Mental and Emotional Recovery

By: Hunter Glascock

Originally Published in: Complete Conditioning for Basketball

Mental and emotional recovery are often overlooked and neglected. The stigma behind mental and emotional health, especially in sports, can leave athletes feeling they must hide feelings of being overwhelmed, anxious, helpless, or depressed, but mental and emotional recovery have importance and connectedness to actual recovery. The mind is connected to the body and the body, as we know, cannot function without the brain.

The mental demands of sports in general are very high. Basketball is no different. Athletes want to perform at their highest level. They want to play well. Developing mental capacity and resiliency is another form of work capacity and is a trait that can be trained and developed.
Here are some examples of mental stressors:

Remembering the playbook
Remembering defensive coverages
Keeping the opponent from scoring
Remembering how many points they have scored
Missing shots
Getting little playing time
Handling a verbally abusive coach
Playing in front of a crowd
Playing in front of someone they are trying to impress or someone highly regarded
Playing a nationally televised game
Procrastinating, such as putting off a homework assignment that is due next week

Cortisol, one of the primary stress hormones, plays a crucial role in the nervous system's "fight or flight" response. It is important during times of stress, including participating in sports. Cortisol also can be harmful if stress becomes chronic. Cortisol can affect mood, sleep, and even thought patterns. If stress is not managed properly, over time an athlete can over-train, underperform, become sick, and even get injured.

Cortisol can also be created through thought and self-speak. When an athlete has persistent negative thoughts and emotions, the body's sympathetic nervous system is on constant alert, which makes it literally impossible to start the recovery process. What you speak comes back into your own head. In terms of mental and emotional recovery, your body physically reacts to stress. This cyclical pattern should be addressed early in the preseason. Speaking and thinking positively can augment a physical recovery session and lead to greater improvements physiologically. Some mental and emotional interventions could look like this: