Overuse, Overtraining and Burnout

By John Thomas, Asst. Technical Director for US Youth Soccer, Courtesy USYouthSoccer.org

On June 4-7, I attended the US Youth Soccer Region I ODP tournament in New Jersey, my home state.

The tournament was being played at several of the colleges in the Princeton and Trenton area; Mercer County Community College, The College of New Jersey and Ryder College.

While observing the U14 boys game, I had a chance to speak with a family practice physician from Maine on the topic of player overuse. Well, really, she approached me about the subject. She stated in her office there seems to have been an increase in younger players being treated for overuse-related injuries.

 

The doctor (I didn't get her name) stated she has been involved with US Youth Soccer ODP and travel teams for many years with her boys as both a parent and administrator — and during her children's younger years, as a coach. Over the years, she has noticed parents wanting to take shortcuts when it came to the healing process of their children in soccer-related injuries — injuries where the wearing of a cast was required. The doctor stated she stopped offering the option of a breakaway cast because the parents would allow the child to remove them too soon and return to training and matches. 

She stated that the coaches are under a lot of pressure to win, so they may look the other way and allow players to return to training too soon. There is nothing wrong with winning — all players and coaches want to do their best to win the game. However, it shouldn't be at the expense of the player's development or health. She was, as they say, spot-on with her comments, which were in line with US Youth Soccer beliefs.

It is important that the coaches and parents understand the age-appropriate training and matches ratio, and how it fits into the overall development of our youth players. I discussed with the doctor how US Youth Soccer provides information on these issues and receives information from other professional sources like the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

I offered to send her a copy of some of the research on overuse injuries, overtraining and burnout — for example, the information provided by Joel S. Brenner, MD, MPH, and the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness. There are two sections that stand out for me after reading his research — "What Is The Goal Of The Athlete?" and "What Should Our Goals Be For The Soccer Player?"

The following was obtained from 1244 AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS Downloaded from www.pediatrics.org on October 24, 2008.

 

What Is the Goal of the Athlete?

The ultimate goal of youth participation in sports should be to promote lifelong physical activity, recreation and skills of healthy competition that can be used in all facets of future endeavors.

As providers of care for youth, it is important to obtain a physical activity history (type of activity, frequency, duration) and take the opportunity to promote healthy participation and preventive care measures. Education of parents, athletes and coaches must be part of the plan to promote fun, skill development and success for each individual athlete. Skilled young athletes must be mentored carefully to prevent over-participation, which may affect them physically as well as psychologically.

The parent or pediatrician may wonder how hard a child should be pushed to train and compete. Ultimately, it is important for the practitioner to discuss the underlying motivation for sport participation with the athlete, the parent and, possibly, the coach. Unfortunately, too often the goal is skewed toward adult (parent/coach) goals, either implicitly or explicitly. The parent often hopes the child will earn a scholarship, become a professional athlete, or fulfill the parents' unfulfilled childhood dreams. It is best to identify and focus on the child's motivation and goals to provide guidance.

We, as coaches, talk about ensuring our players receive time off during the week. We also discuss encouraging players who may be specializing in soccer to take time off during the year so that the body and mind have an opportunity to rest and to re-energize. Perhaps we can learn something from our research on the subject. Here is what they suggest:

1. Encourage athletes to have at least 1-2 days off per week from competitive athletics, sport-specific training and competitive practice (scrimmage) to allow them to recover both physically and psychologically.
2. Advise athletes that the weekly training time, number of repetitions, or total distance should not increase by more than 10 percent each week (e.g., increase total running mileage by two miles if currently running a total of 20 miles per week).
3. Encourage the athlete to take at least 2-3 months away from a specific sport during the year.
4. Emphasize that the focus of sports participation should be on fun, skill acquisition, safety and sportsmanship.
5. Encourage the athlete to participate on only one team during a season. If the athlete is also a member of a traveling or select team, then that participation time should be incorporated into the aforementioned guidelines.
6. If the athlete complains of nonspecific muscle or joint problems, fatigue, or poor academic performance, be alert for possible burnout. Questions pertaining to sport motivation may be appropriate.
7. Advocate for the development of a medical advisory board for weekend athletic tournaments to educate athletes about heat or cold illness, over-participation, associated overuses injuries and/or burnout.
8. Encourage the development of educational opportunities for athletes, parents and coaches to provide information about appropriate nutrition and fluids, sport safety and the avoidance of overtraining to achieve optimal performance and good health.
9. Convey a special caution to parents with younger athletes who participate in multi-game tournaments in short periods of time.

GUIDANCE FOR THE CLINICIAN by Joel S. Brenner and the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness Overuse Injuries, Overtraining, and Burnout in Child and Adolescent Athletes can be read in full by clicking here: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/119/6/1242