BURNOUT IN ESPORTS

by Robert Yip & Taylor Heitzig-Rhodes

(Photo Credit: Riot Games)

What is burnout?

Burnout is defined by healthcare practitioners as ‘mental or physical exhaustion’ (1) and ‘reduced personal accomplishment (2)’. It is a popular and contentious topic among esports and traditional sports coaches. It is a major contributing factor to the shortening of athlete careers and the increasing number of dropouts from aspiring young athletes. When children are involved in sport, they are emulating the behaviours of role models, as well as developing their training norms from coaches. From an early age, the sporting world shepherds them to think that volume of work combined with total hours equates to a linear increase in performance. Couple this with a common sports mentality of “no pain no gain”, and we have a recipe for burnout. While athletic achievement is that space where talent and hard work mesh it is important to taper training based on the individual athlete (3).

Who is affected by burnout?

Burnout is not limited to the sporting environment; it happens to everyone (players and coaches alike) (4). Each person has a breaking point, and when it’s reached, their ability to cope with increasing or even constant levels of stress is reduced. While it’s necessary for individuals in high-performance sectors to work hard for success, and this is no more noticeable than within the realm of competitive sport, we must be wary of overworking athletes to the point of burnout or injury. There is a fine line between pushing athletes mentally and physically so that they can adapt and grow stronger, and unintelligently following a one-size-fits-all training philosophy. The cookie cutter training programs that focus primarily on very high volume workouts can often result in a high attrition rate among even well-trained athletes (5).

Effects of burnout

The effects of burnout are cumulative. The longer a stressor acts on an athlete, the more difficult it is to purge these adverse effects. Players acutely affected by burnout can suffer from interrupted sleep (6), loss of focus (7), dips in performance as well as being prone to playing on auto-pilot. Once we move past the acute stage into chronic stage burnout it becomes much more difficult to address the negative side effects without increasing/improving recovery or changing the training load.

We always want to be pushing athletes so that their bodies and minds can improve, keeping an eye on how individuals are dealing with it. A good coach will be able to catch the short term symptoms of burnout. Being mindful of the baseline behaviours and performance of athletes is important in keeping track of how your training load, environment, as well as how external pressures affect your athletes.

(Photo Credit: Robbie Nakamura @Ghostclaw)

Recognizing burnout

Burnout presents itself through decreases in player performance, changes in off-field moods, lack of motivation, decreased interest in creative problem solving, and desensitization to situations that would typically elicit an emotional reaction (8).

Coaches should always prepare players for the rigors of competitive play. If players are not fit or mentally focused enough to play, then they will usually sit on the bench. Rotational policies force players to make sure that they push themselves so that they are ‘undroppable’. At the very top of elite performers, the separating factors between individuals are minuscule. This makes athletes push themselves to physical breaking points before religiously following their recovery protocols so squeeze every last minute of productivity out of their working day. The danger of burnout is not constant. One has to balance the risks and rewards of training versus recovery. Athletes can be very meticulous in reducing the stresses placed on their body to maximize their training potential as well as lengthening their career prospects. Players will hire chefs, nutritionists, psychologists, outside physical practitioners (yoga, pilates), cryotherapy (for recovery) as well as limit time spent travelling to and from training by hiring a chauffeur.

Recognizing burnout in your athletes

• Reduced energy
• Trouble sleeping
• Erratic behaviour (emotional regulation when compared to norms)
• State anxiety
• Forgetfulness, reduced cognitive ability
• Increased frequency of illness
• Chronic fatigue (not to be confused with tiredness)
• Lack of purpose
• Apathy
• Mid depression
• Isolation

Communication is indeed one of the better methods for pre-emptively recognizing early onset burnout. Pay heed to what your players are saying as well as what they are telling you non-verbally, because they are often not capable of understanding that they are tired and over-compensating. Players will continue to train as required each day, and they may not be able to notice slight decreases in performance in an attempt to ‘get better’.

(Photo Credit: Bleacher Report)

When we coach sports that are highly physical in nature we can compare base RHR (resting heart rate) and HRV (heart rate variability), VO2 max and mood states. We keep a close eye on how these change with increases or decreases in training volume, intensity and changes to recovery times. In esports, we have been slow adopters to the reality of physicality in gaming. Professional gaming falls under the umbrella of fine motor control sports. We compare to pistol shooting, snooker, darts and archery. Hand-eye coordination, reflexes, reaction time, mental concentration, and varied bands of focus (narrow to broad) are all skill sets of high-level fine motor control athletes. We tend to measure only what we can see in the game. It is important to utilize what is available to us from other sporting spheres. We are able to measure, interpret and reassess various health variables to keep a record of how a player changes throughout the year. The less connective process is how we utilize this data with respect to a player’s volume of training. It is difficult to pull a player from team practice because he is showing signs of burnout or acute fatigue. We can adjust individual training plans as well as scheduling of active recovery but esports is set up to value time spent playing over deliberate practice. It is an arms race that necessitates a player devoting a significant amount of time to learn and relearn (the game changes because of patches) how to play the game while maintaining mastery over many different concepts/champions. It is worth noting that deliberate practice and careful awareness over how we practice will alleviate the stress of having to invest an ever increasing amount of time into training. This is counter intuitive to what we have learnt from traditional sports as an over emphasis on deliberate practice can in fact lead to drops in motivation and increases in burnout (9). The difference in how esports and traditional sports utilizes this concept is in that there is no bottleneck in terms of physical fatigue that we see in other sports. A training regime of 3–4 hours of deliberate practice is very taxing, mundane and repetitive in traditional sports. A similar mindset for 10–12 hours within the realm of esports would be very mentally taxing and certainly not something that would be well received by everyone.

Predictors of Burnout Resistance

In terms of tracking the development of esports athletes in the professional scene, this responsibility is still in its infancy. There is yet to be a gold standard for cultivating talent or at least bridging the gap between amateur and professional scene. Talent is usually ‘found’ from placing high on the regional ladders or from word of mouth from players. This is probably the most accepted predictor of success when recruiting players. While this can provide a good base for someone’s ability to play the game, it is difficult to gauge if they will be a good fit within a team environment and adapt to the lifestyle of a professional player.

Players that have been competing for a number of years now already have an edge over newer players in that they will have developed some coping strategies and are well versed in how to manage expectations. The more successful you are the chances are the more expansive your support systems. Whether this is through support staff, family, friends, significant others or fans it is important to find solace and support through those people close to you. Success is a derivative of rebounding back from continuous failure and attempts. Treating these failures as learning experiences and being able to maintain confidence and faith in the process already elevates your chances of success in the long term.

Another predictor stems from Mental toughness or ‘Grit’ which is a much popularized phrase coined by many sporting circles. While it can be interpreted as a person’s ability to remain steadfast in action in the face of adversity. Key components include Emotional Control, Confidence in one’s ability, Commitment and positive propensity to Challenge opportunities. Individuals with high scores in mental toughness will strive towards a particular goal with focus and dedication while being more equipped to dealing with the stressors of the job (10). Failures are temporary setbacks and success is the journey rather than the destination. Carefully attuning of athletes behaviours and their reactions to outside influences as well stress will help alleviate overall stress on the individual. This is the key component to effectively controlling the negative effects. We have to have a good understanding of the needs requirements of professional play as well as the stress capacity of each player. Sometimes, especially for rookie players (and depending on their early experiences), it can take them a split or more to attune to the expectations and pace of the highest level of play (11). The most important aspect to their rookie development is bridging the gap between what they were comfortable with before and the new expectations and challenges that lie ahead.

(Photo Credit: TL.net)

Team House

Most pro-gamers are very young, and once they show aptitude and skill in the game they usually work online or in a team house. The latter is something that is viewed as an industry standard. Players live with their teammates and coaching staff in a house and live and work together. The advantages of this are mostly in being able to build team bonds with other people while also having a direct hand in the implementation of structure in their lives. The downsides to this system are mostly linked to the full immersion of having to spend all your waking hours focused on the game because, unlike traditional sports, there is a lower physical requirement. This allows the athlete to train harder without the body tiring too quickly. When your rivals are putting in 12 hours each day, competition demands that you put in the same amount of time, or somehow work smarter. No other sport has players and coaches living together all year round, and this can often increase the amount of stress on the player in an already high-stress competitive industry.

The general opinion regarding team houses used to be that they have a positive effect on performance and are a necessity for serious teams (we have to toe the line between what is good for pure performance and the growth of the individual). This was an accepted idea for many reasons. The most important of these is that we, within the gaming scene, do not know any better. We created team house environments where players could be monitored more closely, and human interaction is prefered over online communication. There is a greater sense of team identity and shared purpose when you have coaches and players working face to face. The lower frequency of face to face contact with teams that work primarily online creates an environment that is bereft of a long term sense of shared identity and goals. This can create issues with player retention, motivation, rate of perceived learning as well as inability to adopt strong cultural ideals (should they exist).

I used to be fully on board with the idea of team houses as long as they are run with player development in mind. Players should be encouraged to grow both inside and outside of the game: personal and professional development. Players will all have had both positive and negative experiences within team houses and this will always be the case. The main crux of creating a team house is to create a more logistically manageable localized workplace. Daily routines, time keeping and higher level interpersonal communication is much more prevalent when players live together. Nowadays we have the facilities to be able to work from an office or workspace while the players can keep their separation between home and work. In the long term this is a much better situation for both players, staff and organizations. This helps add clarity regarding what are considered work hours and what is considered personal time. The added stress of living with your teammates all year round is reduced significantly and it allows players a chance to be able to lead more ‘normal’ lives, have relationships and create accountability through the independence that is afforded to them.

(Photo Credit: Starladder)

Effects of Travel

Franchises such as CSGO are notorious for a gruelling travelling schedule as players have to move from country to country in order to participate in tournaments. While many of their tournaments are played online, jetsetting to global tournaments are the pinnacle of competition for these teams. Some CSGO teams can be on the road for as much as 36 weeks of the year in order to maintain tournament league obligations while also competing in the bigger prize pool tournaments. Teams have gotten much better at trying to prioritize the tournaments that they want to participate in. It is important to choose the periods in the calendar year whereby you want to peak for important events. It is unfeasible for teams to maintain pristine performance all year round without well devised systems in place.

The effects of travelling across different time zones has negative effects on overall performance (12, 13). The acclimatization to new environments, food, people, cultures can place a stressor on certain individuals. The more binary and well versed the skill being practiced the less that travel can affect performance. There will be slight changes to performance output but this is more obvious in activities that require much greater levels of cognition. Traditional sports such as Tennis and Golf are well versed in how to work around an ever dynamic travel routine. It is seen as part and parcel of the rigor of the sport. Sleep protocols, travel acclimatization, specific diet requirements as well as exercise periodization play a huge role in coping with burnout.

(Photo Credit: LOL Esports)

Effects of maturity and experience on burnout

For the majority of working environments there is high value placed on the amount of experience a person can bring to their job. This is a commodity that can foster confidence and respect between individuals. Outside of experience being invaluable within a team setting, the individual benefits from having a bank of trials and tribulations to call upon. Knowing what to expect is only one part of the puzzle. Experiencing something and knowing how to deal with it should it arise again is something harder to teach. You gain confidence knowing you went through something taxing either physically, emotionally or mentally. Learning from this experience and internalizing your thoughts and feelings help develop better coping strategies for future events (14).

Professional athletes can call upon their personal experiences or reflect on how their more experienced colleagues act and cope in certain situations. The more developed and consistent these coping strategies, the better someone deals with stress and pressures of competition. Burnout or overtraining often happens when we work beyond our means, or our recovery/de-stressing protocols can’t keep up with the build up of stress/pressure. It is very much important to recognize and be aware of how hard you are working and how you feel on a day to day basis, especially as stress compounds over time, especially since highly driven people often double down on work when times are tough.

Recording thoughts in a journal format or talking to a coach or teammate can do wonders for identifying trigger points that stress you on a daily basis. It can be something as simple as the way someone speaks to you, or how the daily structure does not fit with your usual work habits. Being aware is the first component, but the most important aspect is communication. You should feel empowered to know that you can speak to someone about these issues as they arise, and that criticism won’t be held against you. Sometimes this sort of intervention requires enough trust between two parties for it to come across in the right manner; for the betterment of the player and subsequently the team.

(Photo Credit: LPL)

Effects of Corona Virus on Chronic Burnout

Recently there has been a lot of discussion surrounding whether or not the league would continue for Spring Split. Given the unpredictable nature of the virus progression as well as the individual measures that each country is taking it is difficult to plan as we move forward. Currently a mid-May Summer Split return is scheduled. This is to account for the transposition of MSI to mid split. Given that finals for both LEC and LCS will be mid April it leaves the player with only 3–4 weeks in the off-season until they play their first game. Even during the best of times this creates an extremely unrealistic timeline in order for players to decompress while also being able to prepare for the coming split. This is because if the players can take a break on completion of the split to decompress they will have to spend about 2 weeks prior to their next split beginning to get their game mechanics up to a good level. Given how all encompassing the pro gamer lifestyle is for up to 16 weeks in succession (for Spring Split alone) when you include bootcamping, regular season as well as playoffs, these breaks for players are paramount to alleviate the effects of burnout as well as for maintaining quality of life.

An unforgiving factor in this debate is how to best use the time that we have between splits. Is time equal for everyone? There is the added stress faced by players that are non-native to the region that they are playing in. Corona quarantine makes it logistically difficult for players to travel back home to their native countries, go through mandatory quarantine while still being confident that they will be able to travel back to the region in which they play. This might necessitate players having to stay in the country in which they play during the offseason. Players can often be affected by the stress of being in a different environment, different food, weather as well as language immersion can all compound as negative stressors (16). It would be naive to think that everybody will come into Summer split with the same potential for recovery. Quarantine by itself increases stress (15) which compounds with the stress of the job. Ideally the schedule would be aligned so that the players would have enough time to be home with their families while also allowing enough leeway for travel if someone is taken ill by Corona. It makes logical sense that the show must go on. The jobs of not just the players are predicated off of Riot being able to put out a product but I firmly believe that there should be a much deeper conversation between all parties involved to find a structure that accommodates the needs (emotional, psychological) of everyone in these troubled times. Ideally the MSI will be removed from the schedule and we can give all players a better timeframe to be able to prepare for a further period of lockdown while also performing at the highest level with much less availability to decompress freely.

Dealing with Burnout

While these are not specific to dealing with burnout (as aforementioned once burnout has taken place it is already too late) moreso to how we look at stressors on the athlete. Stress is ultimately individual in how it affects certain players. What is considered stress to one player can be something useful or positive to another. It is important to work with the players to develop a working schema and deal with the issues as opposed to the symptoms.

Coping strategies provide the athlete with deliberate methods to deal with stress buildup and maintain a healthy demeanor. The effects of stress should be looked at from a physical, psychological, emotional as well as spiritual perspective. Our reactions to stressful situations will either cause us to internalize or externalize attributions. Each person theoretically will be able to shoulder different level of stress. Our capacity for dealing with these levels of stress depends on total working capacity as well as the ability to siphon this throughout the day. The holistic approach works towards arming athletes with a release valve so that they can self regulate. Examples of coping strategies for players in dealing with stressors include exercise, sleep hygiene protocols, engaging in social activities, mindfulness/meditation, active relaxation, personal development (university/courses), hobbies, planning (mind mapping/goal setting) as well as a plethora of personality adaptive traits when under duress.

Conclusion

The topic of burnout is a contentious topic, as you have to find balance between working players to the point of exhaustion and keeping them healthy. Often players will have different breaking points, and a one size system will struggle to accommodate everyone while remaining optimal. From the point of view of the players, they have to be in a position to know how to understand what their body is telling them or run the risk of getting injured or having their play deteriorate.

Professional teams already understand and have had experience in player burnout and are definitely working on creating a support staff that can recognize and treat the symptoms of overtraining/stressful working environments. This step forward makes it more likely that all teams will eventually be able to create some system that can identify player physical and mental health over an extended period of time. Even the teams that have a lower budget can adopt a system that makes it possible for players to use self-reporting forms with some form of feedback linked behavioural modification.

Players will still want to play as much as they physically are able to do with little regard for their own health because for them, more games played equates to more skill attained. What we would have to establish eventually is the point at which playing more games is not worth the investment in time, or additional mental/physical stress. Every person will have a tipping point where diminishing returns leave some of their time better spent cross training. I am of the opinion that with more time invested into working with individual players, better analytics in esports, more player education, and experience within better coaching ecosystems,we will see a more scientific approach to training which would go a long way to smarter more efficient practice.

Robert Yip is Performance Coach for Misfits Gaming.

Taylor Heitzig-Rhodes is an Agent at Evolved Talent Agency

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