Play Ball Youth Sports, Author at Play Ball Youth Sports

Is My Young Athlete Heading For Burnout?

by Play Ball Youth Sports | Dec 17, 2024 | Athlete Mindset, Coaching, Health & Safety, Sports Parenting

Burnout doesn’t happen overnight; it’s the result of multiple interwoven factors that build up over time and overwhelm the young athlete’s ability to cope.

Young athlete burnout has become a significant concern in recent years as the demands of competitive sports have intensified. Burnout refers to the physical and emotional exhaustion that results from prolonged periods of intense training and competition. It can manifest as emotional fatigue, a decreased sense of accomplishment, a gradual loss of passion for their sport, and reduced performance.

Burnout is often caused by a combination of factors, including sports specialization, psychological stress, and external pressures to succeed. These factors can be particularly challenging due to the developmental nature of their lives, making it crucial to understand how burnout affects them differently in team sports compared to individual sports.

Early Sports Specialization

One of the most prominent causes of burnout in youth athletics is early sport specialization. More than ever, young athletes are being encouraged to focus exclusively on a single sport at an early age, often in the hope of achieving elite status or securing scholarships. While this specialization may lead to short-term success, it also brings heightened risks of both physical and mental exhaustion. Athletes engaged in year-round training face repetitive stress on their developing bodies which can lead to injuries and limited recovery time. The monotony of focusing solely on one sport also removes the joy of play, turning what should be a fun activity into an obligation.

Psychological Pressures

Another factor contributing to burnout is the immense psychological pressure placed on youth athletes. In team sports such as soccer, basketball, and volleyball, players are frequently burdened with external expectations from coaches, parents, and teammates. They must meet performance goals, adhere to rigid training schedules, and navigate the complexities of team dynamics, all while striving to prove their worth. This constant pressure to perform and conform often leads to emotional exhaustion and an unhealthy fear of failure. For many athletes, the fear of letting down their team, coach, or family can become emotionally crippling, robbing them of the joy and satisfaction that sport should provide.

Individual Sport Athletes

While team sports tend to amplify external pressures, individual sports like gymnastics and swimming contribute to burnout in a different way. Athletes in individual sports often face self-imposed pressures and perfectionism. Unlike team sports, where accountability is shared, individual athletes carry the sole responsibility for their performance. This places them in a relentless cycle of striving for perfection, where even minor mistakes can feel like catastrophic failures. Over time, the pursuit of unattainable standards creates mental fatigue, self-doubt, and emotional strain.

Poor Leadership from Parents & Coaches

Poor leadership and coaching practices further exacerbate the burnout crisis in youth sports. Coaches who prioritize winning over player well-being or use negative reinforcement can erode an athlete’s motivation and confidence. When young athletes feel unsupported or undervalued by their coaches, their engagement with the sport begins to decline. Additionally, a toxic motivational climate—where athletes are pressured to compete at all costs—can foster feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, and resentment toward the sport they once loved.

Lack Of Life Balance

Finally, the lack of balance between sports, school, and personal life plays a critical role in young athlete burnout. Many athletes juggle demanding training schedules, academic responsibilities, and social obligations with little time for rest and recovery. The pressure to excel in all areas often leaves them feeling overburdened and burned out, as they struggle to meet the unrealistic expectations placed on their young shoulders.

Addressing the causes of burnout in youth athletics requires a fundamental shift in how we approach sports culture. Young athletes must be encouraged to enjoy the process of sport rather than focusing solely on outcomes. By prioritizing their well-being, fostering positive leadership, and allowing room for rest and recovery, we can help ensure that athletics remain a source of joy, growth, and fulfillment for youth athletes.

NOTE: Leave us a comment or head to the “Parents Perch” to share your experiences with young athlete burnout.

The Art of the Pre-Game Pep Talk

by Play Ball Youth Sports | Dec 13, 2024 | Athlete Mindset, Sports Parenting

Ever feel like you didn’t connect well with your athlete before the big game? Unintentionally made them feel nervous or doubt their abilities? Here’s how to strike the right balance between motivation and pressure to master the art of the pre-game pep talk.

If you’re like a lot of families, driving long distances to tournament games is an accepted burden – it’s part of the deal. For better or worse, this “windshield time” with young athletes has the power to either prepare them to play their best or unknowingly sow the seeds of doubt and anxiety.

Pressure To Perform

While our pre-game pep talks are often well-intentioned, they can inadvertently place undue pressure on our kids. Children naturally want to please their parents, so when our expectations emphasize outcomes or high stakes, the pressure to fulfill those expectations can feel overwhelming. Statements like “you have to win this game” or “this is your chance to prove yourself” may seem motivational, but they can subconsciously shift the athlete’s focus away from playing freely and actually undermine performance.

Emotional Overload & Misalignment

A child preparing for a game needs emotional alignment that reinforces their state of mind, not one that shifts it in an unhelpful direction. As parents, we get excited to see our kids play. But it’s easy for our excitement to get ahead of our kids’ emotions. When our tone, energy and message don’t match the child’s emotional state, it can cause confusion, frustration, or even disengagement.

Pre-game jitters are a natural part of competition. Even professional athletes cope with the anticipation and eagerness of performing. These nerves don’t typically settle down until the action starts, so excessive pre-game enthusiasm or urgency can make the game seem much larger than it needs to be.

While guidance is certainly helpful, flooding your athlete with a list of things to remember—like specific plays, techniques, or opposing players to watch out for—can overload their mental framework. Highlighting their strengths while simultaneously warning of common mistakes can also send mixed signals, creating an internal tug-of-war within the athlete.

The bottom line is that a misconstrued pep talk can cause a young athlete to lose confidence, doubt their abilities, or place the weight of the team and the game’s outcome on their shoulders. What seems like a simple conversation to pump up your child actually takes some thought and preparation to get right.

Strike The Right Balance

A well-delivered pep talk can boost confidence by reinforcing an individual’s strengths and preparing them mentally for the task at hand. The key lies in striking the right balance between motivation and reassurance, without adding unnecessary pressure.

Start by taking note of your child’s energy level and emotional state. If they seem nervous, use a calm and reassuring tone to ease their anxiety. If they’re feeling excited, try to match their enthusiasm to reinforce their positive mindset. By meeting the athlete where they are emotionally, parents can help them step onto the field with confidence and clarity, ready to embrace the experience without feeling overwhelmed.

Clear & Concise Language

Focus on clear, concise language that reinforces the child’s training, preparation, and enjoyment of the game. Let your athlete know that their effort, teamwork, and sportsmanship matter more than the final score. Specific compliments and reminders of the hard work they’ve put in will help sustain their confidence and reassure them of their ability to perform well.

Growth Mindset

It’s also helpful to encourage the principles of a growth mindset. Remind your athlete to trust themselves and that mistakes are part of the process. Errors or setbacks are nothing more than opportunities to learn and improve. This perspective reduces the fear of failure by focusing on process over outcome and fosters long-term resilience.

The art of the pre-game pep talk is a dynamic blend of emotional intelligence, communication skills, and inspiration. It’s about meeting your athlete where they are emotionally, lifting them to where they need to be, and leaving them with the belief that they can achieve their goals.

When done well, a pep talk has the power to channel nervousness into productive energy, leaving the athlete feeling energized and determined.

Ultimately, the impact of a pep talk depends on its delivery. A thoughtful, well-timed message can be the spark needed to ignite sustained confidence and inspire greatness out on the field.

Coaching Character Along With The Sport

by Play Ball Youth Sports | Nov 14, 2024 | Coaching

Youth sports coaches have an obligation to prioritize character development along with the teaching of the sport.

Primary Responsibility of a Coach

Coaches often rank among the most influential adults that young people interact with. A coach’s perceived knowledge and experience with the sport they love naturally garners respect and high esteem.

This kinship bestows a responsibility on youth coaches far beyond game strategy and the X’s and O’s. In addition to skill development, coaches are obligated to model values that influence the person, not just the player. In other words, their primary commitment is to coach the whole athlete, not just the sport.

Conflict of Interests in a Win-First Culture

Kids participating in youth sports are typically between the ages of 5 and 18. These years encompass early instructional programs all the way through higher-level high school athletics.

At the recreational level, attending to an athlete’s physical or emotional needs is relatively straight-forward. The goal is fun, so a coach can easily divert time and energy away from the field to focus on the individual.

In higher-level competition, however, coaches often encounter conflicts of interest in developing both the player and the individual. Here, coaches are incentivized to develop skills, create pathways for scholarships, provide exposure to scouts, and in short, to WIN. Parents demand these outcomes given the thousands of dollars they invest to give their kids a leg up. This type of win-first environment emphasizes on-the-field achievement over the underlying physical and emotional needs of maturing youth.

Performance Expectations & Conditional Behavior

It’s common in these cultures for coaches to impose expectations specifically geared toward performance and winning. When those expectations are met, i.e., the athlete scores their points, drives in their runs, and brings home the trophy, they receive praise and are rewarded for executing the plan.

But when expectations on the field are not met, the pressure rises. Coaches push their athletes harder to live up to their end of the bargain. Kids discover that praise and recognition are conditional on their success, not a function of effort or process. Failure on the field can even result in public embarrassment and physical consequences, seen as motivators to improve performance.

Athlete-First Cultures

Regardless of age or competitive level, no youth athlete is ever a finished product, on or off the field. They will always be influenced by the words and actions of their coaches.

To make a positive impact, coaches should afford the time and patience needed for athletes to build confidence and develop personal identity.

In an athlete-first culture, failure and unmet expectations are viewed as teaching opportunities rather than justification to belittle. Support and investment does not fluctuate based on performance; rather, remains unconditional regardless of outcomes. This freedom allows athletes to perform without fear and grow into their individual potential. Without it, they can be left unfulfilled, burned out, and lacking the intrinsic motivation needed to succeed over the long-term.

Cultures are Not Mutually Exclusive

Cultures centered on winning and personal development do not have to be mutually exclusive. Investing in both requires perspective with intentional focus on preparation, patience, communication and consistency to nurture both responsibilities simultaneously.

All parties play a role in this process. Let’s take on the challenge of influencing both aspects of development to justify the respect and esteem placed on coaches by young athletes.

Tommy John Surgery & Young Athletes

by Play Ball Youth Sports | Nov 12, 2024 | Athlete Mindset, Health & Safety, Sports Parenting

The need for Tommy John Surgery, the procedure used to repair a damaged ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the elbow, is occurring at an alarming rate among younger and younger athletes. Today’s hyper-competitive youth sports environment, early sport-specialization trends, and the remarkable success of the procedure itself have all contributed to a dangerous desensitization of risk factors.

A HIDDEN DANGER

With every new spring season, the sights, sounds and smells of baseball awaken on ballfields across the country. It’s a time of great joy and excitement for ballplayers who can’t wait to dig in their cleats and slide into second base again.

For most, it’s been 9 months since they last eagerly put on a uniform; but for others, last year’s fall season transitioned straight into winter instructional programs and then again into the new spring season.

For those young athletes who play baseball year-round, a hidden danger is lurking amongst all the enthusiasm, and its name is Tommy John.

TOMMY JOHN

Tommy John was a major league pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees who, in 1974, underwent the first surgery to reconstruct an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the elbow. His had ruptured while on the mound, putting the remainder of his playing career in jeopardy. The experimental surgery was pioneered by Dr. Frank Jobe who with this revolutionary new procedure, forever changed the landscape of baseball and professional sports. Not only did Tommy John return to the major league mound, he went on to win more games post-surgery than he had prior and pitched until he was 46 years old. The operation from which he was the first beneficiary now fittingly carries his name.

TOMMY JOHN SURGERY & THE IMPACT ON YOUNG ATHLETES

We instinctively think of Tommy John Surgery (TJS) belonging to the realm of professional sports and athletes. We often hear of MLB pitchers losing full seasons due to the need for the procedure. The surprising reality is that nearly 60% of all TJ surgeries in the United States are performed on 15–19-year-old kids. Orthopedic surgeons describe the growing volume of cases among this age group as an epidemic requiring the industry’s full and immediate attention.

RISK FACTORS FOR YOUNG ATHLETES

Catastrophic injuries of this nature don’t occur in a vacuum; they’re affected by years of adverse risk factors that weaken the stability of the elbow and ultimately cause the ligament to fail. The onset of this weakening process can begin as early as 6, 7 and 8 years old.

OVERUSE & SPECIALIZATION

Overuse is far and away the leading cause of shoulder and elbow injuries in young athletes, particularly UCL injuries. Youth baseball is now available throughout the calendar year with seasonal leagues, travel teams, showcase tournaments and special instructional programs. It’s also often the case, too, that kids will play on more than one team at a time, experience overlapping schedules and jump from one season directly into the next.

The risk with this type of specialization, particularly for pitchers, is not getting the proper rest their still maturing arms need to fully recover from throwing. Growing bodies need time to rest – more time, in fact, than we may realize – to minimize the risk of serious injury down the road.

FATIGUED ARMS

It’s the accumulation of throwing with fatigued arms that puts young athletes most at risk. Players, parents, coaches, officials and administrators should all coordinate efforts to spot and preempt typical types of fatigue scenarios.

‘Event fatigue’ is one scenario, in other words, throwing too many pitches or innings in a single game without the prerequisite rest ahead of time. Another is ‘seasonal fatigue,’ throwing too much and too frequently over the course of a long season. And ‘annual fatigue,’ where an athlete doesn’t get the recommended 3-4 consecutive months of non-throwing rest prescribed for pitchers at all levels of play. Too much, too fast is a troubling reality for many kids, as studies have shown that young pitchers who throw with tired arms are 36x more likely to experience shoulder and elbow injuries as compared to their well-rested counterparts.

POOR PITCHING MECHANICS

Poor pitching mechanics are another predictive risk factor for UCL problems. Repeatedly throwing a baseball, overhand, at high velocities places stress on the arm even with the purest of deliveries, much more so without the proper use of legs and core to generate force. Any breakdown along the kinetic chain, starting with the feet and ending at the wrist, puts undue, and unnatural, strain on the elbow. Although we often hear about pitchers described as having been blessed with God-given arm talent, the reality is the UC ligament is not designed to withstand that type of constant strain, often leading to its ultimate failure.

THE RISKS ARE WORTH TAKING

Despite the warning signs, many kids and parents alike feel the risks are worth taking. The techniques performed in Tommy John surgeries have advanced greatly over the decades, and given the high percentage of patients who experience positive outcomes, many believe that if indeed it did happen to them, they would come out the other side even better than before.

There is no scientific evidence, however, that a pitcher at any level throws harder as a result of a new elbow ligament. Any gain in velocity is thought to result from strengthening the arm and body during the intense 12–18-month rehabilitation process. Regardless, the fact that so many pitchers have returned to the mound post-TJS has desensitized many to the point where the procedure is now often considered routine.

PITCH & INNING COUNTS

There are a lot of ways a young ballplayer can mitigate the risks of repetitive throwing in an effort to avoid the operating table. For one, pitch and inning counts. Many youth leagues now require mandatory rest time for pitchers based on the amount of throwing done over a certain period of time.

SPORT DIVERSIFICATION

Another is not specializing at all; rather, participating in several different sports throughout the course of a calendar year. Playing multiple sports tends to produce more well-rounded athletes but more importantly, ensures the proper recovery time from stressful, highly-repetitive throwing motions.

PROPER EFFORT EXPENDITURE

More fundamentally, prioritizing proper warm-up routines and encouraging pitchers not to throw with 100% max effort every pitch can go a long way. Judiciously pacing energy and force expenditure while on the mound affords a proportional pacing benefit of stress and wear on the elbow.

REST

Finally, and most importantly…rest. Never allow a young athlete to throw with a fatigued arm. Watch for changes in body language like shaking or rubbing of arms or the sudden loss of velocity and control. Any of these warning signs may signal a potential injury or the need for additional recovery time.

In the end, there’s no way to know for certain if a young pitcher will ever face the prospect of Tommy John surgery. Taking preventative measures at early ages can greatly improve the odds, however, and allow us all to return to the carefree joys of spring and youth baseball.

Perspective is Everything for Sports Parents

by Play Ball Youth Sports | Nov 12, 2024 | Sports Parenting

A simple shift in perspective for sports parents can go a long way toward supporting young athletes today and into the future.

Perspective isn’t always a given when it comes to the most important aspects of our lives. Our family, friends, health, and careers are all places where passions can get the best of us. Parenting is right at the top of that list, and “sports parenting” in particular, can often a trigger our strongest emotional reactions.

We’ve all been at games where a fellow parent has expressed their strong – and vocal – assessment of the action on the field. Commentary about which kids are playing, the officials calls, or even how a particular kid could make such a bad play.

As uncomfortable as it is to hear, those reactions don’t typically come from a bad place. We all care about how our kids perform on the field. It impacts their emotional wellbeing and status amongst their peer group. But placing such emphasis on singular outcomes misses the point, leading only to anxiety and a narrowing view of the bigger picture..

To be certain, something primal stirs deep inside as we watch our kids run out onto the field. We can’t help but live vicariously through their sports lives because we want them to achieve more than we did in sports.

Achieving more might mean playing high school sports, earning a college scholarship, or (dare I say it) playing professional sports one day. Despite their promise, however, the reality of playing sports at an elite level is quite the long shot.

According to the NCAA, less than 6% of high school football players will go on to play at any level of college competition, and a mere .08% will ever be drafted into the NFL.

The odds for boys high school basketball players are even longer with less than 3% playing college ball and .03% playing in the NBA.

The director of my son’s little league program once began a parent meeting noting that the league had been in operation since the 1950’s and tens of thousands of kids had come through the program since its inception. He asked if anyone knew how many of those kids ever made it to the big leagues or even the higher ranks of the minor leagues. While the answer was just a handful, he jokingly concluded by saying he was certain “our kids would be the next.” It got a good laugh but put our role as sports parents, as well as the ultimate purpose of youth sports, into a new perspective.

The fact of the matter is, our kids aren’t going pro.

Not in sports, anyway. Which beckons a shift of focus away from future athletic prowess toward a greater opportunity – namely, using youth sports as the centerpiece to prepare kids for challenges outside the bright lights of the sports arena.

Youth sports can be viewed as a true microcosm of life, offering an incredibly rich backdrop from which to identify, teach and reinforce life lessons. A simple change in perspective presents an endless array of teachable moments to be knocked down one by one.

A kid’s lack of playing time becomes a lesson on perseverance. The bad call made by an official becomes a real-time example of overcoming adversity. And that error on the field instills the work ethic to improve and do better the next time.

Those scenarios just scratch the surface of what’s available to parents – handling success and failure, setting goals, building confidence, rewarding effort; instilling determination, consistency, dedication, resiliency, humility, respect, teamwork, sportsmanship – you name it and you can find it out on your local ball field.

This shift in perspective offers an additional benefit as well – it all eliminates the stress and emotions of gameday. Every play on the field, whether good or bad (or even ugly), becomes an opportunity to teach rather than a setback to a kid’s future.

The time young athletes have to play sports is finite. For most, it will be over seemingly before it even begins. By entrusting the play-by-play to the participants on the field, parents can better appreciate the joy kids have in playing and maximize their own enjoyment of this fleeting time.

And in doing so, take comfort in the knowledge that those experiences will prepare kids for their future endeavors, even if it happens to be outside of professional sports.

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