by: Psychologist Diana Sosa, member of the WBC Medical Committee

A very common situation that athletes go through is getting injured.

Despite being an everyday occurrence , the reaction of the majority is anger, sadness, frustration and despair.

It is important to approach the injury from several aspects, not only the medical one, but also the psychological one.

Regardless of the type and degree of the injury, being injured often means lowering the pace of training and if it is serious, it means leaving everything on “stand by” until one hundred percent rehabilitated.

This period of rehabilitation for the athlete could affect him or her psychologically, since not training or lowering the pace of training, it could seem as not doing anything being lazy, wasting time, taking  a long time to recover condition, to never be the same”, “that the career has already been ruined” and all this is going to cause a certain degree of anxiety.

What happens in the boxer’s mind when injured? As we know, the psychology of the boxer is that of a high-performance athlete who is always in constant movement and preparation.

He likes challenges, his pain threshold is very high and he is perceived as strong and invincible. However, when he gets injured, he subconsciously knows that he will lose some strength, he will slow down in training and that would make him think that “he will never fight the same again”.

Many times boxers minimize  injuries or hide them, in order to continue training and not stop fighting. The foregoing is counterproductive because despite the fact that the injury is mild and its discomfort bearable, if they are not treated in a timely and appropriate manner, they could evolve and worsen over time.

What you have to work with the fighter is to be aware that due to the type of sport he practices (combat), the injuries are going to be latent and with a high probability of appearing. He must familiarize himself with them and with the proper handling of it.

While it’s okay to worry, he shouldn’t fall into a state of intense fear or panic.

Knowing your body will be a fundamental tool to know how to identify any abnormality or unusual pain and report it to your work team, in order to give it immediate attention, since if you don’t, the injury could have dire consequences in a sparring match or fight. All the instructions of the coach must also be followed: have an adequate warm-up, perform the exercises with the correct technique.

Do not overtrain, eat and hydrate well and do not exercise without supervision.

If the boxer is already injured, adherence to rehabilitation treatment should be encouraged, suggesting that he carry out all the doctor’s recommendations, as well as performing exercises to visualize a successful recovery.

If the fighter becomes desperate, he must be aware that if he disobeys medical instructions, the injury will worsen and he will have to start from scratch again and his recovery time will be longer.