 2should be a maximum of 15 pages including abstract (150 words max), main text, references, tablesand figures. Commentaries should be a maximum of 5 pages, including abstract, references, tablesand figures.AUDIENCE.

Academics carrying out research or teaching in universities with a sport and exercise psychologyor health psychology programme and professionally accredited sport and exercise psychologists andnational sports councils; exercise and health promotion specialists; health educators; those workingin behavioural medicine and public health.IMPACT FACTOR.

2014: 1.896 © Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports 2015ABSTRACTING AND INDEXING.

Cambridge Scientific AbstractsFocus On: Sports Science and MedicineResearch AlertSPORTDiscusScopusScience Citation Index ExpandedEDITORIAL BOARD.

Editors-in-ChiefN. Ntoumanis, School of Psychology & Speech Pathology, Health Psychology & Behavioural Medicine ResearchGroup, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, 6845, Western Australia, AustraliaB. Strauss, Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Munster, HorstmarerLandweg 62b, 48149, Muenster, GermanyFounding EditorS.J.H. Biddle, Inst. of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University of Melbourne, PO Box 14428,Melbourne, VIC 8001, Victoria, AustraliaFormer Editors in ChiefD. Alfermann, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyM. Hagger, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, AustraliaA. Taylor, Plymouth University, Plymouth, England, UK

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Editorial AssistantL. Schucker, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Munster, Munster, GermanyAssociate EditorsHulya Asci, School of Physical Education and Sports, Marmara University, Anadoluhisarı Yerleşkesi Cuma YoluCad Anadoluhis, 34800, İstanbul, TurkeyMark Eys, Dept. of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West,Waterloo, N2L 3C5, Ontario, CanadaKathleen Martin Ginis, Dept. of Kinesiology, Fac. of Science, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West,Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Ontario, CanadaMarkus Raab, Inst. of Psychology, Deutsche Sporthochschule, Am Sportpark Mungersdorf 6, 50933, Köln,GermanyClaudio Robazza, University of Chieti-Pescara, ItalyBrett Smith, School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston,Birmingham, B15 2TT, UKChris Spray, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Room: QQ.1.04,Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, England, UKSteven Petruzzello, Dept. of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,227 Freer Hall, 906 S. Goodwin Ave, Champaign, IL 61801, Illinois, USAAUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 3Robert Schinke, School of Human Kinetics, Laurentian University, B241 Ben Avery Building, 935 Ramsey LakeRoad, Sudbury, P3E 2C6, Ontario, CanadaJames Dimmock, Sport and Recreation Management, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway,Crawley, 6009, Western Australia, AustraliaNatalia Stambulova, Halmstad University College, Box 823, 301 18, Halmstad, SwedenEditorial BoardB. Alderman, Rutgers University, Highland Park, New Jersey, USAC. Armitage, University of Manchester, Manchester, England, UKJ. Baker, York University, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaS. Bray, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaS. Burke, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKD. E. Conroy, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USAF. Gillison, University of Bath, Bath, England, UKC. Greenleaf, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USAN. Hagemann, Universität Kassel, Kassel, GermanyC. Harwood, Loughborough University, Loughborough, England, UKB. Hatfield, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USAA. Hatzigeorgiadis, University of Thessaly, Trikala, GreeceK. Hodge, University of Otago, Alsager, Dunedin, New ZealandB. Jackson, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, AustraliaM. Kavussannu, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UKV. Krane, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USAR. Lidor, Wingate Institute, Netanya, IsraelC. Lonsdale, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaD.R. Lubans, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, AustraliaK.R. McGannon, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, CanadaD. Memmert, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, GermanyA. Morin, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaS.P. Mullen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USAR. Oudejans, VU University, Amsterdam, NetherlandsA. Petroczi, Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, UKA. Rebar, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, AustraliaR. Rhodes, Victoria University, Victoria, British Columbia, CanadaC. Sabiston, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaP. Sarrazin, UFRAPS - Universitie Grenoble, Grenoble, FranceS. Sebire, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, UKD. Ste-Marie, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaI. Taylor, Loughborough University, Loughborough, England, UK

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P. Teixeira, Universidade de Lisboa (Lisbon), Lisbon, PortugalS. Vlachopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Serres, GreeceD.M. Williams, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USAK. Wilson, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California, USAT. Woodman, Bangor University, Bangor Gwynedd, Wales, UKP. Wylleman, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, BelgiumK. Zentgraf, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Munster, Muenster, GermanyAUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 4GUIDE FOR AUTHORS.

Your Paper Your WayWe now differentiate between the requirements for new and revised submissions. You may choose tosubmit your manuscript as a single Word or PDF file to be used in the refereeing process. Only whenyour paper is at the revision stage, will you be requested to put your paper in to a 'correct format'for acceptance and provide the items required for the publication of your article. To find out more, please visit the Preparation section below.INTRODUCTIONPsychology of Sport and Exercise is an international forum for scholarly reports in the psychologyof sport and exercise, broadly defined. The journal is open to the use of diverse methodologicalapproaches. Manuscripts that will be considered for publication will present results from high qualityempirical research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, commentaries concerning already publishedPSE papers or topics of general interest for PSE readers, protocol papers for trials, and reportsof professional practice (which will need to demonstrate academic rigour and go beyond meredescription.The CONSORT guidelines (http://www.consort-statement.org/) need to be followed for protocolpapers for trials; authors should present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter theCONSORT checklist. For meta-analysis, the PRISMA (http://www.prisma-statement.org/) guidelinesshould be followed; authors should present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter thePRISMA checklist. For systematic reviews it is recommended that the PRISMA guidelines are followed,although it is not compulsory. Authors interested in submitting replications of published studies needto contact the Editors-in-Chief before they start their replication.We are not interested in manuscripts that aim to test the psychometric properties of an existing scalefrom English to another language, unless new validation methods are used which address previouslyunanswered research questions.BEFORE YOU BEGINEthics in publishingFor information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication seehttp://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/ethics.Conflict of interestAll authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest includingany financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations withinthree years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or

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be perceived to influence, their work. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest.Further information and an example of a Conflict of Interest form can be found at:http://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/286/supporthub/publishing.Submission declarationSubmission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (exceptin the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronicpreprint, see http://www.elsevier.com/sharingpolicy), that it is not under consideration for publicationelsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsibleauthorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhereincluding electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the writtenconsent of the copyright-holder.Submission also implies that the work described meets all ethical publication standardsand follows the latest guidelines of the APA manual, edition VI (for a short version seehttp://www.apa.org/pubs/authors/openletter.pdf). The authors must declare that the submission fullyfollows these ethical guidelines, and where appropriate, has received the approval of an ethicscommittee. Authors also must declare that their work is original, it has not been published previously,and that is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. This declaration covers the submissionitself or the data used or samples (or relevant parts of them).AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 5As an exception, there are circumstances in which already published data (or parts of them) or samples(or parts of them) can be used again in a submission to PSE (e.g., re-analysis with a new methodthat provides new interpretations of the original data). In such cases, this has to be declared withinthe letter to the editor and has to be mentioned within the submission (with a sufficient discussion ofhow the new submission differs/advances knowledge compared to the published paper). The editorswill then decide whether this submission represents sufficiently original work before it is sent outfor peer review. Failing to declare the published paper will result in an automatic rejection of thesubmitted manuscript.Changes to authorshipAuthors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting theirmanuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Anyaddition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request sucha change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reasonfor the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that theyagree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of

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authors,this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement ofauthors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publicationof the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue,any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.CopyrightUpon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (formore information on this and copyright, see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). An e-mail will besent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'JournalPublishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internalcirculation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distributionoutside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations(please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions). If excerpts from other copyrighted works areincluded, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit thesource(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases: please consulthttp://www.elsevier.com/permissions.For open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete an 'ExclusiveLicense Agreement' (for more information see http://www.elsevier.com/OAauthoragreement).Permitted third party reuse of open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license(see http://www.elsevier.com/openaccesslicenses).Author rightsAs an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. For moreinformation see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright.Role of the funding sourceYou are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/orpreparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; inthe collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision tosubmit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this shouldbe stated.Funding body agreements and policiesElsevier has established a number of agreements with funding bodies which allow authorsto comply with their funder's open access policies. Some authors may also be reimbursedfor associated publication fees. To learn more about existing agreements please visithttp://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.Open accessThis journal offers authors a choice in publishing their research:

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AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 6 Open access• Articles are freely available to both subscribers and the wider public with permitted reuse• An open access publication fee is payable by authors or on their behalf e.g. by their research funderor institution Subscription• Articles are made available to subscribers as well as developing countries and patient groups throughour universal access programs (http://www.elsevier.com/access).• No open access publication fee payable by authors.Regardless of how you choose to publish your article, the journal will apply the same peer reviewcriteria and acceptance standards.For open access articles, permitted third party (re)use is defined by the following Creative Commonsuser licenses:Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)Lets others distribute and copy the article, create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions,adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation), include in a collectivework (such as an anthology), text or data mine the article, even for commercial purposes, as longas they credit the author(s), do not represent the author as endorsing their adaptation of the article,and do not modify the article in such a way as to damage the author's honor or reputation.Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)For non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collectivework (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter ormodify the article.The open access publication fee for this journal is USD 1800, excluding taxes. Learn more aboutElsevier's pricing policy: http://www.elsevier.com/openaccesspricing.Green open accessAuthors can share their research in a variety of different ways and Elsevier has a number of greenopen access options available. We recommend authors see our green open access page for furtherinformation (http://elsevier.com/greenopenaccess). Authors can also self-archive their manuscriptsimmediately and enable public access from their institution's repository after an embargo period. Thisis the version that has been accepted for publication and which typically includes author-incorporatedchanges suggested during submission, peer review and in editor-author communications. Embargoperiod: For subscription articles, an appropriate amount of time is needed for journals to deliver valueto subscribing customers before an article becomes freely available to the public. This is the embargoperiod and begins from the publication date of the issue your article appears in.This journal has an embargo period of 24 months.Language (usage and editing services)Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a

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mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editingto eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientificEnglish may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier'sWebShop (http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageediting/) or visit our customer support site(http://support.elsevier.com) for more information.SubmissionOur online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your articledetails and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used inthe peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article forfinal publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests forrevision, is sent by e-mail.Additional InformationIf you wish to contact one of the Editors-in-Chief for any reason, (e.g. becoming a reviewer,interest in joining editorial board, issue about journal policy) please email Nikos Ntoumanis [email protected] or Bernd Strauss at [email protected] INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 7All manuscripts should be presented as concisely as possible, and our preference is to receivemanuscripts that are 30 pages in length or less including references, tables and figures. Longersubmissions are allowed (mainly for multi-study papers or other relevant reasons which have to beexplained in the letter to the editors; the final decision is to the editors' discretion). For most papers,authors should consider making available some of their material as supplementary electronic materialto keep the overall page limit within 30 pages. All submissions are screened by one of the two editorsbefore they are sent out for review to assess their suitability for the journal. Hence, there is no needto contact the editors prior to submission. The editors will also consider brief reports and researchnotes for publication and such submissions should be a maximum of 15 pages including abstract (150words max), main text, references, tables and figures. Commentaries should be a maximum of 5pages, including abstract, references, tables and figures.PREPARATIONManuscripts should be prepared following the general style guidelines set forth in the PublicationManual of the American Psychological Association (6th Edition, July 2009). All manuscripts should bepresented as concisely as possible, and our preference is to receive manuscripts that are 30 pages inlength or less including references, tables and figures. For longer manuscripts, authors should contactthe Editor-in-Chief prior to submission with a clear justification for the need for a longer manuscript.The editors will also consider brief reports and research notes for publication and such submissionsshould be a maximum of 14 pages including abstract (150 words max for brief reports

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and shortnotes), main text, references, tables and figuresNEW SUBMISSIONSSubmission to this journal proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creationand uploading of your files. The system automatically converts your files to a single PDF file, whichis used in the peer-review process.As part of the Your Paper Your Way service, you may choose to submit your manuscript as a single fileto be used in the refereeing process. This can be a PDF file or a Word document, in any format or layoutthat can be used by referees to evaluate your manuscript. It should contain high enough qualityfigures for refereeing. If you prefer to do so, you may still provide all or some of the source files atthe initial submission. Please note that individual figure files larger than 10 MB must be uploadedseparately.ReferencesThere are no strict requirements on reference formatting at submission. References can be in any styleor format as long as the style is consistent. Where applicable, author(s) name(s), journal title/booktitle, chapter title/article title, year of publication, volume number/book chapter and the paginationmust be present. Use of DOI is highly encouraged. The reference style used by the journal will beapplied to the accepted article by Elsevier at the proof stage. Note that missing data will be highlightedat proof stage for the author to correct.Formatting requirementsThere are no strict formatting requirements but all manuscripts must contain the essential elementsneeded to convey your manuscript, for example Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials andMethods, Results, Conclusions, Artwork and Tables with Captions.If your article includes any Videos and/or other Supplementary material, this should be included inyour initial submission for peer review purposes.Divide the article into clearly defined sections.Please ensure the text of your paper is double-spaced and includes line numbers—this is an essentialpeer review requirement.REVISED SUBMISSIONSLanguageAuthors who require information about language editing and copyediting servicespre- and post-submission please visit http://www.elsevier.com/languagepolishing or [email protected] for more information. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nortakes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through ourservices or in any advertising. For more information please refer to our Terms & Conditions:http://www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions.AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 8Use of word processing softwareRegardless of the file format of the original submission, at revision you must provide us

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with aneditable file of the entire article. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formattingcodes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. The electronic text should be prepared ina way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier:http://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). See also the section on Electronic artwork.To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check'functions of your word processor.Article structureSubdivisionDivide your article into clearly defined sections. Each subsection is given a brief heading asfollows: Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion for empirical articles and Abstract,Introduction, Approach, Findings, and Discussion for theoretical/review articles. Each heading shouldappear on its own separate line. Subsections should be used as much as possible when crossreferencingtext: refer to the subsection by heading as opposed to simply "the text".IntroductionState the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literaturesurvey or a summary of the results.Material and methodsProvide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should beindicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.Theory/calculationA Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in theIntroduction and lay the foundation for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents apractical development from a theoretical basis.ResultsPlease include effect sizes and confidence intervals.DiscussionThis should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Resultsand Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of publishedliterature.ConclusionsThe main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may standalone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.AppendicesIf there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations inappendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix,Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.Essential title page information• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoidabbreviations and formulae where possible.• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family

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name(s)of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliationaddresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercasesuperscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address.Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, thee-mail address of each author.• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeingand publication, also post-publication. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contactdetails are kept up to date by the corresponding author.• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article wasdone, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated asa footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must beretained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 9AbstractThe journal uses a structured abstract with the following subheadings: Objectives, Design, Method,Results, and Conclusions. Abstracts should not exceed 250 words (150 words for brief reports andshort notes).Graphical abstractAlthough a graphical abstract is optional, its use is encouraged as it draws more attention to the onlinearticle. The graphical abstract should summarize the contents of the article in a concise, pictorial formdesigned to capture the attention of a wide readership. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as aseparate file in the online submission system. Image size: Please provide an image with a minimumof 531 × 1328 pixels (h × w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 5 ×13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi. Preferred file types: TIFF, EPS, PDF or MS Officefiles. See http://www.elsevier.com/graphicalabstracts for examples.Authors can make use of Elsevier's Illustration and Enhancement service to ensure the bestpresentation of their images and in accordance with all technical requirements: Illustration Service.HighlightsHighlights are mandatory for this journal. They consist of a short collection of bullet points thatconvey the core findings of the article and should be submitted in a separate editable file in theonline submission system. Please use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points(maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point). See http://www.elsevier.com/highlightsfor examples.Keywords

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Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling andavoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparingwith abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywordswill be used for indexing purposes.AbbreviationsDefine abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first pageof the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their firstmention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.AcknowledgementsCollate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and donot, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here thoseindividuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistanceor proof reading the article, etc.).Math formulaePlease submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae inline with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for smallfractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are oftenmore conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayedseparately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).FootnotesFootnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many wordprocessors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case,indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at theend of the article.ArtworkElectronic artworkGeneral points• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.• Preferred fonts: Arial (or Helvetica), Times New Roman (or Times), Symbol, Courier.• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.• Indicate per figure if it is a single, 1.5 or 2-column fitting image.• For Word submissions only, you may still provide figures and their captions, and tables within asingle file at the revision stage.• Please note that individual figure files larger than 10 MB must be provided in separate source files.AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 10A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website:http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.Formats

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Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'save as' orconvert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings,halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.TIFF (or JPG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.TIFF (or JPG): Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.TIFF (or JPG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpiis required. Please do not:• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low.• Supply files that are too low in resolution.• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.Color artworkPlease make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), orMS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submitusable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appearin color online (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrationsare reproduced in color in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receiveinformation regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Pleaseindicate your preference for color: in print or online only. For further information on the preparationof electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.Figure captionsEnsure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title ( not on the figureitself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum butexplain all symbols and abbreviations used.TablesPlease submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to therelevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively inaccordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Besparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate resultsdescribed elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules.ReferencesCitation in textPlease ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and viceversa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personalcommunications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If thesereferences are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the

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journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been acceptedfor publication.Web referencesAs a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Anyfurther information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.),should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under adifferent heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.References in a special issuePlease ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations inthe text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.Reference management softwareMost Elsevier journals have a standard template available in key referencemanagement packages. This covers packages using the Citation Style Language,such as Mendeley (http://www.mendeley.com/features/reference-manager) and also otherslike EndNote (http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp) and Reference ManagerAUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 11(http://refman.com/downloads/styles). Using plug-ins to word processing packages which areavailable from the above sites, authors only need to select the appropriate journal template whenpreparing their article and the list of references and citations to these will be formatted accordingto the journal style as described in this Guide. The process of including templates in these packagesis constantly ongoing. If the journal you are looking for does not have a template available yet,please see the list of sample references and citations provided in this Guide to help you format theseaccording to the journal style.If you manage your research with Mendeley Desktop, you can easily install the reference style forthis journal by clicking the link below:http://open.mendeley.com/use-citation-style/psychology-of-sport-and-exerciseWhen preparing your manuscript, you will then be able to select this style using the Mendeley pluginsfor Microsoft Word or LibreOffice. For more information about the Citation Style Language, visithttp://citationstyles.org.Reference formattingThere are no strict requirements on reference formatting at submission. References can be in any styleor format as long as the style is consistent. Where applicable, author(s) name(s), journal title/booktitle, chapter title/article title, year of publication, volume number/book chapter and the paginationmust be present. Use of DOI is highly encouraged. The reference style used by the journal will beapplied to the accepted article by Elsevier at the proof stage. Note that missing data will be highlightedat proof stage for the author to correct. If you do wish to format the references yourself they should

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be arranged according to the following examples:Reference styleText: Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the AmericanPsychological Association. You are referred to the Publication Manual of the American PsychologicalAssociation, Sixth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-0561-5, copies of which may be ordered fromhttp://books.apa.org/books.cfm?id=4200067 or APA Order Dept., P.O.B. 2710, Hyattsville, MD20784, USA or APA, 3 Henrietta Street, London, WC3E 8LU, UK.List: references should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically ifnecessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified bythe letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.Examples:Reference to a journal publication:Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article.Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51–59.Reference to a book:Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman, (Chapter4).Reference to a chapter in an edited book:Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S.Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). New York: E-PublishingInc.Reference styleText: Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American PsychologicalAssociationm 6th Edition. You are referred to the Publication Manual of the American PsychologicalAssociation, Sixth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-0561-5, copies of which may be ordered fromhttp://books.apa.org/books.cfm?id=4200067.List: references should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically ifnecessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified bythe letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.Examples:Reference to a journal publication:Woodman, T., Akehurst, S., Hardy, L., & Beattie, S. (2010). Self-confidence and performance:A little self-doubt helps. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11(6), 467-470. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.05.009AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 12Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article.Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51-59.Reference to a book:Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman, (Chapter4).Reference to a chapter in an edited book:Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S.Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281-304). New York: E-

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PublishingInc.Video dataElsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientificresearch. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article arestrongly encouraged to include links to these within the body of the article. This can be done in thesame way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the bodytext where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directlyrelate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directlyusable, please provide the files in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximumsize of 150 MB. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic versionof your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com.Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation ormake a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize thelink to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages athttp://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Note: since video and animation cannot be embeddedin the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print versionfor the portions of the article that refer to this content.AudioSlidesThe journal encourages authors to create an AudioSlides presentation with their published article.AudioSlides are brief, webinar-style presentations that are shown next to the online article onScienceDirect. This gives authors the opportunity to summarize their research in their own words andto help readers understand what the paper is about. More information and examples are available athttp://www.elsevier.com/audioslides. Authors of this journal will automatically receive an invitatione-mail to create an AudioSlides presentation after acceptance of their paper.Supplementary materialSupplementary material can support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary filesoffer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images,background datasets, sound clips and more. Please note that such items are published online exactlyas they are submitted; there is no typesetting involved (supplementary data supplied as an Excelfile or as a PowerPoint slide will appear as such online). Please submit the material together with thearticle and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. If you wish to make any changes tosupplementary data during any stage of the process, then please make sure to provide an updated

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file, and do not annotate any corrections on a previous version. Please also make sure to switchoff the 'Track Changes' option in any Microsoft Office files as these will appear in the publishedsupplementary file(s). For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages athttp://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.As of 1st January 2012, authors will be required to provide supplementary material, as describedbelow, when submitting a manuscript via EES. If the manuscript is accepted for publication thesupplementary material will be available online only and will be listed alongside the article inScienceDirect. The supplementary material will be peer-reviewed.Types of supplementary materialAUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 3 Nov 2015 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport 13All authors need to provide, if not already reported in the manuscript, a correlation matrix with allvariables described in the study as well as internal reliability coefficients and other relevant itemstatistics that could be useful for a future meta-analysis. This information should be provided forthe overall sample reported within a study, but at the authors' discretion, it could also be providedseparately for specific sub-samples.Additional supplementary material can be submitted at the authors' discretion or if requested by thehandling editor. Such supplementary material can be for example additional tables or figures or moredetailed information regarding a methodology.Submission checklistThe following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journalfor review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.Ensure that the following items are present:One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:• E-mail address• Full postal addressAll necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:• Keywords• All figure captions• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)Further considerations• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including theInternet)Printed version of figures (if applicable) in color or black-and-white• Indicate clearly whether or not color or black-and-white in print is required.For any further information please visit our customer support site at http://support.elsevier.com.AFTER ACCEPTANCEUse of the Digital Object IdentifierThe Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOIconsists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisherupon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is

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Documents

Project Manuscript Final