Character Analysis
There are three main characters in the case study that is the athlete, the parents, and the coach. All the three have a role to play when it comes to the management of the athlete's situation. For instance, the athlete has to follow all the planned procedures by the therapists and the doctors. His rehabilitation depends on how well he implements what the training staff advises him. Research indicates that parents and coaches who are sensitive to matters concerned with injuries to the athletes help speed up the recovery process. The coach should show that he cares about the well-being of the athlete and the parents should encourage him to make sure that he can handle some of the issues related to the rehabilitation program such as therapy that may seem ineffective at first. Evidently, the coach and the father played their roles properly as the father told him that the recovery period was the most difficult part of his career as a basketball player. The coach told him that he would retain his starting place if he underwent his recovery program well.
Athlete-Coach Relationship
The athlete and the coach had a positive relationship that can help the athlete recover well during the period. One of the things that emerge from the athlete-coach relationship is that he was empathic to the athletes, which shows that he understood what Ted was going through. He could work on the self-esteem of the athlete by making feel a valuable part of the team by promising him that he will retain his starting position in the team. The coach also gave the athlete a role on the team when he told him that he expected him to lead the team on and off the pitch. Letting the athlete know that the coach cares was enough to keep him going in the long recovery process that involved a lot of workout and therapy. This shows that the coach and the athlete had a good relationship in that the coach enabled Ted to get in touch with other areas of professional strength. According to Mageau and Vallerand (2003), the relationship between the coach and the athlete is important as coaches may influence the motivation of the athletes. This is in line with the cognitive evaluation theory as well as the hierarchical model concerned with both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The orientation of the coach towards coaching, their operation contexts, as well as their perception of the behavior of the athletes have an influence on the behavior of the coach. In case of an injury such as Teds, the coach should act in a way that reveals the autonomy-supportive behaviors in order to have an impact on the rehabilitation process (Mageau & Vallerand, 2003).
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Main Issues and Contributing Factors
The main issue relates to the fact that Ted is unable to keep up with his previous performances in practice and he fears that he might not make a breakthrough in the team from this occurrence. Ted is unable to drive aggressively. Similarly, Ted is disturbed by the fact that the person who replaced him in the team after the injury is strong when it comes to being able to drive aggressively. The competition in the team means that it may prove impossible for Ted to return to the team, as was the case before the injury. The implication is that anxiety creeps in where Ted is not sure if the coach will keep his word because he has been quoted to say one thing and do another after some time.
The pressure from the father that he has to strengthen his body is one of the reasons why Ted felt the anxiety in the process. He also doubts whether the coach will keep his word after telling him that he would not lose his starting position even after the injury. The other factor that contributes to the anxiety is the performance that the competitors of the position have had in Ted’s absence, which makes it hard for Ted to return to the team right away.
Mental Skills
Mosewich, Crocker and Kowalski (2014) argue that setbacks are usually inevitable in sports and have the power to promote stress and requiring effective coping skills. The mental coping skills are important to ensure that the athlete is able to reach their performance potential. The athlete has to master some skills that help him achieve a positive approach to things, dealing effectively with self-criticism as well as being able to use social support that will enable him or her to have a speedy recovery and retune to normal performance. Various skills can be used to speed the rehabilitation process. One of these skills is goal setting, which is a way of involving the athlete in the analysis of the rehab process as well as the progress they are making. The analysis keeps track of the achievements that the athlete is making, and in the process, it acts as a motivator. Goal setting is important as it ensures that the athlete complies with the program. Imagery is the other skills that are important in the process of ensuring that the athlete can return to work as soon as possible. Imagery is the process of recreation of an experience in mind. This means that the athlete can picture returning to completion and even have a critical look at the healing process that occurs at the site of the injury. Relaxation is the third skill that can be used to help the athlete make a quick recovery. The skill involves the athlete learning to control their breathing and muscular activation through various techniques meant to enhance relaxation. The benefits that come with this practice are that it enables the athletes to relieve their pain, improve their sleep and improve their muscle tension in the process ( Mosewich, Crocker, and Kowalski 2014) . The athlete is taught how to breathe deep when he or she is performing a painful exercise. The deep breathe taken acts as a distraction.
Action plan
In Ted’s case, there three primary skills can be implemented in a way that ensures that he can recover fully and on time to compete with the rest of the group members for slots in the team. The first skills will be the incorporation of imagery where the athlete can visualize himself playing again and helping the team win matches as he used before. In this case, the therapist can at the end of every section recreate some of the performances that Ted had before he got injured to motivate him to work hard towards going back to being the same player he was before injuring his knee ( Arvinen-Barrow et al., 2015). The second skills are the goal setting in which milestones are set to be achieved by the athlete during the process. In this practice, the therapist and the athlete will ensure that they create a plan of how the rehab will unfold and what should be achieved in each section. This means that Ted will be able to understand and appreciate the progress that he is making as a person towards recovery ( Sharp et al., 2013) . This makes him feel the confidence of taking part in the therapy and complying with all the instructions given by the trainers. The third primary skills that should be used are the skill of relaxation to help Ted naturally manages pain. Relaxation means that Ted should be trained on how to take deep breaths whenever he is performing or conducting a strenuous or a painful activity. When Ted starts putting some weight on the knee, it might require him to take deep breaths because of the pain. Relaxation techniques act as a distraction from the pain.
The plan is feasible since the skills have been established through research and their effectiveness has been found to be high in basketball players. One of the barriers that might arise is the resistance and low self-esteem that Ted might be having as he thinks of the recovery process. However, with the coach dealing with the low self-esteem, the issue should be easy to manage ( Arvinen-Barrow et al., 2015) . The outcomes include Ted complying fully with the process and being able to take part in all activities that will aid his recovery.
References
Arvinen-Barrow, M., Clement, D., Hamson-Utley, J. J., Zakrajsek, R. A., Lee, S. M., Kamphoff, C., & Martin, S. B. (2015). Athletes' Use of Mental Skills during Sport Injury Rehabilitation. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation , 24 (2), 189-197.
Mageau, G. A., & Vallerand, R. J. (2003). The coach–athlete relationship: A motivational model. Journal of sports science , 21 (11), 883-904.
Mosewich, A. D., Crocker, P. R., & Kowalski, K. C. (2014). Managing injury and other setbacks in sport: Experiences of (and resources for) high-performance women athletes. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health , 6 (2), 182-204.
Sharp, L. A., Cumming, J., Woodcock, C., Holland, M. J., & Duda, J. L. (2013). A Qualitative Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Mental Skills Training Program for Youth Athletes. The Sports Psychologist , 27 .
