due University
The competitive sport of women’s gymnastics can be mentally and physically demanding on an athlete. The difficulty of the skills being performed and the high intensity of training for higher level athletes denotes the risk being taken by the gymnast and the rise of injuries in the sport (Caine, Lindner, Mandelbaum, and Sands, 1996; Kerr and Minden, 1988). This perception of risk and incidence of injury understandably can lead to a gymnast’s fear of being injured while competing and/or learning a new skill. Fear of injury can produce detrimental influences on a gymnast’s performance and self-confidence in gymnastics. Sport psychology research has also found that fear of injury is a common source of worry and a possible reason for leaving competition among young gymnasts