Overtraining and perfectionism. This summary describes the findings of a study that examined the relationship between overtraining and perfectionism in junior athletes

Madigan, Daniel J.

York St John University Institutional Repository

York St John UniversityMadigan, Daniel J. (2016) Discover research : Coach resource three. Overtraining and perfectionism. York St John University. (Unpublished)  Downloaded from: http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/1904/Research at York St John (RaY) is an institutional repository. It supports the principles of open access by making the research outputs of the University available in digital form. Copyright of the items stored in RaY reside with the authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full text items free of charge, and may download a copy for private study or non-commercial research. For further reuse terms, see licence terms governing individual outputs. Institutional Repository Policy StatementRaYResearch at the University of York St John For more information please contact RaY at ray@yorksj.ac.ukOvertraining and perfectionism. This summary describes the findings of a study that examined the relationship between overtraining and perfectionism in junior athletes.IntroductionTo succeed in sport athletes are required to participate in intensive training regimes. However, excessive training accompanied by inadequate recovery can result in overtraining. Overtraining is characterised by a decrease in performance that can persist for weeks and sometimes months at a time. Therefore, getting the balance right between training and recovery is essential for coaches.How does psychology fit in?An athlete’s risk of overtraining may be afected by their personality. Identifying psychological factors that predispose athletes to a greater risk of overtraining would therefore be very useful for coaches as theymanage training and recovery for their athletes. One psychological factor that may be important in terms of overtraining is perfectionism. This is because perfectionistic athletes may train harder and for longer than non-perfectionistic athletes.What is perfectionism exactly?Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that is thought to be learned from parents and other important people in their lives during adolescence. It includes a range of features. These features include setting high standards, a need to be organised, concerns about mistakes, and doubts about one’s own actions. It can also include beliefs about what other people expect (e.g., “my coach expects me to be perfect”) or the tendency to have high expectations of others (e.g., “I expect my teammates to be perfect”). The more positive features of perfectionism are collectively called “perfectionistic strivings” and the more negative features are collectively called “perfectionistic concerns.” Dr Daniel Madigan E: d.madigan@yorksj.ac.uk | T 01904 876829 York St John University, Lord Mayors Walk, York, YO30 7EXThe studyThe purpose of the study was to examine if perfectionism predicted increases in overtraining over a period of three months. To answer this question, 141 junior athletes from sports academies in the UK (age ranged from 16 to 19) completed questionnaires to measure perfectionism and overtraining. The resultsThe study revealed that:Perfectionism predicted increases in the risk of overtraining over the three month period. However, only perfectionistic concerns predicted this change, whereas perfectionistic strivings did not. Practical implicationsCoaches need to be aware of the risk of overtraining. To help reduce this risk of overtraining, coaches should consider the following:• Encourage athletes to be conscientious and flexible (not perfectionistic) regarding training loads so to change their “more is better” attitude. • Regularly seek feedback and input from athletes regarding training loads.• Monitor training loads and recovery among athletes. One simple way to do this is to use a short questionnaire (available online from http://bit.ly/2f4fLm8). This summary is based on the article below:Madigan, D. J., Stoeber, J., & Passfield, L. (in press). Perfectionism and training distress in junior athletes: a longitudinal investigation. Journal of Sports Sciences.Other useful readings on the topics discussed are:Jowett, G. E., Mallinson, S. H., & Hill, A. P. (2016). An Independent Efects Approach to Perfectionism in Sport, Dance, and Exercise. In A. P. Hill (Ed.), The Psychology of Perfectionism in Sport, Dance, and Exercise (pp. 85-149). London: Routledge. Meeusen, R., Duclos, M., Foster, C., Fry, A., Gleeson, M., Nieman, D., & Urhausen, A. (2013). Prevention,diagnosis and treatment of the overtraining syndrome: Joint consensus statement of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). European Journal of SportScience, 13, 1–24.

Discover research : Coach resource three. Overtraining and perfectionism.

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