The Nature of Player Burnout in Rugby: Key Characteristics and Attributions

Abstract

Researchers studying the experiences of individuals in human care settings propose the burnout syndrome consists of three central characteristics: emotional exhaustion, reduced accomplishment and depersonalization (Maslach, 1982). The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which this broadly accepted multi-dimensional conceptualization of burnout is appropriate for elite rugby players. Fifteen purposefully sampled professional players were interviewed about their rugby-related experiences. The experiences described by some players included cognitive and affective states reminiscent of the sport-specific burnout syndrome conceptualization forwarded by Raedeke and Smith (2001) (i.e., exhaustion, reduced accomplishment and sport devaluation) that was grounded in the original human care literature (e.g., Maslach, 1982). Players associated these negative experiences with a variety of perceptions and events related to their rugby involvement (e.g., injury, perceptions of the team environment and training loads).