Football players should practice mindfulness in training, new study says

Iranian football subjects taught to focus on present moment, accept their thoughts and feelings, and commit to goals

A footballer has been suspended after he bit an opponent's penis while in a post-match fight (iStock)

Footballers are less likely to sustain injuries if they practice mindfulness, according to a new study.

Mindfulness allows players to focus more during games, helping them adapt to conditions and avoid injury, suggests Dr Luis Calmeiro, a collaborator in the study from Abertay.

Scientists from Abertay University in Dundee worked with three Iranian institutions – Shahrood University of Technology, Allameh Tabataba’i University and University of Tehran – as well as Springfield College in the US to present the findings.

“These results are very meaningful as it suggests that the time invested in a psychological intervention such as mindfulness may result in considerable gains for the teams,” said Dr Calmeiro.

“Not only in the reduction of number of days lost to injury and resultant financial burden, but also on the young athletes’ quality of life.”

The data also suggests some athletes increased their ability to cope with stress or anxiousness and improved their attention skills.

The collaborative international study covered two groups of around 80 young male elite footballers in Iran aged between 16 and 19.

One group was given a 45-minute mindfulness session per week for seven weeks to help them focus on the present moment, accept their thoughts and feelings, and commit to goals.

Comparing results at the end of season showed those who practised mindfulness suffered nearly 40 per cent fewer injuries in total than the control group.

When measuring the time lost to injury, the mindfulness group lost just 218 days compared with 516 days for the control group.

Dr Calmeiro added that the study provided “strong evidence” that mindfulness should be used in athlete’s training programmes.

Additional reporting by PA