By Galen Arney and Eric Martin
(April 27, 2022)

Athletes’ high expectations of performance, both from themselves and coaches, can be an important reason why they reach the highest levels of their sport. However, if an athlete’s high expectations shift to consistent worries that others will judge their own performances or they are not measuring up to their own expectations, we often deem them, perfectionists. Perfectionism can lead to negative consequences including athletes eventually dropping out of the sport, robbing them of the benefits sport has to offer. As coaches, you can facilitate a high-performance environment while fostering better alternatives to perfectionistic behavior.

What is Perfectionism?

Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality trait, consisting of perfectionistic strivings (e.g., high standards the athlete imposes on oneself) and perfectionistic concerns (e.g., worries about making mistakes and feelings of not performing as well as expected; Dunn et al., 2002). Perfectionistic strivings are related to high well-being and problem-focused coping which are positive, but under conditions of failure, perfectionistic strivings predict decreases in performance and negative attitudes towards themself. On the other hand, perfectionistic concerns tend to be associated solely with negative outcomes such as lower well-being and higher rates of burnout. Athletes exhibiting perfectionistic concerns clearly tend to find less fulfillment and happiness in sports and coaches can play a role in mitigating this behavior.

What is Burnout?

Athlete burnout can be defined using three dimensions: emotional and physical exhaustion (e.g., extreme tiredness), devaluation of their sport (e.g., a lack of concern for the sport and quality of performance), and a reduced sense of accomplishment (e.g., a tendency to care less about one’s performance and accomplishments; Maslach et al., 1981). An athlete who is suffering from all three dimensions of burnout may feel tired even after getting sufficient rest (exhaustion), may make references to not enjoying or not finding their sport important (devaluation), and rarely feel or say that they played well after a competition (reduced sense of accomplishment). Burnout symptoms can lead to deteriorating sport performance and a decrease in mental health and eventually if left untreated, a withdrawal from competitive sport.

How are Perfectionism and Burnout Related?

A perfectionistic mindset may have the potential to heighten burnout risk. If an athlete is consistently worried about their own performance, it is likely they would also be more mentally and physically exhausted than other athletes who do not put that pressure on themself. Additionally, high perfectionistic concerns are often related to a reduced sense of accomplishment in sport and a devaluation of sport, as athletes consistently worried about how they are being evaluated might lose the intrinsic desire to play their sport and find less appreciation of their sport than they did in the past. One study mirrored these aspects, as Gould (Gould et al., 1996) found that burned-out junior tennis players had higher levels of perfectionism than non-burned-out players.

What Can Coaches Do to Help Athletes?

Coaches play a pivotal role in creating a healthy environment or one that encourages athletes to develop perfectionistic tendencies based on how they set up their practices and approach competition, and the type of feedback they give to athletes. Below, find some examples of how to create an environment that supports athletes in achieving high expectations without concern over how others are evaluating them which should help prevent athlete burnout.

Decrease pressure on your athletes

Pressure from both coaches and parents is associated with perfectionism in athletes (Madigan et al., 2019). Coaches can decrease the pressure athletes perceive by showing concern for the athlete’s well-being first and foremost over their performance. This might look like asking the athlete how they enjoyed the game before diving into how they played or planning fun activities outside of sport when traveling to competitions. Additionally, coaches should focus on helping their athletes set process goals (e.g., box out your opponent on every shot) instead of outcome goals (e.g., win the game) as these are directly under the athletes’ control. Having these additional feelings of control will allow athletes to better judge their own performance on what they are doing instead of comparing it to others’ performance.

Foster intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation, or participation in sport because they enjoy the sport, can decrease the influence of athlete perfectionism and decreases the likelihood of burnout (Horn et al., 2019).  Coaches should promote autonomy and intrinsic motivation by empowering their athletes by explaining the rationale behind the athletes’ training, strategy, and tactics whenever possible. For example, a coach can tell their athletes why a certain play is effective when asking them to run it more frequently or the coach can explain why running or lifting weights will impact athletes’ performances in sport. Additionally, coaches can provide choices to athletes.  For example, coaches can give athletes a choice between two drills at the end of practice or ask captains what play they would prefer to run in a certain scenario.

Encourage problem-based coping

Problem-focused coping consists of devising strategies to eliminate or manage the demands one is presented with instead of avoiding the issue. Problem-focused coping is related to lower levels of athlete burnout than avoidant coping (Hill et al., 2010).  Coaches can tell athletes what they have noticed in competition and then ask athletes their thoughts on what they should work on during practice. Or better yet, coaches can prompt athletes by asking them questions about what has and hasn’t been working and their perspectives on what they should be working on to improve. Through these techniques, athletes may learn to take control of their own development and feel excitement when they do improve.

Conclusion

A few common links have been laid out demonstrating the connection between athlete perfectionism and burnout. Coaches play a pivotal role in the wellness of their athletes and steering them away from perfectionistic tendencies can help them achieve this wellness. Decreasing pressure, fostering intrinsic motivation, and encouraging problem-based coping are all strategies at coaches’ disposal that can promote a healthy connection between athletes and their sport and decrease their risk of burning out. Ultimately their athletes will achieve the most if they don’t expect themselves to be perfect at all times.

References

Dunn, J. G., Dunn, J. C., & Syrotuik, D. G. (2002). Relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and goal orientations in sport. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 24(4), 376–395. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.24.4.376

Gould, D., Tuffey, S., Udry, E., & Loehr, J. (1996). Burnout in competitive junior tennis players: I. A quantitative psychological assessment. The Sport Psychologist, 10(4), 322–340. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.10.4.322

Hill, A. P., Hall, H. K., & Appleton, P. R. (2010). Perfectionism and athlete burnout in junior elite athletes: The mediating role of coping tendencies. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 23(4), 415–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800903330966

Horn, T. S., & Smith, A. L. (2019). Advances in Sport and Exercise Psychology (Fourth ed.). Human Kinetics.

Madigan, D. J., Curran, T., Stoeber, J., Hill, A. P., Smith, M. M., & Passfield, L. (2019). Development of perfectionism in junior athletes: A three-sample study of coach and parental pressure. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 41(3), 167–175. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2018-0287

Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2(2), 99–113. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030020205