Gymnastics and Mental Health Essay Example

Elite gymnastics is an ever evolving sport. Throughout history, abuse has been integrated into coaching methods, as previously it was the most efficient way to produce young, successful, and hard working athletes that put all their effort towards winning. Over the previous decades, more research has been put towards researching mental health. Through these scientific discoveries, medical professionals have noticed that gymnastics has issues that are deeply rooted in its culture. 

Mental abuse affects gymnasts of all ages and levels, therefore, to improve the culture in gymnastics as well as the mental health of current and future gymnasts, coaching should be developed to support the gymnast’s mental health, which will subsequently improve their athletic abilities. 

Mental health should be prioritized in current coaching tactics by understanding the impacts of competitive stress. Competitive stress is defined as “negative emotions, feelings, and thoughts that one might have with respect to their [athletic] experience such as feelings of apprehension, anxiety,... nervousness,... thoughts centered on worry and self-doubt, and negative statements”  (Scanlan, Stein, and Ravizza, 1991, p. 105). This definition states that competitive stress not only impacts the mental health of a gymnast, but it also impacts their physical health,  which can lead to many consequences as it can cause mental distress as well as injuries. The effects of competitive stress are extremely common in gymnastics. Another sports psychologist stated that with a relaxed mindset whilst training, the gymnast can train more effectively, become more concentrated, and put more energy towards the perfection of skills, (Kubistant, 1986 p. 126), which are aspects that can help improve a gymnasts abilities. 

Although not having stressful training sessions can help a gymnast improve and focus on the skills at hand. Some coaches believe that competitive stress is an important component in gymnastics. In which they would not be wrong. A study by Allison McDavitt titled ‘Psychological Aspects of Gymnastics as Perceived by Athletic Trainers’ published in 2016 found that young gymnasts can improve when presented by a range of competitive stressors. These stressors can vary by intensity, and can derive from the pressure to succeed or even by feeling embarrassed due to poor performance. Injuries and other setbacks are also common stressors within gymnastics. (McDavitt, 2016). This study does give a true perspective on the positive effects of competitive stress, it indeed is true that a justifiable amount of competitive stress can improve a gymnast's performance. 

Nevertheless,  an excess of this stress can only hurt a gymnast. “Athletes are revered for their physical attributes, such as strength, speed and stamina…to cope with the demands of elite sport. British gymnasts suggest that this relentless culture leaves athletes with little choice other than to…do whatever it takes in pursuit of success – ideas often instilled from a young age.”(Kavanagh, A. Adams, A. Adams, 2020) This quote, paraphrased from an ex-gymnast shows how competitive stress can allow for a gymnast to go to measures that can only hurt them in the sport, if coaching methods were developed to better the mental health for these gymnasts, there as a result would be less stress caused by comparisons and competition, resulting in less injuries for these young elite gymnasts, as well as happier and healthy training sessions.

In gymnastics, mental strength or fitness, is commonly said to be a component or skill that many high level gymnasts possess. Though this idea is commonly abused and overused by coaches, allowing coaches the chance to mentally abuse and dictate a gymnasts every action throughout their career. (Kavanagh, A. Adams, A. Adams, 2020)  (Michael De Hoog, 2021) Coaches should better understand the true definition for mental fitness and a gymnast's limits to aid in helping a young athlete's mental health rather than using this strength to manipulate and force young gymnasts towards mental issues and injury. 

In the words of Jennifer Sey, gymnasts are “conditioned to accept any and all treatment,” most young teenagers would not be able to stretch to a point of injury, be denied food, or physically and mentally beaten down. Gymnasts, over training for many years, develop this special talent, to unknowingly endure abusive practices, through the strength of mental toughness. USAG.org states that mental fitness “is the combined associations of ‘mental health’ and ‘physical fitness’”(USAG, Mental toughness, 2020) They explain the idea of mental fitness for gymnast as a “sliding scale”, “At points in our lives we will experience good mental fitness - our thought processes will be clear,...and we are resilient and able to cope with life’s challenges and adversity. At other points each of us will experience poor mental fitness – we may struggle with relationships, stressors or decision making,...we may struggle with a diagnosable mental health condition such as depression, stress or anxiety. Just like physical fitness though, we can promote and improve our mental fitness through consistent and intentional training.” (USAG, Mental Toughness, 2020)  Also said in a separate article by Micheal De Hoog, where high-level ex-gymnast were surveyed, almost all gymnasts, due to ‘mental fitness’ , have endured some version of abuse either physically or mentally.

While some say that mental fittness can lead to coaches abusing the power, and therefore ‘menatl fittness’ can be a gateway for ‘legal child abuse’ practices, mental fittness can also allow gymnast to have more mental strength and perserverance. Allison McDavitt, stated that gaining mental strength, will not only allow a gymnast to be more resilient during practice, but also it can help them be more successful in their daily lives (McDavitt 2016).  Karen Cogan, a senior sports psychologist at USAG.org, states that, “Having this mentally tough psychological edge can help you to cope more effectively with the troublesome, difficult, and negative aspects of competitive sport and can enable you to successfully adapt to demanding, challenging, and positive competitive situations as well.” (Karen Cogan, PHD)  She explains that gymnastics and mental toughness, brought on by my mental training, specifically can help support gymnasts' mental health during training as well as their mental health later in life. 

Although gymnastics does support the development of mental toughness, this idea of mental toughness can be taken too far and lead to young athletes enduring mental and physical abuse, brought on by the power of abusive parents and coaches. These people who are very influential in a young gymnasts life, can easily take advantage of this power, to an extent, and therefore force gymnasts to do things they may not want to do. “In the wake of Nassar’s arrest and trial, many current and former gymnasts were clear that his actions were part of something bigger: a widespread culture of physical and emotional abuse in the sport.” (Vox, 2021).  “The result: many gymnasts lead depressing, monotonous, isolated lives, leading to psychological damage that persists long after their careers are over.” (The Conversation, 2021). These two quotes from Vox as well as The Conversation, clearly demonstrate the effects that too much mental strength can have. Simone Biles has experienced much abuse throughout her career including abuse from Larry Nassar when she was just 13,  this was due in part to the ‘mental toughness’ she had gained, and therefore she endured abuse from those who were close to her. “from the coach’s perspective: a younger athlete usually means a more obedient athlete. She may not be practice-happy, but she practices.”(The Correspondent, 2020) Due to the abuse being driven by the power that parents, coaches and doctors have on a young gymnast's career, an excess of mental toughness or resilience can allow these people resort to abuse, with a plethora of different motives. Therefore, mental toughness should be teached and used in gymnastics, just not to an extent that people can take advantage of it. 

Abusive methods in gymnastics have recently been thoroughly researched. Researchers at Purdue University stated that gymnastics is a sport that is characterized by demanding competition, constant judging, and comparisons between individual athletes. They also state that the competitive environment can be overwhelming for young athletes. (Joan L. Duda, Ph.D. Lori Gano-Overway, M.S. Purdue University) These factors are some of the reasons that gymnastics is said to be an abusive sport. An access to competitive stress and mental toughness in gymnastics allows for this mental abuse. As long as there is immediate change in coaching techniques, as well as gymnastics culture gymnastics. Gymnasts can, and will be able to improve their skills, as well as thrive as individual people.