Research Summaries Research Summary 36 Coaching, injury and guilt | Page 2

Coaching, Serious Player Injuries and Guilt

The theory – understanding guilt in the context of player injury
This new research focuses on the psychological
consequences for coaches that can occur as a result of
player injury. It aims to help coaches reflect on their
own experiences of player injuries and pinpoint their
emotional response, specifically, understanding whether
they felt guilt and how they dealt with it.

The idea is that developing a better understanding of
guilt and personal responses to it can better prepare
coaches for future instances of player injury.

The study cites existing research in this subject area
that identifies a link between coaches’ experiences of
injury and post-traumatic stress symptoms (ie where a
person’s subjective well-being, balance of affective
states and overall happiness and satisfaction are
compromised by an adverse event).

The academics note that the notion that sports injuries
may be traumatic for sports coaches may seem strange
to some, given that the regularity with which they
occur leads many to believe they are ‘part of the job’.

However, the team note that even though a coach may
know injury is a risk in a certain situation, its
occurrence can still be traumatic for two reasons.
Firstly, it may contradict the coach’s deeply held
understandings of why and how such injuries happen,
and secondly, it can lead to coaches questioning their
perceptions of themselves, or in other words,
questioning whether they truly are a good, capable
coach.

This type of negative self-reflection, in particular, can
have obvious implications for a coach’s subjective
well-being, not to mention their future coaching
practice.