“Down but Not out”: An Exploration of the Psychological Factors That Impact the Unexplained Underperformance Syndrome (UPS)

Abstract

The Unexplained Underperformance Syndrome (UPS) is characterized by a continued decrement in athletic performance, unresolved by two weeks rest (Robson, 2003). This study qualitatively examined psychological factors of potential relevance to UPS, with specific consideration of the consequences of a mentally tough attitude in the interpretation of fatigue Seven elite athletes, clinically diagnosed with UPS or Chronic Fatigue, participated in one-to-one interviews to examine their experience of UPS The results of this study revealed a paradoxical relationship between mental toughness and UPS. Specifically, a mentally tough attitude, deemed desirable in competitive sport, obviated physiological markers of fatigue Furthermore, the results indicated that non-training related stressors appeared to have a pivotal influence on the onset of UPS.

Coping Skills of Olympic Developmental Soccer Athletes

“…In summary, results may simply reflect the similarity of mental approach required to participate at any position at this level of play [14,39]. Again, the high overall athletic and pain coping response in this study, when compared to other sport populations [19,37,40], may reflect psychological strategies developed through a more structured program over time, the extensive physical demands of soccer, and simply a more homogeneous, dedicated group invited to ODP camp [4,7,22,55,57,60]. In summary, from a psychological coping perspective and skill technique not withstanding, athletes may be rotated into other skill positions when match or injury situations warrant with minimal coaching concern.…”

“…Findings may reflect psychological strategies developed through a more structured program over time as opposed to re-sponses observed among more self-reliant, less structured athletes involved in BASE jumping, equestrians, and the sport population at large [17,39,55]. Others have attributed high coping response to the extensive physical demands of soccer and endurance events [4,7,22], whereas selection bias contributing to a more homogeneous, dedicated group invited to ODP camp cannot be discounted [57,60]. In summary, with the higher levels of concentration and physical awareness in combination with the inherent advantages in physical maturation and abilities observed with older athletes, one could argue that efforts to include younger athletes in camp selection may be questionable and may need to be revisited.…”

“…Many of these authorities have directed their attention to athletic and pain coping skills, typically defined as either a positive or negative adaptation to a physical or psychological challenge [15,23,55,58]. In these and other findings, it has been suggested that psychological indices of successful performance such as concentration, anxiety management, self-esteem, achievement motivation, and resilience are essential as an athlete increasingly experiences psychological and physical stress [7,18,20,22,55]. Individuals with low athletic and pain coping skills reflect an inability to focus on pertinent information, to accurately make decisions regarding split-second physical maneuvers, and to adjust to impending physical challenges that could result in predisposition to musculos-keletal trauma.…”

“…As the stress mounts during practice, an athlete may lose the ability to think clearly, resulting in irrational risk-taking, inadequate attention to coaching, and inattention to fundamental skills required to successfully and safely perform at the Olympic level of competition [34,45,58]. With the increasing emphasis on talent development and enhancing the mental aspects of the game, there has been consensus by the ODP staff and numerous sport scientists that a proactive, sport-specific investigation would aid in more clearly defining present levels of psychological skills specific to youth soccer at this level of competition [7,12,20,37,55]. This would ultimately lead to the examination and development of optimum conditioning and training regimens to enhance athletic prediction, maximize training efforts, identify the potential for sport trauma, and focus on areas pertinent to successful performance [9,42].…”

Overtraining Syndrome Symptoms and Diagnosis in Athletes: Where Is the Research? A Systematic Review

“…No studies met the inclusion criteria of this review; this was largely attributed to no study providing objective evidence of performance changes from a "healthy" state combined with evidence of suppression of performance that lasted 4 weeks or longer. It should be noted that several studies [8][9][10]14,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] did state that performance had declined; however, evidence of the magnitude or the length of decline was not provided. Furthermore, studies occasionally stated that psychological changes had occurred, but this was not corroborated with objective evidence (eg, a validated scale).…”