Maintaining Identity During Return to Sport
For an athlete, injury doesn’t just take away playing time, it can threaten identity. Over the past two months I have met, and been contacted, by a number of parents and coaches who were worried about an athlete/child’s return to sport. Major injuries, such as ACL tears and rotator cuff tears are happening earlier and earlier. With major injuries that take time to rehab before a return to sport, there are a number of considerations relating to identity and purpose that need to be addressed.
Training schedules disappear. Team roles shift. Daily structure collapses. And for many athletes, the question quietly creeps in:
Who am I if I’m not competing right now?
Return-to-sport is not just a physical process. It’s a psychological and identity-based challenge. Athletes who return strongest aren’t just the ones who heal well—they’re the ones who maintain purpose during the in-between. To answer all the coaches and parents who have reached out to me, I wanted to take time to put thought into this post and give the best tips I can to help athletes return to sport with the best chance of success possible.
Here’s how to do that.
1. Staying Part of the Team (Even When You Can’t Contribute Physically)
Isolation is one of the biggest threats during injury. Couple isolation with an abrupt stop to physical activity and the brain can start to mimic symptoms of depression that should be addressed early on. These feelings can be talked through, journaled, and challenged directly but there are also ways to stay active and connected to catch the brain before it even begins.
Athletes often pull away and self-isolate because:
They feel guilty not contributing
They don’t want to be seen as weak
They don’t know where they fit anymore
They feel like they are dragging the team down
But identity is reinforced through belonging, not performance. The athlete cares about their team and its performance and might only see contribution through physical acts during training and games. But there is more that can be done that allows the athlete to continue contributing to the success of their team.
Staying connected and contributing might mean:
Attending practices or meetings when possible and cheering teammates on from the sidelines
Helping with film breakdown or scouting
Supporting teammates during training or competition
Simply staying present in the team environment
Being a future mentor to other athletes dealing with injury
You are still a part of the team eventhough your role looks different for now. There are still ways to contribute, it might just take some time to get into the flow of your new position. Think of it as a similar experience to when you first showed up to the team. Learning the left and right limits of your new role, what works and doesn’t work, and how you best fit in the scheme of things takes time. The only difference this time around is that you already have strong relationships on the team with your teammates that you can use to build upon.
Athletes who stay connected return with:
Stronger confidence
Better sport awareness
A smoother transition back into competition
Deeper connection with teammates
You’re not out of the game, you’re in a different phase of contribution.
2. Use Visualization to Maintain Sport IQ and Competitive Readiness
Your body may be limited. Your brain is not. There is a lot you can do to maintain your field awareness and sport IQ. Visualization is one of the most underused tools in return-to-sport—and one of the most powerful. You can perform it anywhere and you can easily tie it in when you are watching the game from the sidelines.
Effective sport-specific visualization helps athletes:
Maintain timing and decision-making
Rehearse reads, reactions, and game flow
Stay mentally sharp within their system or position
Complete mental repetitions of new plays so that neural pathways are developed and physical learning time is shortened
This isn’t passive imagination. It’s active mental rehearsal.
Here is something you can try:
Visualize full-speed reps from a first-person perspective
Visualize half speed repetitions from an external perspective where you are able to walk around the players to see the whole field, lanes, and options available
Walk through tactical decisions and reads
Mentally rehearse calm responses to high-pressure moments
Push focus to its limits by breaking every momvement down to individual biomechanics, learning how the body can move to support plays
Research consistently shows that the brain activates similar neural pathways during visualization as during physical execution. In other words:
You’re still training, just through a different channel. This was one of the things that first drew me to sport psychology, understanding the power of the mind even when physical repetitions are not an option.
3. Do What You Can, Not What You Can’t
One of the most damaging patterns during recovery is obsessive comparison to your past self or to teammates who are progressing normally. This mindset traps athletes in frustration and gives more power to tasks that can’t be performed, rather than to things that can be performed and can help the return to sport process. A better approach is simple, but not easy:
Control what is controllable.
Ah yes, Stoicism returns again. But this is an important fact that can change your outlook, mindset, and mental well-being during your return to sport process.
Ask yourself daily:
What can I train today?
What can I learn today?
How can I show discipline and effort within my current limits?
This may include:
Upper-body or unilateral training
Mobility and rehab done with intent
Mental skills work
Film study and tactical learning
Reviewing the play book
Progress doesn’t stop, it shifts. There is still opportunity to progress, sometimes it looks different and sometimes you need to be creative. The athletes who commit fully to what is available return more confident, more resilient, and more disciplined than before.
Before you start each day, try Dr. Tyler’s 3-Step Check-In, you can learn more about it here. Knowing where your mind is, how your body feels, and setting a goal for each day is going to set you up for success.
4. Acceptance Without Quitting: ACT Principles in Performance Language
(For Athletes, Coaches, and Parents)
Acceptance of your injury or situation does not mean lowering standards. It means stopping the fight with reality so energy can be redirected into performance-relevant action. You can push against a mountain all day, but it wont change the fact that it is a mountain. It would probably be better to just walk up it.
This is the foundation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and when applied correctly, it fits sport extremely well, particularly return to sport situations and scenarios.
Below is how ACT principles translate directly into coaching and parenting language. I will work through the ACT approach while also giving a performance translation to how it relates to the return to sport situation for the athlete, while also giving tips to coaches and parents who are supporting an athlete during this difficult transition.
1. Acceptance → “Name the Situation Clearly”
ACT Principle: Accept what is present without resistance.
Performance Translation:
“This is where you are right now.”
“We don’t like it, but we don’t argue with it.”
“Energy spent wishing it were different is energy stolen from progress.”
“Coming to terms with an injury means that I am aware of my starting point.”
For coaches and parents:
Avoid minimizing (“It’s not that bad”) or catastrophizing (“This is terrible”). It would also be important to be aware of your facial impressions and body language when discussing the injury with your athlete.
Model calm acknowledgment of the situation.
Normalize frustration without feeding it.
Re-phrase the situation with a growth perspective.
Acceptance stabilizes the athlete emotionally so learning and discipline can resume.
2. Cognitive Defusion → “Thoughts Are Not Commands”
ACT Principle: Create distance from unhelpful thoughts.
Common injured-athlete thoughts:
“I’m falling behind.”
“I’m useless right now.”
“I’m losing my spot.”
Performance Translation:
“That’s a thought, not a fact.”
“You don’t have to obey every thought that shows up.”
“Notice it, label it, refocus.”
“I will give this thought 30 seconds to work through it, then I am letting it go and moving forward anyways.”
For coaches and parents:
Don’t argue with the thought, redirect behavior.
Ask: “What’s the next best action right now?”
Encourage journaling out throughts and feelings.
Mental toughness isn’t eliminating negative thoughts. It’s not letting them drive behavior. Negative thoughts and feelings about a major injury are normal, NORMAL, and everyone goes through it. You can acknowledge the thoughts and feelings without acting and that is a powerful ability that you have to control your destiny.
3. Values → “Who Are You Being, Not Just What Are You Doing?”
ACT Principle: Anchor identity in values, not outcomes.
Performance Translation:
“What kind of teammate are you right now?”
“What does discipline look like today?”
“How do leaders behave when they can’t compete?”
“How do I want to be rememebered when my time is over on this team?”
For coaches and parents:
Praise effort, presence, and commitment, not just physical progress.
Reinforce identity traits that transcend injury.
Athletes who stay value-driven maintain identity, even when performance is paused. Values transcend sport and build foundations for living a life of action. Highlighting the value-focused approach can give purpose to your athlete each day.
4. Committed Action → “Do the Work That’s Available”
ACT Principle: Take purposeful action within constraints.
Performance Translation:
“We train what we can train.”
“Perfect effort, imperfect conditions.”
“Small wins stack.”
For coaches and parents:
Help structure daily controllables.
Hold athletes accountable to effort, not outcomes.
Check on, not just check in. Have the conversations, not just a high five in passing.
Be active in developing plans together.
Commitment is behavior, not emotion.
5. Psychological Flexibility → “Adapt Without Losing Standards”
ACT Principle: Stay flexible while remaining disciplined.
Performance Translation:
“The plan changed, the standard didn’t.”
“Different work, same intent.”
“You’re not behind, you’re building differently.”
“One door shuts, what other options do I have?”
For Coaches and Parents:
Movement initiates movement. We are never in the same place as we were before, so look for the options available.
Time and distance create new perspectives.
Forward momentum is key, have options available.
This is where resilient athletes separate themselves from regular athletes.
They don’t wait to feel ready. They don’t need confidence first. They act in alignment to their values and confidence follows. Keep moving forward
Recovery Is a Chapter, Not the Story, and Certainly Not the Conclusion
Injury can either shrink an athlete’s identity or refine it. It is up to the athlete to make the decision on what it will be. Sadly, as much as parents love their children, and coaches care for their athletes, the final decision to act will be on the athlete. The best thing coaches and parents can do is be supportive and make sure the athlete knows the options available. Never stop being supportive so that the athlete can make the decision to act.
Athletes who maintain purpose during recovery:
Return more mentally prepared
Handle pressure better
Trust themselves sooner
Lead more effectively
Maintain stronger relationships with their teammates.
You are still an athlete. You are still part of something bigger. This season, if handled well, can strengthen you in ways competition never could and because of that you will be a better leader, teammate, athlete, and all around person.
At Peregrine Rising Mental Performance, we train athletes not just to return, but to return grounded, disciplined, and mentally ready. We have seen a number of athletes go from return-to-sport to returnED-to-sport with great success. The key is to be active and to have an excellent support structure in place. It takes a team to return-to-sport, but it can be done.
Sport doesn’t just test the body. It reveals the person underneath.
If you are interested in working with Dr. Tyler for mental performance training, or you would like to discuss how mental performance training can assist in return to sport, please fill out the contact form on our main page HERE.
~ Dr. Tyler