Injury: The Inevitable Misfortune of the Athlete's Journey

“Out of life’s school of war—what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” reflected 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, in his book Twilight of the Idols.

Indeed, living is a “school of war.” You never know what will happen, and whatever does occur can teach us how to effectively deal with life’s challenges. The inevitable difficulties we all face on life’s journey can serve to make us mentally stronger.

Often guaranteed to appear along athletes’ school-of-sport journey is injury. Everything from minor bumps to afflictions requiring surgery are all part of the sporting experience, and what doesn’t kill the athlete can make them stronger.

How to effectively handle injuries and the accompanying physical pain and mental anguish? Let’s explore.

Navigating the Injury Ordeal

“I equate it (injury experience) to the hero’s journey,” said Carrie Jackson, a certified mental performance coach (CMPC) during an interview for this piece. “Injury is just where you are on your athletic path, and when you are on the hero’s journey, you might not know where you’re going to end up, but you’re not going to be here forever, and you might even learn from it.”

Source: Carrie Jackson, used with permission

Jackson, a national expert on the mental aspects of sports injury recovery, maintains a professional practice in the San Francisco area. She co-authored Rebound: Train your mind to bounce back stronger from sports injuries (2019).

“Injury is a natural, and unfortunate, part of being athletic,” continued Jackson. “At some point you might be dealing with an injury, so instead of treating it like it’s the worst thing that could happen approach it like it’s just something that happened. It’s part of the sports package.”

“When you’re injured, the tendency is to look at it under a microscope,” Jackson explained. “If you’ve ever looked at a fly under a microscope, it’s terrifying, but if you take the microscope away it’s just a fly, no big deal. It’s a completely different perspective, and that’s what you have to do.

Strengthening Psychological Flexibility

Injury requires a commitment to actions that move the athlete toward successful injury recovery without getting caught up in the thoughts and emotions that can interfere with the rehabilitation process.

Such an approach is called psychological flexibility (PF), a term that simply means that one can effectively respond to difficult circumstances—like injuries—and improve their mental well-being. PF is what some might call mental toughness resilience, grit, and what Jackson calls “hardiness.”

“There’s some interesting research around hardiness with injury,” Jackson said. “It is very common for athletes to focus on what they can’t do, versus what they can do. The characteristics of heartiness (psychological flexibility) are commitment, controlling what we control, and acceptance and willingness to take on challenges.”

When injured it’s easy, and understandable, to fall into the trap of focusing on what we cannot control, but it magnifies thoughts and feelings of helplessness, stress, and anxiety, confounding physical injury with mental injury.

“That’s what happens with injury and you’re looking at it under a microscope,” explained Jackson. “you’re so focused on it, and maybe thinking, ‘Who am I if I can’t play my sport? I’m missing out on being with my friends. Everybody’s getting better and I’m stuck, here, losing my skills and fitness.’ Take a step back (away from the microscope) and look at the bigger picture of your athletic journey.”

That step back enables PF, adherence to the recovery protocol, and finding creative ways to stay fit and practice sport skills. The psychologically flexible person finds the way, thus enhancing their mental and physical well-being.

“Commitment is like perseverance. ‘Can I continue to put one foot in front of the other in spite of the challenges I’m facing?’" explained Jackson. “Control is ‘Do I understand—and focus on—the things that are in my control and understand the things that are out of my control?’ That’s a big conversation to have with injured athletes.”

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A Young Athlete’s Heroic Journey

Source: Marshall University Athletic Department and Noah Arkenburg, used with permission

“It was October 11, 2019,” shared Marshall University sophomore pitcher Noah Arkenburg in an interview for this piece. “I was in Jupiter, Florida, pitching for the Cincinnati Reds scout team, when out of the blue, my hip began to hurt. This was the start of the most tumultuous and serendipitous four years of my life, but if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single thing.”

“I threw well in Jupiter and even received a few Major League draft prospect invitations,” Arkenburg continued. “After pitching for the Cincinnati scout team, I returned home to Cleveland (Ohio) and made the decision to get an MRI.” At the time of that injury, Arkenburg was an 18-year-old senior at Notre Dame Cathedral Latin School located near Cleveland, Ohio.

Medical tests revealed nothing. “But why was my hip pain so debilitating?” pondered Arkenburg.

“The pain gradually receded, and by the end of January it had completely disappeared,” Arkenburg continued. A promising senior high school season lay ahead until another health-related challenge emerged—the COVID-19 pandemic. His final high school baseball season was canceled.

“I spent the time (during COVID quarantine) training and preparing for my first fall (2020) at Marshall,” he said. “I was ecstatic. My entire life had been focused on playing baseball at the next level and my first college fall went very well. I was throwing hard, getting outs, and having a blast.” January arrived along with a return of hip pain. His velocity, accuracy, and effectiveness plummeted.

“My trainer decided I needed an MRI,” recounted Arkenburg, “so I acquired a copy of the previous MRI. The old results revealed a cam lesion and labral tear." Surgery was ordered and performed by the Marshall team doctor, discovering what he described as “carnage,” and doing his best to repair the damage.

Arkenburg spent the spring and summer rehabbing from surgery. He was eager to go during the fall of his second year at Marshall, but throwing too many pitches during practice, he felt a pop in his elbow. Another MRI revealed a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament. Injections and two months of rehab throwing and lifting proved ineffective in reducing the pain. Elbow surgery was ordered.

“I was distraught,” shared Arkenburg. “I had dedicated myself to getting healthy. It had proven to be futile, and I could not understand why. The sport I loved for my entire life was slipping from my grasp, and with that, my identity.”

“I rehabbed to the T, ate right, slept eight-plus hours every night, and eagerly awaited my collegiate debut,” Arkenburg said. “If everything went as planned, I might be able to pitch the 2022 season. I was scheduled to pitch out of the bullpen against Virginia Tech, but it rained that day, and the game was canceled.”

Fate raised its ugly head, and the elbow pain returned. He was out for the rest of the season.

“Two years into my collegiate career, and I had not pitched in a single game,” Arkenburg lamented. “My brain could not begin to comprehend ‘Why?’ I had been perfect while rehabbing, so why have I failed twice at returning from surgery?”

“Sometimes in life we fall into the ‘why me?’ mentality,” he reflected. “I know because I was there, but what I had failed to recognize is how much I had grown, how much my life improved because I started prioritizing the parts of my life that had previously been neglected. A complete 180-degree reversal of my life had unfolded right in front of me, but I failed to recognize it. I fell back in love with academia, will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and plan to attend medical school.”

A Life Lesson Compliments of Injury

The heroic journey often follows a crooked path and does not always end where expected or desired. Arkenburg as of this posting has yet to throw a single pitch of college baseball, but offered this wisdom:

“The single most important thing I learned throughout my injury journey is that we must be willing to let go of who we think we are, and surrender ourselves to the unknown, to find the unexplored parts of our being. Only by losing ourselves in the journey can we discover the truth of who we are and what we are capable of becoming.”

That’s psychological flexibility.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.