Burning Out

While playing sports is a wonderful thing that most athletes dedicate a lot of their time to, it can also become something you do not enjoy as much as before. By playing the game you love a little too frequently, you can become burnt out. By burnt out I mean you seem to have lost the same passion you had before, or motivation in practice. This doesn't have to mean it is no longer something you look forward to throughout the day or enjoy being at, but you simply are not as motivated to succeed as well.

Becoming burnt out of the sport you play is not always going to happen. Some players will simply never lose any motivation, not because they simply love the game more. Some athletes can truly absolutely love the sport they play and still become burnt out. You just play it too much and your body gets bored of doing the same thing over and over again. There are many ways to fix this lack of motivation or enjoyment.

One thing you can do to get back in the groove is by trying a new sport. I like to balance out my schedule by playing more than one sport. This creates new goals in your head and steers your mind away from focusing on one thing. Improving in a different sport might benefit your main one. By running track you could gain endurance or quickness that would benefit your overall play in your main sport. Going from one practice to the other somewhat ensures no chance of getting burnt out.

If this doesn't work for you for some reason you might just need to take a break. If your sport is year long it might get tiring and you just need to do something else. Take a hike, go to the pool, and hang out with your friends. Sometimes you need to forget about all of your responsibilities and just take a day off. This might help you in the long run.

It is very important to keep athletes interested. If an athlete is not one hundred percent ready to go in practice because they feel burnt out, the chances are it will only get worse. It is nothing to be ashamed of if you do become burnt out. It is natural for you to suddenly get bored of the sport you love, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. If you eat your favorite food everyday for every meal you will eventually lose your appetite for it, won't you? This doesn't take away from how much you love it, but simply the fact that you need something new to flare things up.