sports psychology

2. PROGRAM: M.S
Semester: 3rd
Credit Hours : 3
Lecture 15
Subject: Sports and Exercise Psychology
Sohail Roman
Lecture DSSPE, SUIT Peshawar
sohail.ss@suit.edu.pk
0333-9725787
Burnout and Overtraining

3. Chapter 21: Burnout and Overtraining
Burnout and Overtraining

4. Session Outline
 Prevalence of burnout and overtraining
 Overtraining, staleness, and burnout
 Frequency of overtraining and staleness
 Models of burnout
 Factors leading to burnout
(continued)

5. Session Outline (continued)
 Symptoms of overtraining and burnout
 Measuring burnout
 Burnout in sport professionals
 Treating and preventing burnout

6. Prevalence of Burnout and Overtraining
• As the pressure to win increases, athletes and
coaches spend more time training and feel more
stress—which sometimes leads to overtraining and
burnout.

7. Overtraining
• Overtraining: A short cycle of training during
which athletes expose themselves to excessive
training loads that are near maximum capacity

8. Overtraining Keys
• One athlete’s overtraining might be another athlete’s
optimal training routine.
• The process of overtraining can result in positive
adaptation and improved performance (positive
overtraining) or maladaptation and decreased
performance (negative overtraining).

9. Staleness Versus Burnout
• Staleness: The physiological state of overtraining in which the
athlete has difficulty maintaining standard training routines and
can no longer achieve previous performance results
• Burnout: A psychophysiological response due to frequent but
generally ineffective efforts to meet excessive demands,
involving a psychological, emotional, and sometimes physical
withdrawal from an activity in response to excessive stress or
dissatisfaction

10. Characteristics of Burnout
• Exhaustion, both physical and emotional, in the form of
lost concern, energy, interest, and trust
• Depersonalization—acting impersonal and unfeeling—
in large part due to mental and physical exhaustion
• Feeling of low personal accomplishment, low self-
esteem, failure, and depression—often visible in low
job productivity or a decreased performance level

11. Frequency of Overtraining and Staleness
• 66% of Atlantic Coast Conference athletes
experienced some overtraining, on average twice a
year.
• 72% of the athletes reported some staleness during
their sport season.
• 60% to 64% of runners experience some staleness
once a year. (continued)

12. Frequency of Overtraining and Staleness
(continued)
• 30% of sub elite runners reported staleness.
• Of swimmers who reported staleness during their freshman
year, 90% became stale in one or more subsequent seasons.
• Swedish athletes training at sport high schools experienced
staleness—both individual-sport athletes (48%) and team-
sport athletes (30%).

13. Models of Burnout
• Negative-training stress response model
• Unidimensional identity development and external
control model
• Commitment and entrapment theory
• Self-determination theory

14. Negative-Training Stress Response Model
(Silva, 1990)
• Focuses on physical training (but recognizes the importance
of psychological factors).
• Physical training stresses the athlete physically and
psychologically and can have positive and negative effects.
• Positive adaptation is desirable.
• Negative adaptation is undesirable (leads to overtraining,
staleness, and burnout).

15. Unidimensional Identity Development and
External Control Model
• For Coakley (1992) stress is involved in burnout,
but it is only a symptom.
• The real causes of burnout deal with faulty identity
development and external control of young athletes.

16. Unidimensional Model Burnout Causes
• The structure of sport prevents young athletes from
spending enough time with peers outside of sport.
• This causes a sole focus on identifying with athletic
success, which can be unhealthy, especially when
failure or injury occurs.
• The social worlds of young athletes are organized in
such a way that their control and decision making are
inhibited.

17. Commitment and Entrapment Theory
• Burnout is explained within the context of sport
commitment.
• Burnout occurs when athletes become entrapped in
sport and feel they must play even though they lose
motivation for participation.

18. Self-Determination Theory
• People have three basic psychological needs:
Autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
• Those who do not have these basic needs met will
be more prone to burnout.

19. Factors Leading to Burnout
• Athletes are starting to train at younger ages.
• Training in many sports is virtually year-round.

20. Causes of Burnout in Junior Tennis Players
• Physical concerns: Erratic play, injury, feeling tired
• Logistical concerns: Travel, time demands
• Social or interpersonal concerns: Negative parental
influence, negative team atmosphere
• Psychological concerns: Inappropriate expectations,
feeling a lack of improvement, coach and parental
pressure

21. Signs of Overtraining
• Apathy/laziness
• Lethargy/fatigue
• Weight loss
• Mood changes

22. Signs of Burnout
• Low motivation
• Lack of caring
• Lowered affect
• Anxiety

23. Overtraining and Mood States
• Athletes experience increased mood disturbance under
especially heavy training workloads.
• Successful athletes display high levels of vigor and low
levels of negative mood states, an optimal combination.
• Over trained athletes show an inverted iceberg profile,
with negative states pronounced.

24. Overtraining and Performance
• Over trained and stale athletes are at risk of
developing mood disturbances.
• Mood disturbances can result in decreased
performance levels and dropout.
• Therefore, more is not always better.

25. Measuring Burnout:
The Maslach Burnout Inventory
• A reliable instrument for measuring burnout
that has been adapted and modified for use in
sport and exercise
• Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales
– Emotional exhaustion
– Depersonalization
– Personal accomplishments

26. Factors Related to Burnout
in Trainers and Officials
• Athletic trainers
– Type A personality
– Role conflict and ambiguity
• Officials
– Making bad calls
– Role conflict and ambiguity

27. Factors Related to Burnout in Coaches
• Pressure to win
• Administrator or parental interference or indifference
• Disciplinary problems
• Multiple roles
• Extensive travel
• Intense personal involvement
(continued)

28. Factors Related to Burnout in Coaches
(continued)
• Gender differences: None have yet been established.
• Age and experience differences: Younger coaches
appear to have higher levels of burnout (partly
because older coaches have already burned out).
• Coaching style: Coaches who are more caring and
people-oriented appear to be more vulnerable to
burnout.
• Social support: Greater social support is associated
with lower burnout.

29. Factors Related to Burnout in Sport and
Fitness Professionals
• Pressure from coaches or parents
• Hard training
• Competition over a long period

30. Treating and Preventing Burnout
• Set short-term goals for competition and practice.
• Communicate your feelings to others.
• Take relaxation (time-out) breaks.
• Learn self-regulation skills (e.g., relaxation, imagery, goal
setting, self-talk).
• Keep a positive outlook.
• Manage post competition emotions.
• Stay in good physical condition.
• Key: It’s not how hard you train, it’s how you recover.

31. Treating and Preventing Burnout
(continued)
Overload source Recovery strategy
Physical stressor Nutrition and hydration
Eat more carbohydrate
Stay hydrated
Rest
No physical activity
Passive rest
Get sufficient sleep
(continued)

32. Treating and Preventing Burnout
(continued)
Overload source Recovery strategy
Psychological or
social stressor
Relaxation and emotional support
• Flotation tanks, massage, sauna
• Time-out
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Visualization
Minimize nontraining stressors (e.g.,
limit work hours)
Thought management strategies
• Dissociation (e.g., watch movies)
• Negative thought replacement

33. Reducing Burnout in Junior Tennis:
Advice for Players
• Play for your own reasons.
• Balance tennis and other things.
• Try to make it fun.
• Take time off and relax.

34. Reducing Burnout in Junior Tennis:
Advice for Parents
• Recognize what is an optimal amount of pushing.
• Give support, show empathy, and reduce the
importance of outcome.
• Involve players in decision making.
• Lessen involvement.
• Take time off and relax.

35. Reducing Burnout in Junior Tennis
Players: Advice for Coaches
• Have two-way communication with players.
• Cultivate personal involvement with players.
• Use player input.
• Understand players’ feelings.