The Mental Performance Corner: 4 Awesome Benefits of Taking a Break from Your Sport

Not everyone is going to agree with this, but it needs to be said. 

Taking a break from your sport is actually a really, really good thing.

In my last blog, I talked about what can happen to athletes who don’t take breaks from sports, such as getting burnt out, developing unhealthy habits and an unhealthy mindset, losing a love of their sport, etc. This message of taking breaks might be in contrast to what we hear from other parents, coaches and athletes perspectives, but it's an important one. 

As year-round sports have become more and more prevalent, taking a minute to understand why it’s actually good to let your athlete focus on other hobbies, sports and FUN is extremely important because it really is incredibly beneficial to your athlete in many ways. To cut right to the chase, athletes who take breaks will have time to learn, to become more well rounded, to have some pressure taken off them and mostly to have fun. Each of these has its own benefits on its own, but when we bring them all together, the impact on athletes is massive.

So instead of focusing on all the big scary things that can happen if an athlete doesn’t take that much needed break, let’s talk about all the benefits and positives that can come with taking one. 

Time to play other sports. 

“More sports?!” You might be asking me. I know replacing one with another might seem counterintuitive, but playing other sports is not only fun for athletes, it also has a handful of pretty awesome benefits. If you look at many of the successful professional athletes, they played a variety of different sports.

1. Athletes can develop other skills, both physical and mental, they can bring back to their sport and in life. Each sport has different benefits athletes can learn from, and this can help create a more well-rounded athlete overall.
2. If your athlete has been with the same group of coaches for years, it can be a great opportunity for them to learn other coaching styles & techniques. Learning to take direction, observe potential role-models, build relationships, and just learn from what these coaches have to offer can help athletes develop new skills and relationships that will build their confidence and self-esteem as well..
3. Engaging with other groups of kids is important for athletes. They need to learn to work with others, to make new friends, and to deal with potential conflicts as well. Having a new group outside of their regular team will also give them an opportunity to grow their peer and friend group which has its own benefits as I’ll talk about below.

Spending time with Friends. 

As parents, we want to keep our children close. Letting them go, watching them develop close friendships that take them away and out on their own can be really difficult. But research has shown that while it might be difficult as a parent, the benefits to teens and young adults are huge. 

An article from NPR pointed out that close friendships predict lower anxiety. The scientists found that those adolescents who put close friendships first at the age of 15 tended to have lower social anxiety, a higher sense of self-worth, and fewer depressive symptoms by the age of 25, compared with their counterparts who did not prioritize such friendships.

Taking a break from sports to spend time with friends has also shown to boost happiness, promote resilience, teach conflict resolution, improve an adolescent’s sense of purpose and so much more. Athletes are no different than anyone else, they need time to create these deeper connections to positively impact them not just in sports, but down the line in “real life” as well.

Developing new hobbies 

When athletes have time to develop new hobbies, or spend time on hobbies they already have, they’ll be able to develop new skills that may help them on the court, ice, field, etc. They can meet new people, and really find out what they enjoy doing outside of just their sport. The long-term benefits of building up skills, and hobbies outside of sports is something that will pay off as these athletes grow up, and eventually move on from playing. Similar to spending time with friends, the benefits of developing hobbies include building self-esteem, a sense of achievement, time management, regulating emotions and more.

Long-term success

At the end of the day, athletes will all end up in the “real world.” Whether they have a professional career, play through college, or even burn out at some point, there are a whole host of skills they will need to be successful in sports and life.  Developing new skills, friendships, relationships with coaches and learning along the way can help your athlete be successful no matter what they end up doing, and plus it makes life more enjoyable!

Another point to remember is that long term success occurs when we take care of ourselves in the short term. Research shows you are less productive when you push yourself. The same goes for work. We need to take vacations for a reason! Research suggests that we can go “happiness blind.” Positive experiences aren’t the same when we are burnt out. 

Parents, you need to lead by example and take breaks yourselves! Explain why you’re doing it and relate it to your athlete’s sport and why it’s important for them to do it too. 

In my upcoming book (it’s coming out soon guys!) I dive into this topic even more. I want to help your athlete learn the true value of taking care of their mental health and how little things, like taking breaks, can add up big time. In my book, I’ll help your athlete improve their performance, take more risks, be consistent in the games and really transform them into powerful athletes, with a healthy mindset, one step at a time. I wish I had had a guide like this when I was an athlete, because I know the challenges competitive athletes face, and I know how you feel as parents too!

I’m so excited to share more about this with you, so stay tuned! Or follow me on social media to keep up with where I’m at in the process. You can follow me here on Instagram.