Honors College Theses

Publication Date

2024

Major

Exercise Science (B.S.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Jody Langon

Abstract

Injury is an inevitable part of any sport an athlete decides to take part in. Many things go along with injury, but one of the biggest factors is the one directly responsible for the success of the athlete: the coach. The purpose of this study was, based on a systematic review of the literature, to better understand what part coaches play in the fear of athletic injuries including their responses and the rationale for those responses. The study was conducted by cross-referencing multiple articles across different databases and systematically examining the different studies to further understand the fear of injury and the impact the coaches’ response has on the athlete. It was found that although there was not much information on fear of injury and coaches’ response to injury, there was a multitude of information on the coach-athlete relationship, as well as how it impacts the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of the athlete. The quality of the coach-athlete relationship had a greater impact on the sub-components of sport performance, rather than an impact directly upon the physical aspects of sport. Although we were not able to find specific research studies tied to how coaches impact the injury recovery process, it can be noted that best practices such as those described in the review could contribute to an athlete’s healthy recovery from injury.

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