How to Recognize Burnout In Your Player
School, homework, chores, and family activities all take their toll on a young person’s time. Add in an active sports schedule and little time is left for downtime when kids can refresh and recharge their emotional batteries.
When this happens, something has to give, or kids begin to suffer from “burnout.” Parents and kids may not even be aware that burnout is a problem. Symptoms of burnout include:
- Moodiness or irritability
- Fatigue or difficulty waking up in the morning
- Poor performance in sports, school, or other activities
- Loss of interest
- Lack of emotion after a win or a loss
- Loss of appetite
- Sadness
- Unusual focus on aches and pains
- Problems with friends
Parents should use their own experience and talk with their child to determine the level of burnout. If burnout is a problem, parents should consider limiting their child’s activities, including skipping a practice or two, to let a child gain the downtime necessary for a balanced life.
If a child is playing sports year-round, parents should seriously consider skipping a season. The long-term benefits of skipping a season and avoiding burnout always outweigh the short-term benefits of skills development.Kids who are emotionally and physically fresh learn much faster and work harder than those on the edge of burnout. Though kids often push to play as much as possible, parents must have the insight to limit too much of a good thing for the long-term benefit of their child.
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Sports Esteem for the above article.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
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