Could Yoga Help Nadal Avoid the Pain of Defeat?

It’s an all too common occurrence in sport where an athlete’s injury becomes the story.

No athlete wants to be injured, particularly ahead of a major championship or season. The nature of the athlete is such that they push hard, work through pain and feel that if they are not in training they are disadvantaged. This means that in most cases they return to their training far too soon. It’s no surprise that not only does the injury reoccur but it also brings a whole other set of psychological issues to the fore.

Rafa Nadal is no exception and experienced the additional pain of his injury in his opening match at wimbledon this week, causing him to lose only weeks after winning at the French Open.

For someone at the top of his game, he is surrounded by the best physical therapists, coaches and support team all giving him constant evaluation on his ability to play. But maybe despite all the advice from his team, Nadal overrides them and decides he’s going to risk it anyway. It’s in his nature, he has to fight on court that’s what he does and that is what he has built himself to do.

If despite recommendations the athlete still decides to play, then how can yoga become a part of the athlete’s decision making process?

Whatever the nature of injury whether it’s through contact or soft tissue a period of rehabilitation and recovery is required. This is possibly the athletes most vulnerable time. Not only are they injured but their training mindset and schedule has changed. This is where Sports-Specific Yoga can be an advantage.

All the athlete wants to do is train and their belief is if they’re not training their not gaining and that can have a corrosive effect on confidence.

If Nadal, like other athletes in recovery knew that they were still in training and benefitted from a Sports-Specific Yoga program that addressed muscle rebalancing, restorative breathing techniques which reenforced a positive mindset and restored confidence, then they would avoid going back into high intensity training too soon. This allows the athlete a greater chance or recovery, which could lead to a greater chance of sustaining their ability to perform consistently on court.

The flip side to this is that if the athlete were to regularly integrate Sports-Specific Yoga into their strength and conditioning training the injury might have been avoided in the first place.

If you want to learn how to keep athletes injury free, then train to be a Yoga Sports Coach™.