The Understanding of “Rest” and its Effects upon Athletes’ Sport-Performance and General Well-Being

Abstract

Abstract

This thesis inductively builds a theoretical framework and understanding of athletes’ rest, pertaining to the perceived effects that it has upon their sporting performance and general well-being. Collectively, this thesis utilises a mixed methods design in order to comprehend the meanings and values that athletes have upon rest. The initial study utilised a grounded theory approach to explore athletes’ specific experiences of rest along with their personal perceptions of “what rest means to them”. For the second study a descriptive correlational quantitative design was used to identify significant differences in athletes’: use, frequency of use, and perceived effectiveness of resting techniques across a large and generalised sample. Additionally, significant differences were also sought found regarding athletes’ varying sport types and level of competition. The final study utilised a longitudinal qualitative content analysis design to examine the perceptual variances of athlete rest over the course of a competitive season. This thesis offers a conceptual model of rest that portrays the interplay between the: cessation of activity, perceptions of sport performance, and general well-being. Contributing to this model, concepts including: interaction, switching-off, adaptation, and sport specifications build upon the general understanding of rest as the cessation of activity. The dynamics of these relationships encompass the fluid variation on how rest can affect an individual’s sport performance and general well-being. Overall, this thesis is able to generate an initial conceptual model and understanding of athlete rest from a sport psychology perspective. As rest is not a concept that is studied directly or extensively in most academic disciplines, further investigation into rest across other domains is necessary in order to better understand its implications upon performance and well-being more generally.