Staying Sane Without Sports

Written by Jeremy Schumacher, Mental Wellness Coach

These are unprecedented times. For many of us, we have rarely, if ever, taken a break from sports. Even in our offseason, we have team workouts and captains’ practices and we get to watch other sports. Even when dealing with injuries, we have our team supporting us, and we still have competitions and gameday rituals to look forward to. But now; no practice, no competition, no pro sports to watch and no team workouts.

On top of that, we may have concerns about a new style of learning, a loss of a job has us reeling on how we will pay our rent or for next years textbooks, and then we have to worry about our own health and the physical well-being of our loved ones. We have a 24-hour news cycle telling us all the things wrong in the world, with minute-by-minute updates. 

It can easily feel overwhelming.

And for many of us, sports have often been our safe haven. Sports make sense. The feeling of success after a big win, the good sweat we feel after a hard workout and the sense of family we get from being with our team. So, how do we stay sane when there is so much stress, and we don’t have access to one of our healthiest outlets?

Here are a few pointers to help get through these tough times.

1. Set a schedule: A huge part of being in sport is simply the time we devote to it. A couple of hours of practice, weightlifting and conditioning, then studying film or a scouting report can easily add up to nearly half of our waking hours. Missing out on all of that opens up a lot of time in our schedule. Having a set schedule will help our body stay in a groove, which allows our mind to function better. Our bodies like to run on a set time frame. Knowing when our body will be getting energy (eating), expending energy (exercise) and resting helps our brain be congruent with our body, and that consistency provides a baseline that helps manage our stress levels. Having our time scheduled helps keep us accountable as well, whether in keeping up with homework or not skipping out on conditioning. Pro tip: Schedule time with your teammates, so that both you and they can benefit from the structured time.

2. Control your controllables: You don’t have control over a global pandemic. You aren’t in control of how elected officials are handling the pandemic. You don’t get to control when we can compete again. It is certainly tempting for our brains to get caught up on the latest soundbite, or to get stuck on a particular emotion like frustration about being away from friends. But when we focus on things that aren’t in our control, our anxiety goes up and our overall mood goes down. Setting small goals around things that we have control over helps to ease our brain’s concerns about things we cannot control. If we stay focused on what we do have control over, we have a greater sense of accomplishment and stay motivated to keep getting more things done. So, set a goal to do the laundry. Stick to your workouts. Make sure to text a teammate. All these things improve our mood and help us manage the other stressors in our lives. 

3. Take a brain break: It is easy to feel overloaded in our 24/7 society. Our social media feeds are filled with bits of news or political commentary. Our class schedules may not allow us much time from one Zoom meeting to the next. Our siblings or parents might regularly interrupt because they feel that since we are home, then we must be available. With our sports, we could maybe power through some of these things, knowing we have a practice or game to just step away from our stress and focus on something we love. But without sports, it is imperative that we take some time to turn our brains off and just be. That can be a specific stress-relieving activity (yoga, mindful breathing, coloring, playing music) or structured time for feel-good activities like watching a show, playing video games or reading for fun. Having this time built into our schedules makes it less likely that we will skip it and helps our brain function more efficiently so whatever time we take on a break, we get it back by being more efficient when we return to our work. One major caveat I add to this: make sure your stress relief is actually relieving your stress. Scrolling through social media feeds might feel like taking a break, but if seeing Aunt Karen’s latest rant stresses us out, then it isn’t actually stress relief. Mindlessly binging six hours of a show probably provides less stress relief than if we plan time to watch an episode or two as a study break or reward for finishing a project.

4. Be a student of the game: I think most athletes would say competition is their favorite thing about sports. There is just always something special about gameday. But without competition or team practice, we have a lot of time to learn the game in a different way. Watching film is a hugely important tool to learn what we can improve, but the time we have now also allows us to watch film of our favorite pros, or to rewatch old games not for the final score, but to really learn from someone who’s game is similar to our own. Watch interviews of coaches or athletes talking about the game, what their thought process is, or read an autobiography to learn more about gameday routines or mental tricks that our favorite athletes use on a regular basis. Don’t be afraid to ask your coaches questions. Coaches are sports junkies and are missing planning practices and analyzing film. They would love to help you improve the mental aspect of your game.

5. Stay connected: We are all going through the same thing right now. Some of us might like online learning more than others and some of us might get along with our families more than most, but we are all dealing with our daily lives being upended and having to take time away from our sports and our teams. Reaching out helps you to feel connected and talking with our teammates, our friends, and our classmates helps to normalize what might be driving us crazy. A small word of kindness or a funny meme that brings back good memories could really change the course of a teammate’s day. Being active in group chats, staying in touch on social media, taking time to talk with recruits, all help you to feel connected to something bigger than yourself and help you feel like you are building towards a better future. 

Ultimately, this too shall pass. We’ll get the okay to return to school and to have competitions again. Making healthy choices during this time will help us return to form sooner rather than later and every unique challenge life throws at us is an opportunity for growth and learning. Follow the experts' guidelines for staying healthy. Stay in touch with friends and family, and ask for help when you need it. We’re all in this together.