Over the past few decades, American society has become more and more obsessed on performance outcomes and winning; being declared the best has become most important (Crain, 2004). Winning is often viewed as an all or nothing virtue, whereby greatness is a descriptive term reserved only for those whose names appear at the top of the list (Hanchon, 2011). This evolving mindset communicates to our youth that despite his or her efforts, only the final results matter. For many individuals the ideas of achievement, excellence, and self-worth have become highly dependent upon the perceived outcomes of the competitions or events in which they engage (Hanchon, 2011). Outperforming one’s competitors serves as the defining characteristic of success or excellence, which in turn, appears to serve as a key determinant in the individual’s self-assessment of life satisfaction (Harackiewicz, Barron, & Elliot, 1998).
Sport performance is mediated by positive and negative variables; the pressure to perform for a result leads to the negative variable of higher expectations on the athlete. Stress and the pressure to perform are both contributing factors to higher anxiety levels, overtraining, and burnout in athletes (Weinberg & Gould, 2007). In some cases, “higher expectations also appear to increase the amount of stress an athlete may experience, and higher levels of stress are generally related to higher levels of state anxiety and burnout” (Jones & Hanton, 1996; Raedeke & Smith, 2001).
Burnout
Fear of failures, frustration, high expectations, anxiety, and other pressures to perform are all stresses identified as being related to burnout (Dale & Weinberg, 1990). Burnout has been addressed in the Old Testament (Exodus 18:17-18), in which ...
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Athletic staleness and burnout is a big problem for many of today’s athletes whether they are at the amateur or professional level. The good thing about this problem that ends up in total and complete physical and emotional exhaustion is that it can be recognized when it is taking place. It can also be treated if the recognition comes at too late of a stage of the onset of staleness and burnout. But the best remedy for athletic staleness and burnout is prevention of it in the first place. There are three different models that have been used to explain the causes of athlete burnout.
However, what this argument does not take into account is that athletes have an abundance of pressure put on them that most non-athletes don’t ever experience. Hence, the saying, “go hard or go home”. A recent study emphasizes this fact as McClatchy notes, ”The researchers monitored mood levels of 465 collegiate athletes over three years and found 6.3 percent of the athletes met the criteria for clinically significant depression and 24 percent were considered ‘clinically relevant’ “ (2016). Studies like these prove that athletes are not blind to the idea of depression, but rather experience this disorder themselves. Anxiety has a huge role in depression. As sportsperson, there is constant effort to become an awe-inspiring player. As the stakes of the game raise, so does the anxiety. Some want a scholarship, some want to show off what they offer to a team that got a scholarship, and some are professionals. Regardless of whether it's grade school sport or a professional sport, failing at personal goals one set is down right depressing. Kearns and Hwang state that, ”While it’s not clear whether the source of challenges to a student-athlete's mental well-being is the same as those non-athletes, collegiate athletes are known to encounter unique stressor that the general population doesn’t have to deal with, such as the demands, relationships with coaches and missed scheduled classes” (2014). Pressure is something everyone experiences. However, athletes experience some of the same pressure that of non-athletes and then some. Being on a sports team is demanding to time and the idea of being “superior”. In athletics, coaches are everything. For example, If a coach likes how a person attributes as a team player, then that person will get a chance to shine. However, if the coach is not very fond of one, then the chances of opportunities are not very
Wiese-Bjornstal, D. M., Smith, A. M., & LaMott, E. E. (1995). A model of psychological response to athletic injury and rehabilitation. Athletic training: Sport health care perspectives, 17-30.
Researchers have linked burnout as a contributing factor health conditions such as sleep disturbances, decreased immune system. Professions that are prone to burnout are those who require a great deal of contact and responsibility of other people. Among those professions are teachers, nurses, physicians, social workers, therapists, police, an...
“All I have to do is pass: A discursive of student athletes’ talk about prioritizing sport to the detriment of education to overcome stressors encountered in combining elite sport and tertiary education.” Psychology of Sport & Exercise. Mar 2014, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p180-189. Web.
The age of overwhelming strength and stamina governing sports is over, and the age of the mentally tough athlete has arrived. Athletes are no longer the superficial jocks and robots programmed to accomplish one goal, victory. Modern athletes ranging from the high school to professional levels are faced with many pressures and temptations, normally outside the realm of their sport. These pressures can inhibit an athlete’s performance substantially; therefore, the pressures need to be dealt with by psychologists. The effectiveness of sports psychology is demonstrated through the fields many theories, applications, and variety of techniques and procedures.
In order to fully understand the impact and effect of overtraining, defining and establishing the difference of what overtraining is from other conditions, such as overreaching, is necessary. Overtraining is defined as the accumulation of both training and non-training stresses producing a long-term effect on the athlete’s performance capacity, with or without physical and psychological overtraining signs and symptoms in which recovery of the performance capacity will take weeks to months (Halson, 2004 p. 969). Overreaching, however, is defined by the accumulation of training and non-training stresses with a short-term effect on the a...
A multicenter, multicountry study found that at least 35% of all teenage male swimmers had experienced some form of overtraining symptom at least once. The same was true for an astonishing 60% of elite male runners (National Center for Biotechnology Information). In high school athletes it is a lot more difficult to diagnose the overtraining syndrome because OTS symptoms are similar to that of stress common among teenagers. Although rules are in place that limit the amount of time players can spend on a given sport like the California Interscholastic Federation ban of sports on Sundays and limiting of playing time to 18 hours per week (CIF). However, many athletes choose to play clubsports as well (which violates CIF
It is amazing to watch how most athletes perform at their peak and continue to produce and set record-breaking performances. What drives them to these high levels of motivation and productivity? They may come from various influences and source of motivation and these similar sources can also energize certain individuals affect behavior and arouse their drive.
Recent discussion over competitive sports has sparked reexamination of competition’s effects on the development of professional athletes. Proponents of competitive sports cite various benefits including improved “fitness” and “health”, along with the acquisition of a finer “sense of self through increased perceived competence, self-esteem, and self-confidence” (Gatz, Messner, Ball-Rokeach 31). How does this occur? Competition acts like a ladder, forcing an ever changing “rung on a ladder” that participants must reach to obtain victory. The possibilities of this “rung on a ladder” can range from shooting technique and quickness to strength and flexibility. A prime example of competition’s positive ef...
Burnout has become a major social, cultural and health issue. It has also become globally significant. It affects all kinds of people regardless of their age, race, gender, etc. It can occur at any stage in one’s life and affect them on a physical, emotional, social or cultural level. There is a lot of stigma associated with burnout in the society. Education is key to break the stigma. The risk for burnout has risen significantly in certain occupations, notably in the field of human services. Self-awareness as well as awareness of others is important to identify the problem and treat it in the most suitable manner. This paper considers understanding burnout by examining a few
Sports psychology continues to evolve in order to ensure that comprehensive and evidence-based psychological services are available for athletes and teams. Giving athletes an understanding of their psychological functioning, and building the ability to implement a range of psychological strategies in competition enables athletes to both execute their skills and thrive under pressure as they strive to reach their performance potential.
Expertise. In R. Eklund & G. Tenenbaum (Eds.), Handbook of Sport Psychology, (pp. 184-202; 3rd edition). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Sports and performance anxiety often go hand-in-hand. When a competitor ‘freezes’ in the big moment or commits an inexplicable error, anxiety, in one of its many guises, is very often the root cause. Anxiety is a natural reaction to threats in the environment and part of the preparation