College Burnout

[MyrddinsPrecint]

If you're fencing at a club, often you pick how many times a week you show up. If you're on a college team, the practice schedule is set in stone, and you don't have as much personal control, especially on NCAA teams.

I was talking to someone about my team, about friends on NCAA teams.... And I realized there's been a bit of burnout of people I've talked to on one particular team--- Of course, I only knew the people who seemed to burn out, so that could be an incredibly unlucky sample.

What I'm wondering is if people have noticed more burnout in NCAA teams, club teams, or if I'm just looking at it from an odd perspective. Also, if there is burnout, I'm wondering how to avoid it- both on a personal and institutional level.

[Allen Evans]

"Burn-out" is a phrase that can mean a lot of things. Someone may enjoy the sport a great deal, but not give their body a rest. They over train, and suffer "physical burnout". Or, they may be in great shape, but the daily grind of coming to practice and doing the same repetitive drills and lessons may have them mentally "burned out".

In sports where repetitive practices are the norm (swimming for instance) coaches have a lot of different routines to avoid mental and physical overtraining. Sometimes it is as simple as realizing that the team needs a day off, and the team does a social activity together, rather than work.

I'd check out a few coaching books (call ouiyt, he seems to have about 50,000 of the things) and look for some ideas. One of the easiest things to do in a college setting, where there is access to a lot of facilities (usually just by scheduling) is to have a "practice" doing a physical activity different from fencing: swimming, soccer game, ping pong challenge....for example.

Just an idea.

Allen

[Sciurus-Rex]

"Burn out" -- I wish!
It's tough enough getting leisure fencers at a club to get involved enough to even dream of someday possibly imagining putting the words "burn" and "out" together in the same sentence.
You lucky, lucky bastard.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

There isn't a whole lot of burnout at Smith. There is some, but it's easily manageable.

A couple of my NCAA friends seem to have felt it more, though, and I'm wondering when it's a problem, and when it's not......

[RoninX]

In school we practiced 4 nights a week 8-10 in the off season and 4 nights a week 8-11 (or was is 7-10?) during the season (offseason included things like other sports -volleyball, soccer- and substantial running etc.) It seemed like people who had fenced before coming to school often had what we called "burnout" issues either after their junior or senior years in regards to fencing - they just wanted to do something else with their time.

Many of those people took a few (1-3) years off and are now fencing occasionally, at least recreationally. Maybe it is the time period more than the person. In many sports (and activities in general for that matter - hobbies, jobs) I've been involved in the is a period between 4-7 years of involvement in which a person has committed substantial time to something for quite awhile and either it begins to grind on them or bore them or they reach a plateau that the just can't seem to cross. If you make it across that plateau you are more often than not a "lifer". However it is during that plateau that what I see as athletic burnout usually happens... other activities just start looking like more fun than what you are doing.

my $0.02 anyway...

[alewive]

To build on MP's post, for those of you who made the jump from high school to NCAA fencing, are you glad you did? Does the level of training and competition meet your expectations of what the college experience would be? Are the coach's expectations and demands in line with your own?

[AndrewH]

I go through periods of burnout. Sometime I feel like quitting there and then, sometimes i can't wait to go fence the next day. I find that a couple days off does wonders.

[Lochbuie]

I am interested in hearing more about ways to avoid burnout. My son and I started fencing about six months ago. We are neophytes. However, he has my genes and "halfway" isn't in the family vpcabulary. Thus, he has been bitten by the fencing bug and devours everything "fencing": books, articles and lessons. He is 12 and a homeschool student, so he's got plenty of time to dream and absorb.

What are some things I can do to help him avoid the kind of burnout I observe in other youth sports, where the parents check their brains at the door and participate vicariously through their kids?

He's got some basic talent, is athletic and appears to be hooked.

[RoninX]

Breaks and days off are the key. If he does another sport some time during the year that may be a good time to take a couple months off from fencing. Also training 3 days a week for a couple hours a day is usually a pretty good startign point. If he wants more he'll probably let you know. If he's regularly dragging his feet going to practice you might think about notching it back or taking a couple months off.

[counter riposte]

Just to build on the plateau... I agree. Like Allen said, the body goes through different phases, and after repetition after repetition, it could get boring. Taking time off from something is often the trick, it's the getting back that is important.

Burning out is also important. It forces you to be more creative and see things that you didn't necessarily see before. It can also force you to look at things with a fresh perspective, till you reach your next plateau.

[teamusaepee]

Originally Posted by alewive

To build on MP's post, for those of you who made the jump from high school to NCAA fencing, are you glad you did?

Yes, in that it was something I thought I wanted to do. No, in that it wasn't for me.

Does the level of training and competition meet your expectations of what the college experience would be?

The training was fine. The competition was very unsatisfying - a couple of 5-touch bouts, most of the time. I was just coming into my own competitively and after training at least 10 hours a week I wanted more than that. Training/competition outside the school wasn't convenient/available.

Back to the topic, burn out, both physical and mental, is a consideration often neglected by athletes. Physical burnout (too much, too soon, too little rest) is usually quick to manifest itself with an injury or decreased performance. Mental burnout often shows up after a longer period of time - a once dedicated athlete wakes up one day and says, "I don't want to do this anymore." Of course, individuals can vary. Usually at this point the athlete will quit or take a break from the sport.

There are two strategies you might use to avoid this situation. One is trying to concentrate on assessing your individual improvement as opposed to comparing yourself to others. This is easier when you are a beginner/intermediate fencer, as there are obvious physical, technical, and tactical improvements. The advanced fencer has less of these and may have new pressures (making a national team, earning a higher rating, etc). The second strategy is to really figure out what you love about fencing and to try to use it in your training/competition from time to time. Maybe you love the people/camaraderie, so sometimes after you get eliminated hang around and cheer on friends or people you know (it makes them feel good). Maybe you love "the fight," so when you free fence, do it with intensity and not just when a score is on the line.

[bunbury]

It might not just be burnout. My brother fenced *to* get into a college for cheap. He graduated from Duke after fencing on their team for 4 years; I'm pretty sure he always saw it as a job, and I'm sure that NCAA fencing didn't change his attitude much.

[AndrewH]

Originally Posted by bunbury

I'm pretty sure he always saw it as a job, and I'm sure that NCAA fencing didn't change his attitude much.

Yep, same here. I consider fencing to be a job rather than a hobby. I guess it helps towards preventing burnout, because it's not really expected that you'll always like your job. It's just something you go out and do, regardless of how you feel about it.