Kallista/Getty Images BROKEN BUT UNBOWED An X-ray of a fracture of the fifth metatarsal.In today’s Personal Best column, Gina Kolata writes about her own passion for running and why some athletes, including herself, stubbornly refuse to switch sports, even after repeat injuries.
At least one expert, recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine for this column, would say we stubborn athletes have a psychological problem. Our behavior, said the expert, Dr. Jon L. Schriner, an osteopath at the Michigan Center for Athletic Medicine, is “compulsive,” we let our egos get in the way, persisting beyond all reason.
But another expert recommended by the college, David B. Coppel, a clinical and sports psychologist at the University of Washington, has another perspective. There are several reasons some people find it hard to switch sports, he told me. Often, their friends do that sport, too; it is how these people identify themselves, part of their social life.
To learn more, read the full column, “When Repeat Injuries Can’t Dim an Athlete’s Passion,” and then please share your own experiences in the discussion below.