Athletes Who Are Sore losers and Perfectionist Have Greater Risk of Burning Out
Athletes who are sore losers and perfectionist have a greater risk of burning out than others. Sore losers and perfectionists feel they must win 100% of the time. This sets them up for major disappointment and possibly depression at some point in their life.
A research study done at the University of Alberta by sport psychologist John Dunn found the following:
Athletes who think failure is not an option will eventually experience some form of emotional burnout, or put incredible levels of pressure on themselves by creating an unattainable standard of perfection and are emotionally exhausted all the time because nothing they do is ever good enough.
Parents must be vigilant not to encourage this behavior when raising athletes. This is challenging because it’s instinctive for parents to want to raise a child who is a winner. However, there is a threshold when your child wins too much.
Parents fear that if their child loses too much, losing may become part of their character. On the flip side parents forget that winning all the time creates the sore loser and perfectionist mentality. Therefore, it’s ideal that young athletes in particular win more than they lose, but don’t win too much.
If you’re a parent of an athlete who wins too much, it’s your job to put them in situations that increase their risk of losing. While this seems counterproductive, it’s the best thing you can do for the long term health of your child.