Blog Post #4 – How do sports benefit people?

Hello everybody! In this post, I will explore and learn more about the second sub-topic of my inquiry question which will be about mental health and mindset. What are the common benefits and drawbacks that playing a sport can have on someone? What are ways that could help the negativity of athletes? How does engagement in sports reduce stress levels and promoting overall mental health? One additional question I would like to delve into is the difference between playing a sport and doing an exercise. In the last subtopic, a lot of websites talked about exercise. When I specifically search and looked into websites that focused more on sports, there was a slight difference in what type of information they gave, even if it was on the same topic.

Benefits of playing a sport

Sports and exercise tires the body, which clear your mind and focuses on what you are doing in that moment. In that state of mind, the ability to be present and not think about any unnecessary thoughts is augmented, decreasing negative thoughts in general. Being involved in sports typically means many practices, games and time commitment. Having these responsibilities for only doing a sport keep teens away from doing worthless things such as joining in on risky actions, drug use, or spending hours on social media. Without much thought, people who are involved with sports naturally learn and develop life skills and values such as confidence, communication, resilience, responsibility, time and teamwork. Sports strengthen the growth mindset to achieve things over a period while decreasing the expectancy of instant results. Having a growth mindset helps frustration tolerance, which can be very useful when confronting similar situations in life. (1)

Drawbacks of playing a sport

While playing a sport is generally good for you, there is no such thing as a sport that you can excel in with no pain, mentally or physically. Athletes suffer and would go through any harsh training that would lead them to victory.  A 2016 study found that college athletes were struggling with similar symptoms of depression as the general student population. Even though people may suffer mentally, many wouldn’t seek for help as athletes think of themselves as tough, making them deal with their problems themselves. Stress is also common as high expectations, outperforming others, and the view of their self-identity are thoughts that people cannot get away from. The state of mind that you are in can greatly affect your performance. If your mind is filled with many thoughts, no matter good or bad, you would lose focus and be distracted. An overly distracted mind could lead to small consequences such as losing points, or poor performance overall, but for some sports, it could be a big issue such as getting injuries or bringing a group of people down (team sports). (2)

Solutions for Drawbacks

Here are some ways that athletes can help their mental health:

Focus On What You Need to Do

Everyone focuses on what’s coming by, such as competitions, but for some, the stress could be much worse. Felgenauer (2021) states it’s better removing the competition or event as your output, and focus more on what your body needs to be the best version of yourself. Whether that includes getting better sleep, eating nutritiously, and or injury prevention practice like stretching or rest days.

Setting Logical Goals

Many people want to become the greatest player or person in their sport. For someone that is doing their sport for something like a high school, they still have plenty of time to improve in their sport. It is unreasonable for someone to have their only goal as to be the best player ever, as that is very unrealistic. Even professionals don’t have that goal. Instead, it is better to have multiple goals you know you can achieve over time. That way, you could have multiple achievements that could eventually lead you to accomplishing your ultimate goal (G.O.A.T. of your sport!)

Remembering Why You Started Your Sport

As you play your sport more and more, it gets more complicated as you practice more, and have to deal with harder obstacles. When you first start doing something, you genuinely were curious and wanted to try that thing out for fun. As you get better and better at what you are doing, you need to put in more time to get real progress. You would need dedication, but in the end, it all pays off. Remember that you starting playing your sport not because of all the competitions and awards you get, but that you really love your sport. (3)

How does engagement in sports reduce stress levels and promoting overall mental health?

Physical activity lowers the body’s stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. This reduction helps to decrease overall stress levels and promotes a sense of relaxation. It boosts the production of endorphins, neurotransmitters that enhance mood and provide a natural feeling of euphoria. Overall, engaging in sports increases rational functions of the body such as memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. It can also increase sleep patterns and sleep quality, that can reduce the chances of sleep disorders. (4)

Exercise vs Sports

Sports is exercise since you are burning calories, but there is a slight difference. Sports focus on an outcome outside of the body, exercise focuses on an outcome inside the body. In sports, there are set rules and you have opponents. For example, in hockey what matters is which team has more goals at the end of 3rd period. For running, swimming, and speed skating, what matters is how fast you are compared to other competitors. The main goal for everyone isn’t on what your body is doing, only on performing your best. Exercise focuses on your physical health and functions. You do exercises that will the well-being of your body. (5)

1. https://www.ahchealthenews.com/2024/04/01/mental-health-benefits-team-sports/
2. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/mental-health-in-athletes
3. https://www.trine.edu/academics/centers/center-for-sports-studies/blog/2023/how_athletes_can_maintain_good_mental_health.aspx
4. https://health.gov/news/202112/physical-activity-good-mind-and-body
5. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sports-exercise-glen-owen