A STUDY INTO THE CAUSES OF BURNOUT IN ASPIRING, ELITE ADOLESCENT RUGBY PLAYERS FROM A SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Athlete burnout has been a concern to sport organizations, the media and researchers due to its negative accusation with well-being and performance (Gould, Udry, Tuffey, & Loehr 1996; Smith, 1986). During the course of the interviews participants reported observing player experiences, both positively and negatively, in dealing with the stressors of elite rugby. These experiences were interpreted using existing theoretical explanation based on SDT (Ryan and Deci, 2000). An attempt is made to incorporate what is already known in terms of: the nature, causes and consequences of burnout, identified in previous research (Cresswell & Ecklund, 2005; 2006; 20007) and adapt that to provide a different angle of research, endeavouring to increase the depth of research on the burnout construct.