A profile of the young tennis player at risk of burnout

Four empirical studies were conducted to examine the change over time in perfectionism, trait anxiety, motivation, and coping, and the impact these variables have on burnout. This research was guided by Smith’s (1986) Cognitive Affective Model of Athlete Burnout with the aim to identify a profile of the young tennis player at risk of burnout. Young tennis players between the ages of 10 and 17 years were assessed on burnout, perfectionism, trait anxiety, motivation, sources of stress and coping behaviour over 25 months. The tennis players were competing at the school, state and/or national level. Since burnout is considered to be a fluid construct that builds up slowly, the longitudinal analysis allowed for the development of burnout to be measured overtime. Perfectionism, trait anxiety and motivation remained stable over the testing period. The use of ineffective coping strategies (i.e., non-productive) increased and effective coping strategies (i.e., productive) decreased over time. Age and components of perfectionism (i.e., positive perfectionism), coping (i.e., nonproductive), and motivation (i.e., amotivation) were found to be significant predictors of burnout in the young tennis players. Positive perfectionism was identified as a protective factor and non-productive coping, amotivation and age as risk factors for burnout. The results show that the relationship between personality, motivation and coping variables and burnout is multifaceted. The results reported in this research have significant implications in the understanding, prevention and intervention of burnout in young tennis players. Coaches, parents and others working with young tennis players must be mindful of amotivation and the use of non-productive coping strategies particularly during the middle stages of adolescent development. Vigilance and continuous assessment of coping behaviour, motivation and burnout symptoms during the youth sport experience is recommended.

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