Smith1 Tiana Smith SBS ENC 1101 Is The Situation Approachable?

Torn ligaments, broken legs, torn ACLs, are all common when it comes to athletes. Whether the athlete is a basketball, football, tennis, or hockey player, he/she will experience harm onto the body throughout his/her athletic career. With these injuries, comes Athletic Trainers. From the time an athlete gets injured to the time he/she steps back onto the field, court, etc., an Athletic Trainer is always present. No athlete wants to experience such dangerous injuries but when it happens, they have to find a way to come to grips with reality. He/she may never return to the sport that he/she is passionate about. Athletic Trainers are there to help athletes through these hard times. Although at times, an Athletic Trainer and his/her client may not see eye-to-eye, the Athletic Trainer still has to find a way to help the athlete become as normal as possible. Mainly, Athletic Trainers and athletes dont get along because the athletes havent accepted the injury; therefore, the athlete will push the Athletic Trainer away as a way of coping with the situation. When these situations happen, how should it be approached? Every athlete is different, but should the approach be different as well? This information can be extremely informative to a former college student studying Athletic Training, like myself. According to Onate, the best approach is to be aggressive. There is no right or wrong way for every athlete, but one way does work better than the next says Onate (www.trainingconditioning.com). Onate feels it is always necessary to have an aggressive plan. In most cases, he stresses the need the communication between the athlete and the Athletic Trainer. Along with communication are trust, loyalty, and faith. A client feels safe and trustworthy of his/her Athletic Trainer when the two can discuss the injuries clearly. After trust is established throughout the relationship, a client will see the Athletic Trainer as a loyal person. Eventually, the athlete will have faith that the Athletic Trainer will get him/her back into his/her athletic career. Basically, Onate feels that the key of being an effective Athletic Trainer is learning how to customize a plan for each athlete in an aggressive way. There should never be any cookie cutter situations because no athletes injury is the same. Onate states that in most incidents, the athlete is in denial of his/her injury and that is why the aggressive aspect of the plan is needed. As an Athletic Trainer, he/she must state the seriousness of the injury. Whether the athlete likes it or not, the injury and the all possible outcomes must all be clear to both, the athlete and the Athletic Trainer. Corey Haluska has a completely different way of approaching such situations. Haluska says an injured athlete typically proceeds through a series of emotions on the way to recovery, including denial, anger, bargaining, depression/guilt, and then acceptance. Haluska goes on to say that he coaches should be the ones to inform the athlete of the injuries he/she is experiencing. He says that is the best approach because the coach and the athlete are closer than the athlete and the Athletic Trainer. By the coach telling the athlete about the injury, the athlete will feel more secure. Haluska also mentioned that giving the athlete a different role, at the time being, on the team will keep him/her actively engaged with the team and it will also keep him/her with a positive mindset (www.rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu). Haluska wants the coach to play more a part than the Athletic

Smith1 Trainer in the athletes road to recovery. He feels it is always better to be given instructions and bad news by a person to you than a complete stranger. In connection to Onate and Haluska, Kolt has combined the two approaches and designed his own. Kolt believes in a more conservative approach. Conservative, in Kolts words, is sitting back and letting the athlete cope with devastating news, with little help from the Athletic Trainer or the coach. The Athletic Trainer is there to note all injuries, possible outcomes, and to work with athlete for a full recovery. The Athletic Trainer should be aggressive and never sugar coat any serious aspects of the injury. There will be a time to joke around, but always know the wrong and right time to do it. On the other hand, the coach should try his/her best to keep the player in-tune with the sport and his/her teammates. Give the athletes an assistant coach position while he/she is in rehab, make it a priority for him/her to attend at least two practices a week until recovery, just something to keep his/her head in the game. The athlete, then, has the choice to either accept everything and try to get better as soon as possible or continue to live in denial (www.sportsinjurybullentin.com). In Kolts eyes the biggest effect on an athlete is him/herself. If he/she wants to live in denial, thats what he/she is going to do regardless of what the Athletic Trainer or the coach says. Kolt is simply saying conservative is the way to go. All in all, there are many different approaches to practice as an Athletic Trainer. An Athletic Trainer can have an aggressive or conservative approach, or the Athletic Trainer can depend on the coach to give the best approach, whatever is best for the athlete is the approach to go with. Just as Onate, Haluska, and Kolt mentioned, an athlete will always be in denial. It is the Athletic Trainers job to help the athlete come to grips with reality and try for a full recovery. I now understand the true meaning of an Athletic Trainer, to be an athletes backbone will he/she goes through these hard times. I feel the best way to choose which approach is best for you is actually working with injured athletes, so I wont know my approach until I am a Certified Athletic Trainer. I am really looking forward to pursuing this career.

Smith1 Works Cited Anderson, R.J. "The Best Approach?" The Best Approach? Training and Conditioning, June 2007. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. Welcome to RUcore - Rutgers University Community Repository." Athlete Injury Denial: The Psychology of Sports Injury. Burlington County Times, 26 July 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2013 Kolt, G.S. "Psychological Rehabilitation Techniques." Sports Injuries Advice from Sports Injury Bulletin. Sports Injury Bullentin, 2000. Web. 13 Sept. 2013.