By incorporating a solid yoga practice into the weekly routines of competitive student-athletes, we can increase their performance by improving their body awareness, improving their focus, and improving their movement control. We can also improve their well being by decreasing their chance of injury, allowing them to relieve stress, and giving them the tools to improve their mental and emotional control.

Improve Body Awareness

The biggest challenge we face with youth athletes is lack of body awareness.

The breath is also a great place to start when teaching body awareness. It’s the foundation of all movement, and foundation is everything.

Incorporating breathing techniques and focus games into the youth athlete’s training regimen can slow down the breath, reduce stress, and increase awareness and clarity. The easiest of all techniques is to simply begin to breathe through the nose rather than the mouth. The greater resistance to airflow through the nasal passages compared to the mouth results in a naturally slower respiratory rate, which easily translates to a lower resting heart rate and quicker recovery, both mentally and physically.

Improve Focus

The second biggest challenge and we face with youth athletes is lack of focus.

Focus plays a large role in determining certain plays, calls, wins, and losses. Focus increases court/field awareness and sport IQ. It may encourage a volleyball player to read the opponent to determine where to block a hit. Or, it may center the mind of a basketball player at the free throw line and increase the chance of making the shot. As a player gets frustrated on the court/field, focus and intention will allow the athlete’s mind to regain control of the situation.

With yoga, athletes are encouraged to think in present tense, disregarding any failures that happened in the past or any game time in the future, focusing on the present situation and succeeding in the now.

Improve Movement Control

As athletes grow rapidly, self control and stability are questionable. Yoga provides stability and balance, which equates to enhanced movement control. As the athlete cultivates balance, they will have improved technique and form. This leads to a more efficient stroke for a swimmer, a more fluid golf or bat swing, a longer running stride and even an improved jump shot. 

Prevent Injury

No matter what sport they play, athletes are highly likely to push themselves physically, ignoring cues and signs of pain in the body.

A yoga practice will encourage a different level of body awareness. Yoga will encourage the athlete to listen to their body and note the difference between pain and discomfort. This will allow the athlete to prevent injury and possibly rehabilitate injury at a more appropriate pace. The yoga mat can offer a safe space for the athlete to remove their common competitive nature and receive a much needed mental break from the pressures of the playing field.

Relieve Stress

Not only do athletes have a high competitive drive and pain tolerance, they all seem to experience burnout, fear and depression (likely from loss of sport) at some point in their athletic careers. Transitioning from middle school to high school, or high school to college can be stressful for any student. However, research shows that athletes may experience greater levels of stress due to the demands of their parents and coaches. The combination of athletics and academics in general can be overwhelming, in any sport.

Many student-athletes also face uncertainty about the future. Which often spreads well into the adult years. Future uncertainty, such as uncertainty concerning post-collegiate careers and whether the time spent pursuing athletics will hurt career prospects, weighs heavily on choosing the right area of study. Juggling college sports and earning a degree can be very challenging. An athlete may want to pursue aerospace engineering, but is logistically unfeasible due to the nature of the team training schedule. When a high school senior is signing a scholarship contract with a University, they are quite possibly making a decision that will shape their entire future. The amount of pressure that puts on an 17 – 18 year old athlete can be extremely unhealthy.

It has been proven that yoga, athletics, and physical activity can serve as a stress reliever. If a student-athlete is experiencing stress with scheduling/time demands, loss of star status, grades, injuries, or the possibility of sitting the bench, it can be quite overwhelming to have all these stressors concurrently. The interaction of these multiple stressors presents a unique problem for the competitive student-athlete and can compromise total well-being.

Improve Mental and Emotional Control

Research shows that competitive student-athletes who experience high levels of stress are more likely to acquire poor health choices and habits, experience mental health issues, or suffer from low self esteem. In addition to mental health concerns, many student-athletes report physical health concerns that are not limited to injury. Common concerns include insomnia, tension headaches, fatigue, and digestive problems. In fact, studies have shown 10% of college athletes suffer from psychological and physiological problems that are severe enough to require counseling intervention. But, this number is likely much higher considering the fact that athletes tend to avoid seeking counseling out of fear of loss playing time.

Yoga, breathwork, and meditation are all tools athletes can use to navigate difficult times, restore the nervous and cardiovascular systems, and clear the mind in order to make better decisions.

How to Incorporate Yoga for athletes

Having a yoga practice will greatly benefit student-athletes in the long run. It is our responsibility as educators to teach athletes and their parents the importance of and reasons why a yoga practice will greatly benefit their total well being. It’s not just about the scholarship or the W.

We created a Recovery Guide to provide a clear blueprint for incorporating recovery methods (such as yoga, meditation, and breathwork) into into training depending on the athletic season (pre-season, in-season, post-season, and off-season).⁠

By following this guide, athletes will recover faster, move better, and improve their athletic performance.

Recovery Guide

When you’re ready to start incorporating sport-specific yoga, sign up for a 7-day free trial of YAX Online, choose your sport, select your athletic season, and hit play!

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