Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injury
This study explored professional wrestlers’ experiences of the consequences of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and their perception of whether the ACL injury could have been prevented. We interviewed 10 professional wrestlers (60% women, age range 21–34) treated with ACL reconstruction wi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2024-02-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001782.full |
| _version_ | 1797221851305345024 |
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| author | Andreas Ivarsson Eric Hamrin Senorski Kristian Samuelsson Martin Hägglund Hannah Karlsson Hans-Christer Holmberg Ramana Piussi Elin Nilsson |
| author_facet | Andreas Ivarsson Eric Hamrin Senorski Kristian Samuelsson Martin Hägglund Hannah Karlsson Hans-Christer Holmberg Ramana Piussi Elin Nilsson |
| author_sort | Andreas Ivarsson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study explored professional wrestlers’ experiences of the consequences of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and their perception of whether the ACL injury could have been prevented. We interviewed 10 professional wrestlers (60% women, age range 21–34) treated with ACL reconstruction with semistructured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis: One major theme, ‘Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch’, supported by five main categories, emerged from the collected data. The five main categories were: My ACL injury: bad luck or bad planning?; The way back: a fight to return to sport; Only performance counts; The injury’s impact on life: a wrestling with emotions; In hindsight, personal growth. Professional wrestlers who experienced an ACL injury expressed that not only the injury itself but also the subsequent recovery posed major challenges that they did not know how to deal with and that, in some cases, ended the athletes’ wrestling careers. Professional wrestlers attributed their ACL injuries to bad luck or large training loads and wished that they had more support from the wrestling community when injured. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:12:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a5175687be7442439f8bb7d89da38893 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2055-7647 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:12:00Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-a5175687be7442439f8bb7d89da388932024-04-05T04:25:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine2055-76472024-02-0110110.1136/bmjsem-2023-001782Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injuryAndreas Ivarsson0Eric Hamrin Senorski1Kristian Samuelsson2Martin Hägglund3Hannah Karlsson4Hans-Christer Holmberg5Ramana Piussi6Elin Nilsson7School of Health and Welfare, Halmstad University, Halmstad, SwedenSahlgrenska Sports Medicine Center, Gothenburg, SwedenSahlgrenska Sports Medicine Center, Gothenburg, SwedenSport Without Injury ProgrammE (SWIPE), Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, SwedenLund, SwedenSwedish Olympic Committee, Stockholm, SwedenSahlgrenska Sports Medicine Center, Gothenburg, SwedenLund, SwedenThis study explored professional wrestlers’ experiences of the consequences of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and their perception of whether the ACL injury could have been prevented. We interviewed 10 professional wrestlers (60% women, age range 21–34) treated with ACL reconstruction with semistructured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis: One major theme, ‘Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch’, supported by five main categories, emerged from the collected data. The five main categories were: My ACL injury: bad luck or bad planning?; The way back: a fight to return to sport; Only performance counts; The injury’s impact on life: a wrestling with emotions; In hindsight, personal growth. Professional wrestlers who experienced an ACL injury expressed that not only the injury itself but also the subsequent recovery posed major challenges that they did not know how to deal with and that, in some cases, ended the athletes’ wrestling careers. Professional wrestlers attributed their ACL injuries to bad luck or large training loads and wished that they had more support from the wrestling community when injured.https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001782.full |
| spellingShingle | Andreas Ivarsson Eric Hamrin Senorski Kristian Samuelsson Martin Hägglund Hannah Karlsson Hans-Christer Holmberg Ramana Piussi Elin Nilsson Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injury BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine |
| title | Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injury |
| title_full | Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injury |
| title_fullStr | Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injury |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injury |
| title_short | Wrestling with a ghost: facing an opponent I can neither see nor clinch – the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an ACL injury |
| title_sort | wrestling with a ghost facing an opponent i can neither see nor clinch the experience of professional wrestlers who have suffered an acl injury |
| url | https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001782.full |
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