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as a Powerful Coping Tool in Sports: Insights from Recent Research FAITH In the world of sports, where athletes face intense pressure, compe tition, and the constant demand for peak performance, one’s faith has the power to serve as a valuable coping tool. Whether it is faith that the Lord is in control, one’s personal walk, or religious prac tices, faith has been shown to positively impact athletes’ mental and emotional well-being. comes sharpened when their faith is presented as a tool toward pur pose. This article explores current research focusing on five ways faith can be harnessed as a coping mechanism in sports.

1. Enhanced Resilience in the Face of Adversity. Recent research by Smith et al. (2021) highlights the positive correlation between an athlete’s faith and resilience in facing challenges. 1 Athletes who draw on their faith often demonstrate higher levels of psychological resilience, enabling them to bounce back from setbacks, injuries, or performance slumps. This resilience can be attributed to the belief that challenges are part of a larger purpose, fostering a more opti mistic mindset.

As we begin to dive deeper into the field of sport and perfor mance psychology, consultants are constantly seeking tools to use with their clients to increase a stronger mental state. Within the Center for Sport and Performance Psychology at California Baptist University, we find it is the student-athlete’s mental state that be

ED GARRETT, PSY.D., BCMHC

GAME ON : A NEWSLETTER OF THE SPORT AND PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY DIVISION

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