Hypothetical sport psychology support strategy for an athlete Applied Sport Psychology 20016782 Case study – Summary of part one The aims and objectives of part one were to give an overview of the athlete and the sporting context, to give an explanation of the initial contacting and gaining entry and to give an explanation of the gathering of data. The athlete was chosen because she recently received an injury to which it was said she could never participate in competitive sports again. The athlete in question is 21 years of age and began playing football at the age of just 4 years old.
She was first influenced by football because of her dad and brother who both love the sport. At the age of 11 she went onto play for Plymouth argyle under 12’s and then the under 18’s for Cornwall winning 7 caps. She was also captain of Marazion ladies for the women’s team winning the league and league cup whilst playing full county squad until receiving a recent injury. The athlete had no previous sports psychology experience due to lack of funding, however felt like it could of really helped her especially recently in relation to the injury.
The injury occurred in April 2010 whilst playing for her local team Marazion ladies. As she went to header a ball she was lunged at from the side, when she fell to the floor she heard her leg snap in 3 different places. The swelling was so bad at first they could not make a verdict. Later on she had key hole surgery which showed she had snapped the anterior cruciate ligament in half, which pulled off a chunk of her femur bone leaving a 50p sized hole in the bone about 5 cm deep. The medial ligament also popped and the cartilage ruptured. The process is still on going with surgery and she will receive more this year. A sports psychologist is more likely to gain entry and build rapport with the athlete if the use of sport specific knowledge and language is used. ’ (McKeag et al, 2007).
The Term Paper on Women Sport Athlete Injuries
... come increased injuries, and female athletes have higher injury rates than men in many sports. Knee injuries have been ... resting. Some shoes are too good for playing. If there is too much traction, your ... it can take six months to a year for the knee to completely heal. Depending ... age groups. Other activities with a high rate of injury are gymnastics, martial arts, and running. In most sports, injuries ...
The athlete was initially contacted through a phone call by the sports psychology student to discuss any interest and to determine a time best for a meeting. This was then confirmed via email . The initial meeting lasted around 15 minutes where a performance profile was conducted and a brief talk took place to develop a base for the semi structured intervie.
Within this meeting ethical considerations were talked about and the athlete read and signed an ethics letter. ‘The environment should be comfortable, with as few distractions as possible. ’ (Friedman et al, 2000).
‘It has been shown as a limitation when the environment is full of distractions, such as teammates walking in and out of the room. This is because the athlete will not feel comfortable within the setting to truly express their feelings.
