Self-Compassion in Sport: How Women Athletes Describe It in Their Own Words

What is it about?

This study explores how competitive women athletes talk about being compassionate to themselves. While self-compassion is known to support athletes' well-being, many athletes find the concept unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. Through focus groups, the researchers listened to how athletes describe self-compassion in their own words. The study found that athletes often think of it as “showing up” for themselves, “regrouping” when things get hard, and “trusting the process” of growth. These insights offer practical, relatable language that can help coaches, sport practitioners, and athletes themselves talk about and apply self-compassion in sport settings, making it easier to support athletes in sport.

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Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash

Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study helps make self-compassion more understandable and usable for competitive women athletes. By exploring how athletes describe self-compassion in their own words, the research offers practical, empowering language—like “showing up,” “regrouping,” and “trusting the process”—that can be used by coaches, sport practitioners, and athletes themselves. This work bridges the gap between theory and practice, making self-compassion more accessible and relevant in high-performance environments.