Burnout in our youth is a very real and prominent dilemma. Times have changed for young student-athletes (8-15 years old), training regimes have progressively become more intense, international competition exposure is not uncommon, and competing demands of homework and tuition is ever increasing.
The fear of losing out (Kiasu), stemming from the Asian value of achievement striving, may be the motivational force that drives parents to raise the bar for their children.
In a related article in the Straits Times this year, a valid comment from a parent stated, “In Singapore, the pressure to do well starts early. Parents have no choice but to set high expectations of their kids’ performance.”
Setting high standards for your children can actually raise their self-confidence, however, if you also place great importance on their success, then the pressure to perform also rises and burnout in our children is imminent.
Burnout is not something to be taken lightly. Research has linked burnout in youth sport to greater risk of injury and early drop out (Jowett and colleagues, 2013).
When I assess young athletes for burnout, the questions I receive from parents are:
“How can you tell the difference between laziness and burnout?
“Is my child trying to get out of doing something that requires effort and hard work?”
Many parents fear that burnout will become an excuse in their children, a way for them to manipulate parents into taking the easy road.
To answer these questions, we must first gain insight into the psychology of burnout and second, we must understand the complexities of motivation – the driver of all human behavior, that can help us interpret our children’s behavior more accurately.
Burnout is not simply a physical dilemma characterized by fatigue and lack of recovery, it also has an important psychological component that typically follows a drop in performance or a lack of improvement over an extended period of time.
Athletes suffering burnout experience a reduced sense of accomplishment, feeling unable to achieve worthwhile things in their sport, as well as sport devaluation, referring to a loss of interest, a ‘don’t care’ attitude or resentment toward their sport.
It is this type of attitude or change in spirit that can lead parents and coaches to make surface level judgments that label a child as lazy in their approach to training and competition. Under the surface, there is much more at play and a much more complex explanation for a child’s low level of engagement.
As a performance psychologist, I strongly believe that laziness is not a reasonable explanation for a person’s behavior. Laziness is not a trait, and human beings especially children, are not inherently lazy. It is a shift in one’s motivation that is at the heart of the issue.
Resilience in sport is founded upon a strong base of intrinsic motivation.
The link between Motivation and Burnout in Sport
Sport Scientists at the University of Western Australia tracked burnout symptoms of 102 elite rugby players over the course of an intense 12-week competition. They found that the type of motivation players had toward their sport influenced their experience of burnout. Players who were motivated by the inherent pleasure of training and competing in their sport and held self-referenced goals, showed the least burnout symptoms following the grueling 12-week program. Players who demonstrated a higher level of physical and emotional exhaustion were largely driven by status, medals, and solely focused on results in their sport.
This study demonstrates that resilience in sport is founded upon a strong base of intrinsic motivation. Protecting our athletes against burnout comes down to the type of motivational climate we foster. A focus on mastery of skills, self-improvement, and learning from mistakes is key in helping our young athletes sustain the journey in their sport.
The role of Coaches and Parents: Protecting Against and Contributing to Burnout
In youth sport, a US based study followed 91 junior football players and their coaches over the course of two seasons. Players who perceived their coach to be autonomy supportive showed the highest levels of vitality at the end of two seasons. This means that players’ positive energy and feelings of aliveness were influenced by the coaches ability to be supportive of athletes perspectives, provide the athletes with choices, and involve them in decision making processes.
On the flip side, youth sport research has observed links between athletes’ perceptions of a controlling environment created by coaches and parents, and increased symptoms of burnout among junior tennis players (Gould and colleagues).
Within a controlling environment in sport, athletes feel they “must” train and perform well to avoid negative consequences, and their thoughts and feelings are not acknowledged in the process.
This type of environment establishes high levels of pressure on the child to perform, increases feelings of resentment toward their sport, and reduces feelings of empowerment that sport should create for young athletes.
This mental state establishes a very low level of drive that can easily be interpreted as laziness in a young athlete. The resentment they feel toward their sport leads to avoidance of training and competition, that can prime parents to conclude their child is looking to avoid hard work or challenge. However, this pattern of avoidance is actually a coping mechanism and not an indication of laziness.
In order to safe-guarding against burnout it is imperative that coaches and parents adopt strategies that support the athletes needs, provide choices, offer rationales for decisions, and acknowledge and value athletes’ feelings.
When an autonomy supportive environment is established, young athletes are more likely to build intrinsic motivation, as they are encouraged to set self-driven goals and vitality and confidence is far greater as the child feels more in control of their involvement in sport.
The message to parents is, it is your child’s journey, not yours – help them own it.
When an intrinsic motivational pattern shines through, our athletes are protected against burnout, even when the intensity of training and competition is elevated.
Do not underestimate the power you have in creating a motivational climate that can protect your child against burnout.
The Importance of Recovery Protocols
Research has highlighted the lack of recovery as a primary contributor of burnout in young athletes. This concern places the spotlight on Asia, where the absence of seasonal changes in weather does not create significant down time from sport that are naturally established in the US and Europe.
For student-athletes who train on average 15-20 hours per week, one-week over the course of the year is typically the longest planned break time from sport I have observed in those who visit my office, and this is usually taken during exam periods or at the very end of the year.
Most coaches and practitioners would agree that this is not sufficient enough time nor the best timing for young student-athletes to recover both mentally and physically over the course of a year. Best coaching practices advocate a block of at least 2-weeks away from sport completely, as well as 1-2 days recovery following the return from international competitions.
The effective placement of recovery segments in the calendar is also vital and I rarely see parents plan and schedule breaks when charting their child’s competition schedule for the year.
Some parents do not feel planned breaks are necessary, while others feel it may hinder their child’s progress. On the contrary, recovery time can actually boost a child’s progress, establishing a fresh body and mind excited to return to sport.
In Asia, the competition schedule is stacked for many sports at the end of the year and without adequate breaks throughout the year, I unfortunately see a lot of athletes suffering burnout by the end of March.
You may not have control over the national competition schedule, but you can take control of when your child recovers and the number of events annually that are right for them, considering their individual commitments with tuition, extracurricular activities, and their ability to cope with studies and training in general.
From the age of 8 to 15 years of age, whether or not your child continues in their sport motivated and healthy is up to you.
Do not under-estimate the power you have in creating a motivational climate that can protect your child against burnout. Do not dismiss avoidance behaviors and drops in vitality as laziness, but rather acknowledge these as signals of burnout and a need for change that can require a team approach.
Visit Dr Jay-Lee today to help your child achieve excellence in their sport and studies with less stress and anxiety.
