About RSR

We developed RSR to solve the psychological readiness for return to sport problem.

Ready, Set, Return (RSR) is a 4-week (9 module) on-demand program for collegiate student-athletes experiencing any orthopedic injury that restricts their participation in sport for at least 2 weeks.

Participants learn evidence-based psychological change skills designed to help them feel less anxious, more confident, and more motivated to return to sport, and these skills are designed to be used alongside physical rehabilitation.

The program is designed for participants to spend an average of 11 minutes each day learning and practicing psychological skills.

Research Findings

“If I would’ve done [RSR] while going through rehab, it would’ve been so helpful.”

— Phase 1 participant (retired student-athlete)

Research Funding

This program is funded by the NATA Research and Education Foundation (2023 to 2026) and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP; 2023 to 2024).

Research Findings

What Experts Said About the RSR Program

“Coming back from surgery to a position that has strong mind/body connection is important. It could be good to have something that could help them [student-athletes] work with this throughout this process.”

Retired Student-Athlete
“As a professional working with rehab, it's [RSR] a good side thing to have so they can understand why keeping themselves mentally prepared is important.”

Sports Medicine Professional
“It's really good information for athletes to know--need to do what's easy and what's difficult.”

Mental Health Professional
“It's [RSR] good because these are things I can potentially employ with my athletes.”

Sports Medicine Professional
"[As a student-athlete] I was often asked to compete through it [injury]. I wish I would have had a resource like this."

Retired Student-Athlete
"[This program] could be really instrumental. They can do it on their own time. Daytime hours of operation don't always work for student-athletes, so having this available on-demand can be helpful."

Mental Health Professional
"The mental side is so important, almost more important than the physical side. [RSR] only takes a few minutes in your day."

Retired Student-Athlete
"I love the idea of having something like this, to enroll them into a program to try out."

Mental Health Professional
"When I was coming back from an injury, you focus on some things and forget other things you should be focusing on. This [RSR] brings it forward and is really valuable."

Retired Student-Athlete

About RSR

“If I would’ve done [RSR] while going through rehab, it would’ve been so helpful.”

“Coming back from surgery to a position that has strong mind/body connection is important. It could be good to have something that could help them [student-athletes] work with this throughout this process.”

“As a professional working with rehab, it's [RSR] a good side thing to have so they can understand why keeping themselves mentally prepared is important.”

“It's really good information for athletes to know--need to do what's easy and what's difficult.”

“It's [RSR] good because these are things I can potentially employ with my athletes.”

"[As a student-athlete] I was often asked to compete through it [injury]. I wish I would have had a resource like this."

"[This program] could be really instrumental. They can do it on their own time. Daytime hours of operation don't always work for student-athletes, so having this available on-demand can be helpful."

"The mental side is so important, almost more important than the physical side. [RSR] only takes a few minutes in your day."

"I love the idea of having something like this, to enroll them into a program to try out."

"When I was coming back from an injury, you focus on some things and forget other things you should be focusing on. This [RSR] brings it forward and is really valuable."