In dance or any sport there is always a threat of injury, but what happens after

the injury, it is all up to the athlete. Some athletes will know they should probably stop
and let their injury heal, but there are always the athletes that want to keep
playing/performing. There is a sense of the show must go on, mind over matter
mentality or they create a mentally tough athlete, this means that no matter what, the
performer will keep dancing or playing with an injury. There are 5 emotions injured
athletes go through(Tracey) that cause them to continue playing/performing. Even
though most athletes know it is better to stop and rest, their emotions take over and
they continue this risky behavior.

Remembering the phrase mind over matter for athletes has become a more
popular theme in our modern society. This phrase ensures that you block out pain,
maintain a positive attitude, and overcome obstacles while maintaining mental
toughness.(Bell) According to research by the Gustavian Weekly the only way to
ensure that you perform your very best is when people practice mindfulness,
otherwise known as people can improve their health and fitness by incorporating
awareness into their routine. By incorporating mindful awareness they have the ability
to push everything besides performing out of their mind.(Bell) At the University of
Missouri; Dr. Pat Ivey, Dr. Rick McGuire, and Amber Lattner banded together as part of
the athletics department's Mental Performance Team to gain answers to the question,
how do you develop mental toughness in athletes? Their first step was figuring out
what a mentally tough athlete is, they discovered that it is an athlete who is

motivated, prepared, focused, and emotionally stable, which includes the mentality of
being okay when you have seriously hurt yourself. The team looked at the idea of
positive coaching, it allows the coaches a scientific and philosophical way to teach
athletes to always perform at their best. Based on mental toughness and positive
coaching the team came up with the McGuire-Ivey-Lattner Model of Mental Toughness.
The McGuire-Ivey-Lattner Model of Mental Toughness is a six layer pyramid that
together can create a great performer on the stage and on the field. The six layers of
the pyramid include; motivation, preparation, focus, emotional stability, accountability,
and of course the performance. It was once said by a legendary football coach Lou
Holtz, Pressure is when you have to do something you arent prepared to
do(McGuire, Ivey, Lattner). Being prepared for a performance can take much of the
pressure off the performer. The pressure of being unprepared for a dancer, such as
costume malfunction or last minute change in choreography or venue can potentially
cause an injury.

When an athlete or performer gets injured they often experience a range of

emotions including depression, anger, and denial.(Haluska) Dealing with these
emotions affect how the athlete recovers, as well as how they act when they return to
the sport. According to Douglas McKeag M.D., when something is taken away from
you, as a human we dont respond well, we respond with anger and denial. An
example of the denial is a patient in physical therapy being told they are doing well, the
patient wont believe they are getting better.(Haluska) Athletes who posses a strong

self-identity or sense of worth through the single social role of sport may experience a
particularly difficult time adjusting to being injured(Klenk). Another driving force for
injured athletes is when they know their group needs them, even if they are advised to
sit out they are compelled to keep going. Anytime an athlete continues to perform with
an injury they are in jeopardy of a deeper problem developing later. A study was
conducted on how to assist athletes during their recovery process, they took ten
university student athletes who have sustained a minor to major injury. The athletes
were interviewed three times after they sustained the injury; on site of the injury, one
week post injury, and three weeks post injury. The athletes were asked to write about
how they felt as they were recovering. The results revealed that the athletes had
feelings of loss, decreased self-esteem, frustration, and anger. As the participant's
injury got better so did their attitude, according to the participants they acknowledged
throughout the process they learned about themselves and the many emotions
involved with being injured.(Tracey)

Physical conditioning is one way an athlete can reduce the probability of getting
injured. The benefits of an athlete stretching are both mental and physical. Some of the
benefits of an athlete stretching or conditioning before and after a practice or
performance are increased self-confidence, more strength, increase technique, power,
endurance, promote mental strength, decrease injuries and speed up recovery time,
delay tiredness during the game or show, making the athlete better at their sport and
potentially other sports as well (example: if you stretch in gymnastics, you could get

more flexible for dance), improve health and the quality of your life style. Conditioning
between the ages of 12-13 is important, but after this age conditioning becomes more
of a structured routine(Ohio University). It is important for all athletes to condition their
bodies for their sport and overall physical fitness.

There are over 600 muscles, over 200 bones, and many many nerves, tendons
and ligaments, which make it nearly impossible for an athlete to not get injured. For
dancers its much easier to get injured because of the amount of time they spend
exhausting their bodies. There are many injuries that are common to dancers, for
instance; ankle sprains, knee problems, hamstring tear, hip and back
injuries(Hamilton). Exhaustion can also take a toll on a dancers body. Carmen Nicole
Smith toured with the New York Battery Dance company for 4 years and continually
had days starting at 5 a.m. through midnight and after 4 years of that schedule she
started feeling her body give out. Carmen found out that she no longer had a
functioning metabolism and that she was releasing a weight gaining hormone called
cortisol from all the stress on her body. Adam Barruch admitted I was putting so much
pressure on myself, beyond what was expected of me. His schedule consisted of
upwards of 10 hours per day at the premier conservatory program, after pushing
himself so hard eventually his body just gave out and he became ill and was unable to
perform at his next show. Both Adam and Carmen encourage dancers to cherish their
bodies and avoid the burnout that has become health threatening(Straus).

All sports including Dance can be a dangerous hobby or profession, but when
athletes acquire an injury and continue to perform with the injury it can leave them
vulnerable for more serious injuries. The mindset of an athlete can cause them to
disregard their injury and put them in a worse position than when they initially got the
injury. Once an athlete is injured they will go through a range of emotions that affect
their road to recovery. Taking precautions to prevent injury, recover from injuries and
condition the body to return to the sport are important skills that all athletes need to
utilize.

Work Cited
Bell, Haley. "Mind over Matter Mentality Improves Performance." The Gustavian
Weekly. Sports and Fitness, 14 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2016

Haluska, Cory, Manny Abreu, and Julie M. Fagan. "Athlete Injury Denial: The
Psychology of Sports Injuries." (2011)

Hamilton, Linda. "Ouch! Five common dance injuries & how to treat them."
Dance Magazine Apr. 2005: 64+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Oct. 2016.

Ivey Pat, Rick McGuire, and Amber Lattner. "Mind Over Matter." Welcome to
Training & Conditioning. July/August 2015 Issue of Training & Conditioning., 29 July
2015. Web. 04 Oct. 2016

Klenk, Courtney A., "Psychological Response to Injury, Recovery, and Social

Support: A Survey of Athletes at an NCAA Division I University" (2006). Senior Honors
Projects. Paper 9.

McKeag, Douglas. "IU News Room." Athletes Recovering from Injuries Can
Experience Depression, Anger, Denial: : Indiana University. Indiana University, 2013.
Web. 06 Oct. 2016

Ohio University. "The Basics Of Physical Conditioning." Online Master's Degree

Programs. N.p., 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 05 Oct. 2016

Straus, Rachel. "Burned out: what exhaustion can do to a dancer's body."

Dance Magazine Sept. 2008: 30. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Oct. 2016

Tracey, Jill. "The emotional response to the injury and rehabilitation

process."Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 15.4 (2003): 279-293