ZEPP FM 009 - Bouncing back from sport injuries with Dr Les Podlog

ZEPP FM | Sport psychology for athletes, coaches & future sport psychologists

A dislocated elbow, several shoulder dislocations, a hernia, a fractured hand and three reconstructive knee surgeries in seven years forced Les to give up wrestling after 13 years of training and competition. However, he didn’t start bee keeping or basket weaving as his doctors suggested. Instead, Les started researching why and how some athletes successfully deal with injuries and others don’t, and how athletes can successfully cope with sport injuries.

In today’s episode, Les shares what he found sport psychologists, coaches, athletic trainers and physiotherapists need to consider when working with injured athletes, and how they can support their athletes. One of the most important things Les talks about are the three factors autonomy, competence and relatedness that need to be considered when an athlete experiences an injury. In addition, Les explains in great detail how anyone who tries to support an injured athlete can identify and subsequently address these most important factors for each athlete.

Les is a great colleague of mine who’s researching and lecturing at the University of Utah, introducing his students to the incredible field of sport psychology, and it was a real pleasure to talk to him again about two of the topics, that he’s an absolute expert in: sport injuries and post-traumatic growth. I’ve learned a lot from Les during our interview and I hope that you’ll benefit from his knowledge and his examples, too. So, no matter if you’re an athlete, coach, staff member or simply interested in how athletes could and should deal with injuries – and how they might even benefit from injuries! – this episode is the right one for you!