Power in Pivot
Danielle M. Schetter, BSN, RN, CLC
Alfred Atanda Jr., MD
Pain avoidance is a powerful motivator for mediocrity… Mallory Ervin
I can still feel the crisp cool air and hear the pitter patter of sneakers on the concrete. It was just about sunrise and we had to stay alert as the mornings were so early it was only light enough to see directly in front of us. The alarm would go off at what felt like only two hours after going to bed. My legs still sore from the day before, my eyes heavy as if mini concrete blocks hung from each eyelash. My stomach was always in knots, unsure if it was hunger or the looming anxieties of the unknown. Two a days turned into three a days and the intensity only increased. Fresh cut grass, burning black turf, weight room sweat. Excitement, fear, exhaustion, pride and everything in between caused a conflicting rollercoaster of emotion. There were days I felt I could not make the cut, and days my name was called first and I played excitedly, but with a hint of imposter syndrome. The high school stats and college recruitment process led me to where I was, yet I struggled to believe my worthiness causing the homesickness to enhance. All of my hard work paid off, yet it did not feel the way I thought it was supposed to. I was hanging with upperclassmen, getting playing time, sporting the newest merch and still had a gut wrenching feeling of regret and uncertainty. This unwavering confusion caused all the feels and without any known resources other than a blissfully ignorant family who loved me, it caused what I now deem my greatest regret in life.
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Was this pain avoidance? Mind over matter? Athletic strain meets an anxious mind? Or maybe all of the above…
Let’s have a mini science lesson to dissect and understand decision making a little further. The largest part of the human brain is the cerebrum and within that, the frontal lobe is the largest section. The frontal lobe controls movement, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, judgment, impulse, social behavior and more. This lobe’s plasticity (aka the brain’s ability to modify or rewire) is not fully complete until approximately age 25. These changes play a major role in an adolescent’s vulnerability, independent skills, and basically all decision making capabilities. Second to infancy development, adolescence is one of the most crucial times for growth and development. When you think about all the choices a child/teen has to make during these years while ‘under construction,’ the need for education and support is well associated. Many athletes do not understand what they are going through, the lingering effects of their decisions, the confusion of mixed emotions and the outcomes of their impulsivities. Without the proper acknowledgment, assessment, support and proactive nature as parents/coaches, athletes of all ages can suffer from some kind of distress. Some of this agony may be as obvious as my own actions and others will show signs more silently and continue on while declining mentally. Athletes need to be protected both physically and mentally. Let’s examine this more closely.
Fast forward from my collegiate burnout and athletic departure, I speak now as a mental performance coach (M.A. Sport & Performance Psychology), orthopedic nurse (BSN, RN), youth sports coach, mom of three and certified life coach. Working side by side with some of the best orthopedic doctors and surgeons, studying the intensity of athletics along with the mental and physical strain has not only been enlightening, but cause for educating as many as possible.
According to The American Academy of Pediatrics (2024), 70% of kids drop out of sports by the age of thirteen! This statistic should be alarming and eye opening for all. The fact that I made it until my late teens I suppose is a (sad) achievement. A study from the NCAA (2024) on elite athletes showed 30% of them had mental health concerns with most reported as burnout, depression and anxiety. Looking further into the intensity of sports and mental health epidemic, a few topics need to be further explored. These topics include: external pressures, performance anxiety, burnout, youth specialization and general injuries.
FACT OR MYTH: Early focus leads to greater success? (Hint…NO!)
Dr. Alfred Atanda Jr., MD and TEDx Talk speaker, is an orthopedic surgeon at the nationally ranked Nemours Children’s Hospital. The U.S. News & World Report ranked Nemours among the best in the nation in multiple specialties, including Orthopedics. He and I have spoken at nauseum on the protection of youth athletes and there is clear evidence on how to maintain whole athlete wellness as much as possible. Whole athlete wellness consists of maintaining your athletic goals while having positive mental clarity. Although it may always be a work in progress, developing proactively to maintain this is what matters. Early youth sport specialization is a key contributor to burnout and injury. Early specialization refers to year round training/playing of one sport, typically before the age of 12. When specializing in one sport, this naturally causes increased training hours, more stress, anxiety to perfect, isolation from friends/family and increases the chances of burnout. Without taking necessary time to recover and move in different ways, an athlete can become underdeveloped neuromuscularly and increase their chances of injury from the repetitive use of the same muscles, tendons and nerves. From an outpatient hospital standpoint, the majority of patients coming in with injuries are due to overuse and strain. Most kids just need some rest and recovery time! Some general rules to abide by for our younger generation is to keep a sport to around 8 months of play per year max, delay specialization as long as possible, give rest days (1-2 days a week) and AGE = MAX HOURS of sport per week.
Overall, YES being involved in any sport has its benefits. Some of these benefits include decreased blood pressure and BMI, increase in bone density and insulin sensitivity, positive self image and satisfaction towards life, reduced depression and positive social benefits. Encouraging any type of movement in your child is always best. The point we are trying to bring home is that although the answer is always yes to activity, delaying any specific specialization will help to minimize injury, psychological stress and burnout.
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Let’s talk about injury. Whether it is a broken bone, torn ACL, bad sprain or the invisible injury of a concussion, an athlete needs to be closely monitored for the mental side effects that can arise. Especially in the elite or competitive athletic world, being taken from your sport is more than just a few missed games. Exclusion from the daily grind of endorphins blazing, crowds cheering, perfecting the game you love can cause a plethora of issues. Without this athletic identity as normal, athletes can suffer from isolation, anger, frustration, depression and anxiety. Thoughts of potential decreased future playing time missed social moments at practice, anxiety due to no defined timelines, restrictions and feelings of self-loss can all be factors that are silently choking the athlete. Signs of injury struggle may also look different from female to male. Females tend to present anxiety more cognitively with internal worries and thoughts and males tend to struggle setting realistic goals while presenting with more somatic (physical) anxiety.
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ROLL CALL!
Parents: to the ones with veins popping out of their neck from the sidelines yelling at their child to move faster, the critic in the chair offering what could have been done better, the ones emailing the volunteer coach a list of complaints, the ones signing their kid up for every personal training session because you're afraid to not keep up with your neighbor, the ones staying silent in the car post-game because you are disappointed and do not know what to say. Your kids hear you when you're yelling or when silent, they feel you and the pressures are so heavy you are not seeing them slowly sink into the quicksand. The external pressures, whether from you as a parent or coach, are counterproductive and will not get the result you probably thought it would. No athlete ever wants to play poorly. If your child has a really bad game, negative streak, different attitude, sleep issues, decreased interest for practice/game or is just showing signs that are atypical, they are all warnings of burnout. Athlete burnout is a mental health-related problem that is defined as a multidimensional syndrome of three symptoms: emotional and physical exhaustion (EPE; emotional and physical fatigue), sport devaluation (reductions in interest and development of negative attitudes towards one’s sport), and a reduced sense of accomplishment” (American Psychological Association, 2024). In addition to parental pressures, excessive training and early sport specialization can also lead to burnout. Sadly then, this burnout is directly linked to depression, anxiety, dropout from the sport along with decreased overall life satisfaction.
As a parent/coach, you have the power to teach your athlete to embrace non-productive time (aka- a hobby outside of their sport), the power of gratitude and a positive self-reflection. A confident mindset will reflect on and off the field. Nonproductive time or unstructured play has many benefits. When an athlete spends time outside of the structure of training, they are able to tap into various parts of their brain. This helps to promote creativity, learning to solve problems and gain resilience, improve social skills, promote independence, and most importantly decrease anxiety and depression.
I know this may be an unpopular opinion but KEEP YOUR KID IN REC! Recreational/township leagues are on the decline while burnout is on the rise. Read that again. As parents, we need to recognize this on the youth sports level. Let your kid play rec (in addition to club or solely) to keep the fun in the sport. Your child can be with friends, play without such extreme pressures all while still learning. Fun decreases burnout; it is as simple as that. Most times, when an athlete is given time to step away and break the monotony and rigidity of their schedule it has shown to improve their athletic abilities upon return.
“...parental pressure and behavior strongly modify the child’s sport experience and have been found to potentially decrease an athlete's enjoyment of the sport by inducing perfectionist expectations and increasing anxiety.” (The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine)
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Parents! Do you know you have the power to create resilient, powerful athletes? Reflect a bit and see if any of these sounds familiar - -
My kid only wants to go D1…
I just know their potential…
I hope after all this money, they get a scholarship…
You play so well in the yard, what happens in the game…
Maybe we need some more training…
Were you sleeping out there…
The number one take of all this information is that the person is greater than the athlete. Without molding and caring for the person, the child, the human - - there is no athlete. Or, there is an athlete but with struggle, emotional instability and subpar athletic outcomes. To create or enhance the athlete THEY want to be, YOU as a parent/coach must focus on the inner person. Some of the greatest lessons we can teach our athletes is encouragement to try new things and modeling a growth mindset. What comes from trying new things is resilience, adaptability and courage. In trying new things, there is potential for failure and discomfort. The power and strength that is created from being uncomfortable becomes a superpower. Teaching the courage to learn a new skill and praising mistakes will build confidence you will never regret. Every mistake an athlete makes is a learning opportunity. Take a risk, fail, learn. Always praise the effort over the outcome. It is the small, rocky steps that get you to where you need to be. When modeling a growth mindset as a parent, coach or athlete you are showing those around you the power of positive affirmations. Be the athlete you want to be by thinking about it, feeling it, showing it, putting it on paper and grinding each day despite any setbacks. Set goals, both big and small, and praise each milestone. The best athletes not only show up in the weight room, field, court or whatever place of play, but also work on their mental game every day by showing up for themselves, engaging in a positive mindset; independently or assisted.
Let’s normalize the mental game practice as much as we do the physical. When mental health is regulated and the stigma is decreased, athletes can soar to much higher levels. By taking the person over the athlete, we can decrease injuries both mentally and physically and keep kids playing what was once just their greatest pastime. Pay attention to the signs, both physically and mentally. Aid your child to pivot their mindset and habits to achieve whole athlete wellness. Pivot is defined as the central point in which something turns, completely changing the way in which one does something, or simply to rotate. Be your child’s pivot. Teach your child to pivot. Focus on the importance of athletic mental wellness and the outcome of the directional change will be transformative. Never hesitate to obtain professional help (ie. Sport & Performance Psychology Consultant) to keep your child on track. Be proactive and set your athlete up for success!