Stress and Burnout
 
 
Stress is an initiator of BURN OUT, and when athletes burn out, they become lost to sport, high-performance goals, and a fit lifestyle.
 
Knowledgeable coaching - the right athletic directions, is the key to avoiding burnout.
 
Sports and a physical activity offer a wealth of positive experiences.
Despite that, many teenagers are not physically active - 50% of high school females and 25% of males are not involved in vigorous exercise. The statistics for adults are no better. Participation in any regimen of fitness and sport as a teenager or adult can lead to regular physical activity throughout life only when it is done without burnout.
 
In my coaching experience burnout frequently happens to athletes who embrace North American approaches to sport - with a focus on intensity before base development, and on winning in place of performance mastery. It especially affects those high-performance athletes who have experienced competitive successes while young. Physical capacities and performance mastery need to be grown - slowly and carefully!
 
Burnout is an important topic, and one that needs to be carefully considered.
It is the most neglected physical fitness and sport-training subject in North America.
 
Burnout is a condition of withdrawal from sport participation as a result of chronic stress. All too often its effects are permanent.
 
Burnout may be:
 
  1.     Psychological - pressured to win, feeling guilty not doing training enough,
  2.     Emotional - fear of not meeting expectations  
  3.     Physical – intensive training, without sufficient recovery and insufficient rest
 
Sport stress comes in two forms:
 
  1.     Physical
  2.     Mental
 
Stress is not always bad, and it may be part of a good learning experience -  it can make you think and set the stage for new learning:
 
  1.     Athletes may learn how to handle different forms of fatigue, and performance anxiety.
  2.     Individuals may learn more about physical fitness, how to develop social skills and friendships, and the importance of team play in sports and in life
 
Stress may lead to problems through:
 
  1.     Chronic fatigue, depression, and rapid loss of previously learned skills, among others.
  2.     Over-training, and physical damage as the result of misguided encouragement by obsessive parents, coaches, instructors, or the individuals themselves.
 
Stress can be relieved:
 
  1.     By learning how to enjoy the benefits of an active life.
  2.     By avoiding early athletic specialization.
  3.     By recognizing realistic goals and becoming mislead by instructors, volunteer coaches and parents with the hope of becoming a famous professional superstar or fitness miracle.
  4.     Although it difficult to find experienced, properly educated, and knowledgeable coaching, it is important to learn how to recognize the right advice.
  5.     By working with and encouraging others, and by engaging in other activities, social, intellectual, and physical, as a temporary break from chosen/usual (deep habit) physical activities.
  6.     By learning techniques that may prevent or reduce sports-induced stress:
  7. •Relaxation training
  8. •Meditation
  9. •Hypnosis
  10. •Breath control
  11. •Yoga
 
Determine the improvements that can be realistically accomplished to achieve sports goals:
 
What should be done:
 
  1.     Develop good sport ethics – think about what you are doing and why
  2.     Parents, instructors coaches and school personnel should help adolescents to set realistic goals in their sports activities – recognizing those goals may be more difficult than is commonly realized
  3.     Teach - train your own body as well as that of the athlete to enjoy a physical activity
  4.     Emphasize improvements of an individual or team
  5.     Young people feel how and when they are valued, if they understand their individual goals, when they know how to reach their goal, and when they are allowed to do it of their own will
  6.     Recognize that athletic improvement and athlete development is a slow process that needs to operate on timeframes far longer than shown by most North American
 
What should parents, instructors and coaches can do:
 
  1.     Parents should drop the current focus on ‘victory at any cost’ – first learn to recognize, appreciate, and support the qualities inherent in the activity!
  2.     Allow individuals to grow without having to experience overwhelming pressure to win – there is a sequence of natural growth, trained growth, learning to compete, and competition that needs to be followed - slowly
  3.     Respect the limitations of growing children - they should never be pushed beyond their abilities - err on the side of caution
  4.     Recognize that effective, proper training – especially for child-athletes, is a complex undertaking.
To achieve personal fitness and high-performance goals, individuals need to stay active for life- they need to avoid burnout
Athletes are part of a community - children, youth, seniors, and Masters - a lifestyle
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Chapter 3: Athletic Burnout