Burnout in Competitive Junior Tennis Players: I. A Quantitative Psychological Assessment

Abstract

This study reports results from the first phase of a large-scale research project designed to examine burnout in competitive junior tennis players. Thirty junior tennis burnout and 32 comparison players, identified by U.S. Tennis Association personnel, voluntarily completed a battery of psychological assessments. A series of discriminant function analyses and univariate t-tests revealed that burned out, as contrasted to comparison players, had significantly: (a) higher burnout scores; (b) less input into training; (c) were more likely to have played high school tennis; (d) more likely played up in age division; (e) practiced fewer days; (f) were lower in external motivation; (g) were higher in amotivation; (h) reported being more withdrawn; (i) differed on a variety of perfectionism subscales; (j) were less likely to use planning coping strategies; and (k) were lower on positive interpretation and growth coping. It was concluded that in addition to a variety of personal and situational predictors of burnout, perfectionism plays a particularly important role.

Passion and motivation for studying: predicting academic engagement and burnout in university students

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Dimensions of Coaching Behavior, Need Satisfaction, and the Psychological and Physical Welfare of Young Athletes

“…In quest of "the right body", many athletes starve themselves to be lighter or thinner, or inflate their body size via banned substances. Over-training in the pursuit of higher performance, although often leading to burnout and overuse injuries, is part of the sport experience for a number of sport participants (Gould, Udry, Tuffey, & Loehr, 1996). The literature suggests that the different social contexts manifested in sporting programs and, in particular, the behavior and interpersonal style of the coach, can play a major role in shaping the potential psychological, emotional, and physical effects (both positive and negative) of sport involvement (Duda, 2001;Smoll & Smith, 2002).…”

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