One of the greatest athletes of all time is the U.S.. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and he shared this quote that I really like, “We all want to be the best versions of ourselves. And talking to a therapist, being vulnerable, opening up about what you’re dealing with, it only helps. Nobody can deal with life all alone.” Whether it’s from all of the homework and studying and the three classes everyday, and then also trying to have a social life. At the end of all of this you feel like I have no time for yourself and you can’t just relax and have that time to just be with you and your thoughts. But then for me as a college student and then a college athlete on top of that, that little time where I would have for myself is now taken away for me to go to practice, lift, rehab, and team mandatory events. So it makes those days where you’re not playing well at practice or for me a golfer a bad tournament it makes everything feel ten times worse.
As a college student you have those days where you have way too much going on and we just feel like doing anything and shutting down. So for those who don’t know too much about golf, it is a sport where you have to be super mentally strong compared to other sports. I am not saying that you don’t have to be mentally strong to play other sports, but for golf if you have to be so much stronger mentally than others. The reason I say that is because unlike other sports you don’t have a coach or teammates to help you out if you are struggling that day. So since you and just you out there you have to sit there and listen to yourself if you are having negative thoughts and it’s hard to turn around your play that day. So if you can be positive and have a short memory if you have a bad shot or bad hole it can help you out so much.
For me as a golfer I will be totally honest and say that the worst part of my golf game actually has nothing to do with my golf swing, the worst part for me is my mental game. I have had times in tournaments or practices where I had moments that I just let it get to me and affect me the rest of that round or practice, and this is a domino effect to everything else that I do in the rest of my life. In my second semester of my sophomore year I was having a tough time mentally as it was with all my classes and work, and then on top of that I was really struggling with my golf game. I had moments where I thought no one could beat me, and then days where it looked like I had no idea what I was doing. Those days where I looked like I had no idea what I was doing overpowered the good day, and it really took a toll on my mental health. There were times where I wanted to quit and not pursue the sport I grew up playing and is the reason I am the person I am today. At the end of the day I am glad I overcame those struggles and am still playing my favorite sport on planet Earth.
I have had tournaments where I have not played to my standards of golf and this has led to me being super frustrated and taking a toll on my classes and my work.I know I am not the only college student athlete that goes through this each year or just on a daily basis. It’s hard balancing your school life, your sport, and also trying to be with your friends a little bit during the week. But as a college student athlete, I found that if you are going through things mentally it is really good to just talk to people. Whether it’s friends, family, coaches, professors, or a specialist, it is really good to talk to someone about what’s going on no matter who it is. I had this same issue last year where I kept to myself and would not talk to anyone about what was going on in my life and it took a toll on me just holding everything in, and then one weekend it just all came out at once after a bad tournament. As someone who is a student athlete and struggled with their mental health, I will say don’t take it lightly and use the resources that are provided for you to look after yourself and to help better your mental health. Whether that is going to someone you trust to talk to, or going on walks by yourself or with a friend. Just as long as you’re doing things that you enjoy to keep you busy if that’s hanging out with friends, practice, being in a major you enjoy doing the work for. I hope at the end of reading this you will take care of your mental health if you ever struggle with it no matter if you are an athlete or not, everyone’s mental health is important.
