San Francisco State University student Devon Jackson was in the middle of playing a scrimmage basketball game when his left hand collided with his teammate’s arm. Almost immediately after contact, Jackson felt striking pain as his middle and ring fingers were pulled back toward his wrist.

When Jackson returned home, he noticed that he couldn’t do simple things like hold a pencil or brush his teeth — that was the moment he realized something was broken. 

The senior guard broke his hand and had surgery within a month, expecting to return to the court after six weeks. However, beyond the brace and being sidelined, he was faced with another competitor: his mental health. 

“It was more frustration like ‘I should be making these shots, I should be able to do this, to do that,’” Jackson said. “I had to take a step back and understand I just broke my dominant hand. That’s not going to be the case.” 

Injuries are common occurrences in sports, especially as athletes play at more competitive levels. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found their participant athletes experienced an average of 2.28 injuries and the occurrence rate was 91%.

But when athletes garner injuries, their emotional and mental response to it can vary. A 2015 study by Margot Putukian found that they may feel sadness, lack of motivation and frustration which could potentially last until they’ve actively returned to their sport.

This trend is not unique to SFSU athletes. 

Senior men’s basketball forward John Bakke experienced similar glimpses of self-doubt like his teammate Jackson earlier this year.

Prior to the 2024 season, Bakke sprained his ankle and was out for six weeks. Through his recovery, he found his daily routine became more difficult. 

“It’s going to take me 20 minutes now to get to class from the car rather than five to 10,” Bakke said. “I had to take more out of my day to get to and from places. I had to be more careful and aware of where I was stepping, what I was around, objects, hazards, things like that because I didn’t want to reinjure it or kick anything.”

When redshirt junior men’s baseball pitcher Mickey Radanovich was recovering from his own injury, he noted the same shift in routine.

Randanovich felt an “unusual soreness” in his arm when he decided to visit an orthopedic surgeon and was checked for an MRI. His results revealed a complete break in his pitching arm and he would need surgery if he wanted to step on the mound again.

“Getting ready took a lot longer, just overall things in my daily life would take double the time, so I needed to prepare for that,” Radanovich said. “You leave earlier, get ready earlier, so it was just finding that out earlier on.”

Bakke said the adjustments and experience went beyond the frustration of not being on the court as it opened his eyes to small things that he was able to do prior.

”You’re not only dealing with the mental aspects of being so frustrated, not on the court and playing, you have this whole other side of it where you’re in your real life and the things you take for granted,” Bakke said “Being able to get to school easily, to just walk normally, run or anything if you really need to.” 

Back in November 2023, senior volleyball setter Kimberly DeBoer tore her patellar tendon in the second to last point of the team’s quarterfinal match vs. California State University, San Marcos.

DeBoer started physical therapy and strength training almost four weeks after surgery. She would later be able to jog five months after and return to “full sport” in seven. 

DeBoer’s recovery involved testing her mobility to be set and perform her routine movements, a feature that helped the senior’s confidence during her recovery journey. 

“I was able to start slowly moving to the ball. If I could walk to it, I could still practice a little bit, so it was good to still keep my touch with my position as a setter,” DeBoer said. “I could still stand there and set, which was helpful to be able to still do something instead of just having to be completely sidelined.” 

When DeBoer returned to playing volleyball, the setter missed being in touch with her teammates on the court. 

“That was the hardest part of being out of it, it was not being connected to them,” DeBoer said. “Being connected to my teammates is part of my job as a setter and it’s the thing I love most about playing with these girls and this team.”

A 2019 study from Georgia Southern Commons found isolation as a “psychological” and “stress response” to injuries and major surgeries. 

“The thing with an injury is it’s very easy to isolate yourself,” Radanovich said. “That’s a bad approach to combating an injury.”

Bryce Schussel, SFSU assistant athletic director and head of the athletic training staff, has dealt with athletes who’ve carried self-doubt while recovering but praised them for their determination during those rough moments. 

“The great thing about student-athletes is how driven and hard-working they are,” Schussel said. “I am there to support and help them each day get closer to getting back from their injury — to encourage them and keep them positive when they are disappointed that they are injured.”

When Jackson returned to the court two months after his injury, he had to relearn the game but was told by an athletic trainer that his hand wouldn’t be the same anymore. The metal plates and screws in his arm still bother him to this day. 

“If I have my hand on the table, I can’t raise my fingers up as high off the table anymore,” Jackson said. “My range of motion will never be the same — it’s just limited now.” 

DeBoer felt confident she would come back and do her job as a setter but acknowledged the importance of her knee would help her reach her potential. 

“Certain skills like blocking and jumping, I have to rely on my legs to jump,” DeBoer said. “So I’ve been training every day to come back and my teammates are my biggest supporters in that.”

Bakke learned to trust his ankle and overcome the mental hurdle of avoiding using it out of fear of re-injury. He would do more than he needed to because he felt it would help him repel the mental obstacles.

“That’s what brings all the mental obstacles, that there’s no linear consistency with rehab and injury,” Bakke said. “It’s all over the place. You can’t let each day define you and you have to realize there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Being in my shoes through an injury makes it really difficult to see that.”

A unique touch to Radanovich’s recovery that aided his mental health was being looked after by his surgeon and physical therapist, who have worked with major league athletes. 

“My surgeon is a doctor for the San Francisco Giants and my physical therapist works with a lot of big-name athletes so it’s just surrounding myself with that puts me in a good mind space with how I’ll return,” Radanovich said.

Radanovich is expected to miss the entire Spring 2025 baseball season. In January, he will start throwing baseballs lightly in practice to avoid rushing his recovery and ensure his health when he steps on the mound again. 

“There’s no reason to rush back in,” Radanovich said. “If you try to rush back, you might not be the best at your potential and you could be coming back from the injury and that in itself is also pretty detrimental.” 

While self-set goals are key motivators for injury recovery for athletes, the other motivator is their support system. 

“They see through a lens that you don’t because you’re so clouded just with what you’re dealing with,” Bakke said. “Family, friends, training staff and coaches, just all of them really are important in the process.”