To substantiate burnout and to investigate these anecdotal claims researchers have developed tools such as the Profile of Mood States questionnaire (POMS), used in studies to assess psychological moods in relation to physical stress (overtraining) during the training/competitive season (Morgan et al., 1987; Murphy et al., 1990).The more widely used and accepted Maslach Burnout Inventory measures three components of burnout; emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. This has been adapted by some researchers to be more sport-specific (Weinberg and Richardson, 1990; Eades, 1991), and more recently the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke and Smith, 2001).
There is a clear link between overtraining and burnout, in the ‘real world’ some coaches and trainers have long used deliberate periodized training strategies in order for the body to adapt and offset the negative side-effects which can lead to staleness, injury or burnout (O’Connor, 1997). Although overtraining and burnout are overlapping syndromes, research has illustrated that burnout can still occur in the absence of excessive physical training Gould et al. (1996), so it is of the uppermost importance that the practitioner treats each athlete as an individual as each athlete can tolerate different levels of physical and psychological stress. Loads that may be too great for one may be optimal for another.
Figure 2-Authors multi-dimensional adapted model of the burnout process
Applied examples of burnout in the mass media
Athlete burnout is becoming increasingly more of a problem to coaches and managers, typically managers complain regularly in the press at the traditional Christmas and Easter holiday period of games which overloads their players. Some of today’s richer professional football clubs have the luxury of being able to rest players and implement a squad rotation system in order to create optimal performance.
In other professional sports where clubs are not as rich, this is not always an option, just recently Daniel Anderson the St Helens Rugby League Coach said that his players were “listless and without quality” after playing three games in eight days. In such a hard physical sport this sort of schedule makes it “very tough to recover.” Anderson decided to cancel the day’s scheduled training session.
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Previously under their former coach Ian Millward, St Helens had fielded a virtual reserve team at this time, only later to be fined by the RFL for fielding a weakened team which they felt devalued the game and exploited the fans. In the higher profile game of rugby union player burnout is an even bigger problem, the RFU commissioned a study into burnout and player welfare; as a result they increased the clubs player salary cap by £2,000,000. The salary cap exists so each club can only spend the same maximum amount on player salaries per year, thus hopefully preventing one or two mega-rich clubs from dominating the game and maintaining nationwide interest. Further to the study chief executive Howard Thomas said “that he wanted each premiership side to have more than forty players.” .
In rugby union during international week’s club rugby carries on as normal in direct contrast to professional football, where in England premiership games are temporarily suspended.
Footballers often complain about the number of games they have to play and this has been blamed for the amount of injuries top players are getting and their poor performances in major tournaments. As a result UEFA reduced the number of Champions League games clubs must play in their competition on the advice of Professor Jiri Dvorak FIFA’S chief medical officer .
Professional footballers are of a higher profile than most other professional sportsmen, and are constantly under the spotlight, but most top clubs do implement a squad rotation system and generally most get two months off at the end of the season. In Gaelic football the season spans twelve months, Cavan manager Martin McElkennon is calling for an end of season break, he is quoted as saying “it’s one of the reasons why older players don’t play at this level any more.”
Strategies to combat burnout
As burnout can occur in any individual regardless of sex, age, or level (Gould et al., 1996; Kelley et al., 1999) it is essential that strategies are put in place to prevent and combat burnout. Figure 3 shows a diagram to illustrate how psycho-physiological strategies inter-act.
Figure 3-Psycho-Physiological Interaction of Strategies
Burnout
Physiological
Strategies
Psychological
Strategies
The table below shows personal/situational strategies that can be implemented by coaches/individuals to combat burnout.
Research by Cresswell and Eklund (2002) suggests assisted player planning of squad rotation systems to keep key squad members fresh, management of training loads and scheduled rests for players. This appears a strategy that is currently implemented by clubs which is directly related to Silva’s negative-training stress response model (1990). A common finding of the research is the perception of excessive workload and stress being specific to the individual; therefore it is vital that the coach can familiarize themselves with their athletes to aid communication and thus relate to each athlete making them feel valued (Gould et al., 1996; Hendrix et al., 2000; Weinberg and Gould, 2003). Players like to feel valued and often perceive a lack of choice or influence on team situations as stressful (Cresswell and Eklund, 2002). A key strategy to prevent staleness is to set achievable short-term goals which leads to enhanced long-term motivation; this also promotes communication and feedback between athlete and coach. Other key strategies include rewarding hard work with fun orientated training sessions where a variety of games can be played and mid/end of season breaks where un-related activities are offered (Weinberg and Gould, 2003). National squads before major tournaments usually offer activities to build team spirit and prevent boredom.
Athletes, players and parents need to be educated regarding the personal strategies that they can employ to help prevent burnout. Injured players should be given as much information as to their injury to educate themselves and get them to be actively involved and buy into the rehabilitation process. Psychological techniques such as self imagery and positive self-talk should be offered to the individual, in some cases this has been thought to enhance the healing process.
Gould et al. (1996) illustrated multiple psychological pressures of American junior tennis players who self-reported parental pressures, lack of friends, negative atmosphere and unrealistic goals as some of their main concerns which led to a lack of enjoyment, de-motivation and ultimately wanting no longer to participate in their sport. This finding fits in with Coakley’s model (1992) which contended that sociological pressures led to lessened intrinsic motivation, and Smith’s model (1986).
Implications for applied practice for the Sports Rehabilitator
The Sports Rehabilitator is an integral part of the support team responsible for the performance and welfare of all individuals at a club. As a professional it is their responsibility to provide the best care possible for their players. In today’s sporting environment just physically treating injured players is only part of the role the rehabilitator must take on in order to provide the ultimate care. The rehabilitator spends many hours with players and must take on a multi-dimensional role; players must have faith in who treats them so the rehabilitator must firstly form an excellent relationship with the players. This relationship must be built on trust and honesty as sometimes vital joint decisions between player, rehabilitator and manager must be made. If a foundation of trust exists the rehabilitator often provides a port of call for individuals to vent their frustrations, this often gives a further avenue of support to players and importantly gives the practitioner further information of the player’s character. This thorough knowledge of an individual is vital in successfully implementing rehab programs specific to the individual when in some cases the practitioner and player have to spend many hours together. Injured players attitude may well fluctuate during rehabilitation the practitioner must be able to keep the player positive and motivated. In summary the rehabilitator must be an excellent people-person, a good listener and observer and at all times deliver the best care they can to their players.
Conclusion
Sport in the 21st century is a multi-million pound business; with the increasing amount of money that exists in sport today, players are becoming extremely valuable commodities. The increasing amount of money leads to an increased amount of pressure on players who are constantly in the public eye having to deal with sponsorship commitments and the global media. Top players are superstars who are unable to lead ‘normal lives’, these pressures and demands have increased on the players and inevitably will lead to the increased occurrence of burnout, although burnout is not exclusive to professional sportsmen. Top professional clubs appear to implement strategies to protect their valuable assets, but at lower levels these situational strategies are usually not a financially viable option available to clubs, therefore it is vital that staff at clubs can educate and implement strategies in order to protect the youngsters of today who may be our champions of tomorrow.
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