What The Return of the King Can Teach Us About Sport Psychology

For Frodo!

We're wrapping up our Lord of the Rings trilogy on Movie House Sport Psychology, and Connor Chaney and I had a lot to say about The Return of the King.

There are the obvious sport psychology connections. Leadership. Teamwork. Dealing with adversity. Making decisions when everything has gone completely sideways.

And then there’s Frodo.

Because after everything he goes through, Frodo doesn't exactly ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

Frodo Saved Middle-earth. So Why Isn't He Okay?

The Ring is destroyed. Sauron is defeated. The Fellowship succeeds.

Frodo should be fine now, right?

Well...not exactly.

Frodo comes home to the Shire, but he doesn't really come home the same person. He has physical and emotional wounds that haven't gone away just because the big problem is over.

Eventually, he realizes that he can't stay. He leaves with Gandalf and Bilbo for the Undying Lands.

I actually really like this ending.

It's tempting to think that once an athlete gets through the difficult thing, everything should go back to normal. You return from an injury, win the championship, make the team, finally have the performance you've been working toward, and now you're supposed to feel great.

Sometimes you do.

Sometimes your brain has other plans.

An athlete can accomplish something really difficult and still be dealing with anxiety, burnout, grief, trauma, or just being completely exhausted by what they've been through.

Frodo isn't weak because he didn't magically recover when the Ring was destroyed. He went through a lot.

Sometimes You Really Did Give It Everything You Had

One thing I kept coming back to in our conversation was that Frodo really did give it everything.

He followed his values. He took on a responsibility that he never asked for. He kept going when things got worse and worse.

He didn't fail because he needed time to heal afterward.

I think athletes can have a hard time with this.

There's often an assumption that if you're struggling, you just need to be tougher. Push through. Get your head right. Stop thinking about it.

And sometimes that's exactly the wrong approach.

If you've been injured, had a terrible performance, gone through a brutal season, or spent months dealing with anxiety or OCD, you're allowed to have been affected by it.

You don't have to pretend it didn't happen just because the competition is over.

Also, I'm still disappointed that Frodo never got therapy.

Seriously. Gandalf is right there. Elrond has a whole council. They have wizards, elves, magical healing, and apparently nobody thought, “Hey, maybe we should get Frodo some professional help.”

Maybe there was an Undying Lands therapist.

I'm choosing to believe there was.

We All Have a Little Gollum in Us

Connor and I also got into Gollum and Smeagol, which might be my favorite part of this conversation.

It's easy to look at Gollum as the bad part of Smeagol that needs to be defeated.

But what happens if we get curious about him instead?

That's where the Internal Family Systems discussion comes in. We can have different parts of ourselves that want different things.

An athlete might have a part that wants to compete and trust their training.

Another part is thinking, Don't screw this up.

Another part wants everything to be perfect.

And another part would really prefer to avoid the possibility of embarrassment altogether.

You can imagine all of those parts sitting around having a very dysfunctional team meeting.

Trying to get rid of the “bad” part isn't necessarily going to solve the problem. Sometimes it's more useful to understand what that part is trying to do.

What is it afraid of?

What is it trying to protect you from?

What would happen if you actually listened to it?

That doesn't mean you have to let Gollum make all the decisions.

Maybe he can just have a seat at the table.

You Don't Have to Feel Great to Perform

This is something I talk about with athletes quite a bit.

A lot of performance problems come from trying really hard to get rid of the thoughts or feelings that are getting in the way.

I need to stop being nervous.

I need to feel confident.

I can't think about making a mistake.

I need to stop thinking about my OCD.

Unfortunately, our brains aren't particularly cooperative when we give them those instructions.

Sometimes the work is learning how to respond differently when those thoughts and feelings show up.

That's particularly important when we're talking about clinical issues like anxiety, OCD, perfectionism, burnout, or insomnia.

The goal isn't to turn an athlete into a robot who never gets nervous.

I don't think that's particularly realistic, and honestly, it sounds boring.

The goal is to help athletes develop a different relationship with what's happening in their heads so they can make decisions based on what matters to them instead of automatically responding to every thought, feeling, or urge.

What Happens After the Big Moment?

That's probably why I like Frodo's ending so much.

There isn't a neat little bow on everything.

The Ring is gone, but Frodo still has work to do.

And sometimes that's what happens to athletes.

The season ends. The surgery is over. You make the team. You accomplish the goal you've been chasing for years.

And then you have to figure out what comes next.

Sometimes that means getting back to competition.

Sometimes it means changing your relationship with your sport.

Sometimes it means taking a break.

And sometimes it means getting some help.

That's part of what I do in clinical sport psychology. I work with athletes who are dealing with the mental health side of sport as well as the performance side, including anxiety, OCD, perfectionism, burnout, insomnia, performance anxiety, and the psychological challenges that can come with injury.

For athletes in Los Angeles, I provide telehealth sport psychology services that can address both mental health and performance concerns. You can learn more about sport psychology services in Los Angeles.

I also work with athletes throughout the South Bay, including athletes dealing with anxiety, OCD, perfectionism, burnout, insomnia, injury recovery, and the pressure that comes with trying to perform when your brain isn't exactly cooperating. You can learn more about sport psychology services in the South Bay.

If you're wondering whether clinical sport psychology might be a good fit for what you're dealing with, you can schedule a consultation. We can talk about what's been going on, what you're hoping to change, and whether working together makes sense.

And maybe that's the part of The Return of the King that I find most interesting.

Winning doesn't mean nothing happened to you.

Being strong doesn't mean you weren't affected.

And sometimes finishing the journey means figuring out what you need for the journey that comes next.

For Frodo.