Ashworth Sport Psychology Instructor Shares A Success Story Working With “Burned Out” Olympian…

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I once worked with an athlete on the U.S. ski team with Olympic aspirations. The problem was that he was “burned out” and unable to perform at his customary high performance level. This athlete had heard about my success as a sports psychologist helping athletes who were going through this difficult stage and contacted me. After hearing his story, I agreed to work with him. My first effort was to help him get in touch with what he was experiencing. He didn’t want to leave the team, but thought he had no other option.

I began by dealing with the issue of time management to see if he could find the extra time he needed for other desired activities. I also recommended that he take about three weeks off from his sport simply to rest his mind and body. Obviously, his coaches did not respond to this strategy with much enthusiasm. Once they realized that the alternative was to remove him from the team, they consented to giving him some time off. We used this hiatus to work on relaxation strategies and stress reduction. I also helped him rediscover why he was skiing in the first place. By the time he returned to his sport, he felt renewed and invigorated. He was back to his old self.

Many athletes who yield to the initial impulse to get away from their sport when burnout symptoms set in are left with a lifelong sense of regret and dissatisfaction. They always wonder what might have been if burnout had not robbed them of the pleasure of competition and the pursuit of victory. For those willing to seek the intervention of a skilled and understanding sport psychology consultant, the result can be quite positive. It really is possible to “have it all”—high-level achievement and a life outside one’s sport.

Take a moment to consider your own athletic experiences and the negative feelings you may have had at times about participating in your sport(s). Ask yourself if the decisions you made at the time were the right ones for you. Would you have made other choices if you knew then what you know now? Whatever your response, never forget that life is ahead of you, not behind. There’s still time to “get it right.”

Nicole Detling Miller, M.S.
Sport Psychology Instructor
Ashworth University

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