Recently, I had my growing concern confirmed after listening to two former elite hockey players (female early twenties and male late teens) from two different countries who shared their reasons for not continuing to pursue elite hockey representation pathways. Both had represented their respective countries of Australia and England. Their reason was BURNOUT.
Burnout is a maladaptive outcome of hockey participation. Players especially in their youth and talents driven too hard in hockey can potentially lead to burnout from an activity they ones loved. But what is the underlying mechanism that drives the burnout-process?
As a former elite player I have watched over a few decades the increasing demand placed on talented hockey players who initially love hockey as a sport to endure day after day training regimes, play more than one or even two competitive games a week, under the direction of professional, semi-professional, and non-professional elite and non-elite coaches to meet pressure expectations in terms of practice time devotion and high performance expectations. In these cases hockey dominates the life of the talented hockey player. There appears to be a lack of planning to ensure there is a ‘balance’ between hockey and other important aspects of life. As pressure to conform to the performance expectations as talented hockey players move through identified talent pathways, e.g., talent identification squads, academies of sport (youth to elite levels at regional and State levels), resulting in Elite State playing representations then with the goal of National playing representation via National pathway squads (e.g., AIS in Australia). Then reaching the highest level of National squad representation players must compete for a limited number of positions as representing your country at major events, e.g., Olympics.
So what is my ‘beef’? Along this hockey career pathway process there is a growing number of hockey players who are experiencing BURNOUT and prematurely no longer pursue higher representative honours and instead chose to play socially. Or BURNOUT when they have progressed to the point where their elite hockey playing levels can go no further after giving everything to the sport. The result of this is catastrophic. They chose to leave the sport altogether. Both these cases are represented by the decisions made by our two hockey players above.
Athlete burnout is common in many sports so hockey is not isolated. Much attention by other sports and research has been done about the condition. The question being proposed is BURNOUT in hockey being diagnosed by hockey coaches, administrators, players and parents. Can we honestly say we know about this condition and are taking adequate steps to employ solutions to the problem or are we allowing talented players who are experiencing burnout to slip between the cracks or discarding elite players callously as they go as high as they can along the players representation, in other words failing to mentor them as player BURNOUT occurs.
ABOUT BURNOUT
Sport Psychology research has established a meaningful link between motivational constructs and the process of burning out over the last decades. Athlete burnout is in this context considered a multidimensional process, with physical and emotional exhaustion, sport devaluation and reduced sense of accomplishment as end products. Burnout appears to be linked to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors in a person’s relationship with their work . ,/p>
In athletes, burnout is associated with negative outcomes such as performance impairment, reduced enjoyment, depressed mood and, potentially sport termination. Optimists perceive their life as less stressful than pessimists, which may be why they are less likely to burnout. Exhaustion is a central component to burnout and is related to stress associated with intense training and competition demands. Reduced sense of athletic accomplishment is manifested in a perception of low ability with regard to performance and skill level. Sport devaluation manifests itself in a loss of motivation, with the athlete ceasing to care about his or her previously beloved sport
COACHES/ PARENTS – WHAT TO LOOK FOR
10 symptoms suggesting that your athlete might be suffering from burnout: He or she;
- … is constantly tired and sleeps much more than usual
- … exhibits an increasing aversion towards the sport by showing a negative attitude in trainings
- … complains about not seeing any results of his/her hard work and is fighting “a losing battle”
- … seems to have lost all enjoyment for the sport and only trains and competes to please others or abide to a professional contract
- … is a “24 hour athlete” and does not seem to have any other interests or friends outside of the sport
- … exaggerates physical symptoms, feigns an injury or drags out the recovery process of an existing injury
- … exhibits mood swings and gets easily frustrated, aggressive or depressed
- … shows signs of disordered eating
- … cheats in trainings or withdraws altogether from certain training activities
- … has unrealistically high self-imposed performance goals and is extremely self-critical
SOLUTIONS
BURNOUT is multifaceted and as such can be individualised. The following are guideposts to developing strategies to prevent and deal with BURNOUT.
- Hockey coaches and administrators develop a healthy performance culture. Ensure players are not discarded when they fail to make elite representation levels but the long term value of the player to the sport as a participant is ensured.
- Hockey coaches focus on developing in players growth mindsets (effort focus) rather than fixed mindsets (performance focus)
- Attention to adequate assurance of player rest and training regimes that reflect individual elite player needs as part of a team environment. I recall a coach who would impose high physical training regimes on an elite player who worked physically all day while his team mates worked in sedentary jobs. The result over time was BURNOUT due to exhaustion.
- Untying a players self-worth to player performance
- Employing coping strategies to deal with stress
- Monitor player motivation, physiological changes, competitive pressures, player relationships, player /parent/coach/ institutional expectation goals
- Attention to ensuring there is ‘balance’ in the elite players life, i.e., family, friends, career, social
- Finally ensure there is fun
May we not ‘sweep under the carpet’ the crippling issue of player BURNOUT which causes some elite players to leave hockey with shattered hopes and dreams or no longer have the motivation to compete at elite level and therefore not achieve the level of their potential.
