Literary Review

Sports Medicine Athletic Trainer Relationship With Athletes

There are two types of Athletic Training; One is seen as a coach instructing or teaching an
exercise, and the other is inury prevention and reha!ilitation" The latter is otherwise #now as Sports
Medicine, which is i$portant to !oth athletes and the sports the$selves due to the fact that the
professionals in this field are in charge of the safety of the sport and the over all health of athletes"
There are $any ways in which sports $edicine has evolved over the years, and this field continues to
find new and !etter ways to #eep athletes safe and healthy in their sport" %reviously, sports $edicine
did not re&uire as $uch $edical involve$ent or #nowledge as it does today '(elforge )*" The addition
of $edical involve$ent to the field of inury prevention and reha!ilitation has helped it earn the official
na$e +Sports Medicine," This field has co$e a long way fro$ where it started" -urrently, it is re&uired
for all sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels to have Athletic Trainers on staff
and present at practices and co$petitions as $andated !y the .ational Athletic Trainers Association
'.ATA*" Athletic Training has expanded and seen tre$endous success as $ore $edical experience and
involve$ent has !een incorporated" The Sports Medicine athletic trainers wor# with athletes to not
only educate the$ on proper and safe sport techni&ues for preventing inuries, !ut they also evaluate
inuries after they occur and create a recovery progra$ for the athlete/s reha!ilitation, in addition to
explaining the inury and recovery process to the athlete" 0t is critical to the inured athlete and their
recovery for the athletic trainer to create a good relationship !etween the$" When trainers go out of the
way to for$ personal relationships, trust, and show they care a!out the athlete, the athlete tends to !e
$ore receptive to the recovery progra$ they are given"
The field of Sports Medicine Athletic Training speciali1es in helping athletes regain full health
and strength, in addition to creating ways to prevent an inury fro$ ever occurring" 0n order for the
trainer to help an athlete recover, there has to !e a sense of trust !etween the two individuals" 2or
exa$ple, the athlete $ust trust that the trainer #nows what they are doing and will get the$ !ac# out to
practice and co$petition as soon as possi!le" +Argua!ly, the #ey factor influencing the effectiveness
of the reha!ilitation process is the inured athletes/ co$$it$ent to their progra$ and the a!ility of the
3Athletic Training -oaches4 to enhance that co$$it$ent, '-raig )*" Aside fro$ the actual
reha!ilitation treat$ent, !oth the athlete and the trainer need to understand one another and !e willing
and co$$itted to the process in order for the recovery to !e successful" Athletes can place trust in their
trainers as a result of the copious years of research and develop$ent that have !een dedicated to this
profession" Additionally, the trainers have i$ple$ented these $ethods and had success in aiding in the
recovery of nu$erous athletic inuries in the past" The $ethods trainers use in this field vary according
to each uni&ue athlete and inury" 5ach and every inury and athlete are different there for the need for
trainers to get to #now the athlete and create specific recovery progra$s is essential" This is one way in
which Sports Medicine continues to i$prove on old $ethods" There is always a need to !etter and
create specific inury recovery and prevention $ethods"
This continuation of advance$ent and i$prove$ent in Sports Medicine is carried out in $any
ways" One of which includes conducting studies of the trainers in the profession" An exa$ple of a study
conducted for i$prove$ent in the field is a &uestionnaire that was given to athletic trainers" The
&uestionnaire assessed the $ental attitudes and udg$ents trainers have and if that has an affect on the
presu$ed inury reha!ilitation" This su!ect is i$portant !ecause attitudes affect the actions of how an
athlete will go a!out doing what the trainer suggest" +The &uestionnaire consisted of sixty state$ents
that were categori1ed into seven scales6 Athletic trainers influence, environ$ental influence, athletes
personality, pain tolerance, self $otivation, goals and incentives and significant others, '-raig )*"
7uestionnaire studies li#e this help the profession evaluate areas that need i$prove$ent and
contri!utes in the continual evolution and advance$ent in Athletic training" The health and
$aintenance of an athletes !ody is a crucial role in their sport perfor$ance" Sports $edicine
professionals not only wor# with the physical athlete !ut also with every sport and all the sport
enco$passes"
Athletic trainers not only deal with the inury prevention and reha!ilitation, they also loo# at the
safety and standards of the sport and the environ$ent it is held in" 8efore the .ational Athletic Trainers
Association '.ATA* created safety regulations of sports, there was not anything to stop a sport fro$
playing in unsafe conditions" This is a another for$ of the relationship that should !e for$ed !etween
the athlete and trainer" 0n having to ta#e care of the safety of sport conditions and such, it show the
athlete the trainer cares a!ut their safety" %rofessionals, in the continual advance$ent of this field,
figured out that not only can the athlete inure its self !e an !ut the environ$ent can play a !ig factor in
the cause of an inury"
While although these professionals use $ethods that are the $ost up to date and efficient ways
of dealing with inury9s, there is a lac# of advance$ent in the personal relationships" The %ersonal
relationship will ulti$ately $a#e or !rea# the trust an athlete will have for a recovery or prevention
progra$" 0n Athletic Training past, surveys have !een used to gather infor$ation on how trainers go
a!out their wor#" 0f a si$ilar survey or &uestionnaire a!out trainers personal relationships were given
out the results could !e evaluated to find a way to encourage these personal relationship with athletes to
ulti$ately !etter the recovery of an athlete" Athletic Trainers play an i$portant role in sports !ecause
they ta#e care of the athletes environ$ental, e$otional and physical !eing" The o!s of these trainers
have !eco$e greater in i$portance due to the reali1ation in how helpful they actually are in getting
players !ac# out to the ga$e" 8ecause of the wor# they do and the continual research, inury ris# and
over all health and safety of athletes continue to i$prove" When you add a !etter trainer:to:athlete
relationship to the $ix, trainers will !e a!le to provide the !est care for Athletes"
Works Cited
2isher, A" -raig, Sharon A" Mullins, and %atricia A" 2rye" "Athletic Trainers' Attitudes and
Judgments of Injured Athletes' Rehabilitation Adherence." ;ournal of athletic training <=")
')>>?*6 We!" <@ March <A)B
Cary (" (elforge, and Ro!ert S" 8ehn#e" "The History and Evolution of Athletic Training Education
in the nited !tates." ;ournal of Athletic Training ?B") ')>>>*6 D?" We!" <@ March <A)B
(ouglas ;" -asa, Lawrence 5" Ar$strong, Susan E" Fill$an, Scott ;" Montain, Ralph G" Reiff, 8rent S"
5" Rich, Willia$ O" Ro!erts, and ;ennifer A" Stone" ""ational Athletic Trainers' Association
#osition !tatement$ %luid Re&lacement for Athletes." ;ournal of athletic training ?D"< '<AAA*6
<)<" We!" B April <A)B