CARDS
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Burn out is real and can happen at all ages and levels of competition. Burnout can occur in school, work and other non sport related activities.
As we are talking youth sports, the vast majority of young athletes want to play because its fun and the players enjoy the building of new friendships, experiences and skills. As the players develop in age and ability the desire to grow to the next level emerges with some, but a lot are playing for someone else or some other reason as they hit their teen years so, the level or degree of burn out will / can vary depending on the individuals initial commitment.
Rarely does burn out lead to one walking away from an activity, education or career, but it can happen. In most cases burnout could result in a short period of time where the player, student or employee has a decrease in effort or quality in work or play. In Fastpitch Pitchers and catchers seem to experience this more often because of the demands of the positions. In some cases coaches will notice players complaining of minor injury/soreness for an extended period of time and after examination no substantial injury is found. Another form of burn out is Mental fatigue. This is as real as physical fatigue and in some cases can be harder to overcome.
When players (or employees for that matter) that are generally proficient in what they do go into slumps that last more than a week this tends to have more to do with a symptom of burn out or fatigue than a lack of skill or goals.
Having coached players at all levels, it is true what I was told many years ago that female athletes have to feel good to play good and male athletes need to play good to feel good. This goes hand in hand with the type of training, practicing, playing and other activities/ responsibilities the player may have that they need to balance their time with. This includes scheduling the needed down time or rest time to recover mentally or physically from activities.
Coaching and playing in today's environment is much different than coaching 10 years ago. (I feel for those coaching at the younger ages today).
The demands on an athletes time is far greater and when you include the social media factor that parents need to keep on, no matter how committed or grounded the player it can all tie into the stressors that cause fatigue or burn out.
http://www.screenagersmovie.com/trailer/ A little off topic but this link has good info in this movie on the impact of digital/social media and today's teens. This can be a stress area for most High School age athletes that can can lead to performance issues...
As we are talking youth sports, the vast majority of young athletes want to play because its fun and the players enjoy the building of new friendships, experiences and skills. As the players develop in age and ability the desire to grow to the next level emerges with some, but a lot are playing for someone else or some other reason as they hit their teen years so, the level or degree of burn out will / can vary depending on the individuals initial commitment.
Rarely does burn out lead to one walking away from an activity, education or career, but it can happen. In most cases burnout could result in a short period of time where the player, student or employee has a decrease in effort or quality in work or play. In Fastpitch Pitchers and catchers seem to experience this more often because of the demands of the positions. In some cases coaches will notice players complaining of minor injury/soreness for an extended period of time and after examination no substantial injury is found. Another form of burn out is Mental fatigue. This is as real as physical fatigue and in some cases can be harder to overcome.
When players (or employees for that matter) that are generally proficient in what they do go into slumps that last more than a week this tends to have more to do with a symptom of burn out or fatigue than a lack of skill or goals.
Having coached players at all levels, it is true what I was told many years ago that female athletes have to feel good to play good and male athletes need to play good to feel good. This goes hand in hand with the type of training, practicing, playing and other activities/ responsibilities the player may have that they need to balance their time with. This includes scheduling the needed down time or rest time to recover mentally or physically from activities.
Coaching and playing in today's environment is much different than coaching 10 years ago. (I feel for those coaching at the younger ages today).
The demands on an athletes time is far greater and when you include the social media factor that parents need to keep on, no matter how committed or grounded the player it can all tie into the stressors that cause fatigue or burn out.
http://www.screenagersmovie.com/trailer/ A little off topic but this link has good info in this movie on the impact of digital/social media and today's teens. This can be a stress area for most High School age athletes that can can lead to performance issues...
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