Hugo Webster – Performance Psychologist

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The Sports Psych 500

Self-compassion: What it is and how it applies to sport

Self-compassion in Sport

Recently, researchers from Canada and Switzerland reviewed 69 studies that have investigated how self-compassion relates to sport.

The literature around self-compassion has grown significantly in the last few years. Athletes are more open to exploring self-compassion and are starting to see that it doesn’t lead to being complacent or soft. Researchers are starting to see the positive effects of self-compassion: it is associated with increased well-being, pursuit of excellence and overcoming of setbacks. On top of this, researchers have also found that self-compassion is related to less anxiety, depression, guilt, shame and self-criticism.

What is self-compassion?

Kristin Neff, a self-compassion guru and psychology researcher from Texas, defines self-compassion as treating yourself with the same kindness, concern and support you would give to your best friend. Often, we resort to harsh self-judgment rather than kindness after making a mistake, failing, or confronting our inadequacies – this is especially true for athletes who a striving to be the best.

What did the researchers find?

A common finding in the research was female athletes saying that they regard self-compassion as an essential resource to long term success, and that it could help female athletes reflect on their performance more accurately. This would then help them learn from past mistakes more effectively and better set expectations for future competitions.

Findings also included self-compassion being a competitive edge that could improve male athletes’ performance.

Interestingly, athletes tended to see a relationship between self-compassion and successful sport performances retrospectively. However, when measuring whether self-compassion increased performance on objective tasks, like a sprint or a time trial, researchers failed to see a relationship! I have a few thoughts on why this might be, but I’d be interested on hearing what yours are.

How can I apply this to my sport?

Researchers suggest that self-compassion might be most effective when used to deal with tough, negative thoughts and feelings that occur after an especially bad setback or loss.

A body image program call “Bodies in Motion” demonstrated how self-compassion can help female athletes view themselves and their bodies in terms of functionality, shared experiences, and the negative effects of self-criticism. https://doi.org/10.1037/spy0000211

Alternatively, you could incorporate self-compassion into your journalling, specifically when reflecting on recent negative events that have happened in competition or training, to help you manage self-criticism, overthinking and learning from mistakes. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.35.5.514

You can also role model this behaviour for others! Researchers have found that our levels of self-compassion can depend whether our teammates, coaches, parents, and sport psychs display and encourage self-compassion themselves.

Take aways

Placing harsh judgments on ourselves as athletes can seem productive when striving for excellence. But, as the research is starting to consistently show, opting for more self-compassion over self-criticism can increase both our wellbeing, and our performances.

Danielle L. Cormier, Kent C. Kowalski, Leah J. Ferguson, Amber D. Mosewich, Tara-Leigh F. McHugh & Philipp Röthlin (2023): Self-compassion in sport: a scoping review, International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2022.2161064