Solo Sports and Mental Health

SOLO SPORTS

A solo sport is where participants compete individually with or without an opponent. They are offered as an alternative to a team sport for those that will only have themselves to count on for the outcome of the competition. There is a great difference between a team and individual sports. Each depends on different variables for success and the effects on mental health and behavior can be represented in many studies. Let’s dive into what makes solo sports unique in its own right and the advantages and disadvantages that come with its impact on mental health.

Solo sport examples

There are many sports that emphasize individual discipline and participation. Solo sports are unique in that they help develop skills by counting on oneself. The following are some of the many solo sports that exist.

Swimming
Diving
Golf
Bowling
Track
Archery
Wrestling
Powerlifting
Martial Arts
Tennis
Kickboxing
Badminton

The nature of mental health among participants of solo sports is an area of research that has been more of interest in recent years. Based on current evidence, there appears to be a high prevalence of mental health disorders in this field than among those that play in teams. Participating in sports is excellent for keeping individuals healthy and in shape, but there are benefits and drawbacks to solo sports that must be discussed in regard to a person’s psychological and emotional well-being.

Benefits

In solo sports, athletes can practice alone, improving their ability to focus, be self-reliant, and learn responsibility. They may come to the competition with a higher level of preparation since there are no other members to depend on for reaching their personal goals (Pluhar, E., McCracken, C., Griffith, K., Christino, M., Sugimoto, D., & Meehan, W., 2019).

* To be noted there are equal advantages that come with individual sports and team sports when including better sleepy quality as a benefit of sports in mental health. However, team sports have been shown to be better at improving anxiety symptoms (Ji, C., Yang, J., Lin, L., & Chen, S., 2022).

A unique benefit about playing a sport individually is that it gives the athlete a chance to develop their own style and have more one on one coaching and advising if possible.

FOCUS

Ability to concentrate attention and effort: Enables faster comprehension and decision making

SELF-RELIANCE

Deciding whom you want to be, and how you want to get there: Relying on your self

PREPARATION

Building yourself up to be ready: Putting the work in individually versus the tendency for social loafing in groups

SELF-ESTEEM

Confidence in one's own worth or abilities: Learning to accept challenges for yourself recognise what you are good at

Drawbacks

Disadvantages of Solo Sports

Feelings of guilt and personal failure
High rates of anxiety: In a study conducted on elite ice skaters, it was found that the pressure to differentiate themselves from the other athletes was so immense. These athletes reported high levels of anxiety in their goals to please the judges and pursue a perfect score (Pluhar et al., 2019).

Other conditions and behaviors:

Depression - a mood disorder that causes feelings of constant sadness and loss of interest in activities that make up your daily life
Substance use - can go both ways, good or bad, and can apply to team sports. It depends how your social support group and the strong foundation you have. This can be difficult among participants that can only rely on themselves for most tasks. They don’t have the accountability of relying on a team. It is reported that athletes that know of more people that have used illicit drugs are more likely to participate in their use as well (up to 45%), (Rice, S.M., Purcell, R., De Silva, S., Mawren, D., McGorry, P.D., & Parker, A.G. 2016). This can apply to solo sports and team sports.

IN CONCLUSION

Future researchers should continue to investigate how participating in individual sports affects mental health. Team sports may mediate psychological problems more effectively than individual sports, but there are opportunities for fun, stress relief, and nurturing of talents that can be expressed with both in their unique ways. There are important studies on positive psychological health that is emerging. Sports can boost mental health and is associated with many improvements in overall health and life.

SOLO SPORTS