Author(s): Sonali Pereira, Swathi Vinod and Akshaya Periasamy

Abstract:
Elite athletes experience a unique range of stressors that may potentially increase their vulnerability to mental ill-health. Studies have identified certain key factors such as the psychological impacts of injury, overtraining and burnout; intense public and media scrutiny; and managing ongoing competitive pressures to perform (Rice et al., 2016) ^[29]. Previous research on Off-season breaks has primarily focused on their effect on athletes’ performance, thus ignoring other salient aspects of athletes’ experiences such as Sport Satisfaction and Quality of Life. Moreover, there is a dearth of research on related topics in the Indian context. This study aims to understand the impact of Off-season break on overall Quality of Life and Sport Satisfaction of Indian Elite Athletes. The study was conducted with a sample size of 103 individuals who were classified into three groups depending on their duration of Off-season break (less than 15 days; 15- 30 days; more than 30 days). The Quality of Life Inventory was administered and a semi-structured interview with a focus on aspects of Off-season break and Sport Satisfaction was conducted on three groups of athletes and the data was compared using Kruskal-Wallis-H Test. The findings indicate that there is no difference with respect to overall Quality of Life or Sport Satisfaction between the three groups but, with respect to sub-domains of Quality of Life, statistically significant differences were observed in the areas of Health (p<0.05), Play (p<0.01) and Community (p<0.05); with the first group obtaining higher scores on all the three domains. The study, if extended, will help us understand the ideal Off-season break trends that lead to better Quality of Life and Sport Satisfaction in elite athletes.

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