If you were to ask people what a school esports team risks, it's highly likely they will look at you funny, because what could possibly go wrong with a group of kids playing video games? For years, I got that exact reaction as a coach, right up until I started sharing the wellness complaints commonly shared by students.
That made them stop and think, because they had opinions about these kids without realizing that young gamers train for hours the same way an athlete does. So, of course, their bodies keep score whether they or others are paying attention or not. Fortunately, there is such a thing as ‘healthy gaming,’ and I’m going to tell you all about it today. You can use what I share in this school esports guide to player wellness to help keep your esports team healthy.
What Does Competing for Hours Do to a Player's Health?
Before you can learn more about what it means to be healthy while playing esports, you need to understand what competing for hours does to a player's body. Now we’re not trying to instill fear in anyone, but long hours of play time can take a serious toll.
A 2019 study from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine surveyed collegiate esports players, and the most common complaint might surprise you…it was eye fatigue, reported by 56% of them. Neck and back pain came next at 42%, and wrist pain affected 36% of players, and hand pain another 32%.
These are overuse health concerns, and they are the same kinds of complaints anyone could have if they repeated small motions while sitting in one position for hours. Of course, these students were practicing anywhere from three to ten hours a day, and that’s not quite the level of exposure a middle school or high school student would get.
Still, it's important to recognize the negative health effects competitive esports can have when wellness isn’t a priority and practices aren’t in place to prevent those issues from popping up in the future.
What Does a Healthy Esports Practice Look Like?
Healthy esports practices build wellness habits into esports programs instead of leaving them to a teenager's good intentions. Below are a few best practices to consider adopting sooner rather than later. Fortunately, they aren’t that difficult to stick to as long as the esports coach treats them as habits the same way a track coach would treat stretching before every run.
Protect Their Eyes
Considering eye fatigue topped the list in the 2019 study we mentioned above, it should come as no surprise that it's the habit you want to start with. The habit I’m talking about is the 20-20-20 rule, where you have players look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes of gameplay. I find it easiest to fold it into scrims so nobody has to remember it on their own.
Keep Their Bodies Moving
According to federal guidelines, it's recommended that teens get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity a day. Unfortunately, most kids fall short of this target, and let’s face it, esports isn’t as movement-oriented as physical sports, so it's incredibly important to ensure an esports program incorporates physical activity. So, consider opening each practice with an active warm-up and put a break between matches so nobody sits for three hours straight.
Take the Strain Off Necks and Wrists
Continuous neck and wrist strain could lead to more serious health concerns later in life, but preventative measures can be taken to help reduce the effects. For example, you could ensure your esports team has their screens set to eye level and a chair that supports their backs. Often, if you simply show the team how to prevent wrist and neck strain, they will keep this knowledge with them for years to come, continuing to apply it in other areas of their life.
Protect Their Sleep
Now, of course, I don't expect you to allow your students to sleep and slack off when they have a team depending on them, but sleep is crucial. After all, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine says teens need 8 to 10 hours a night, and a rested player reacts faster and tilts less. So make it a habit to talk about sleep the week before every tournament the same way you'd talk about a big game, so your learners understand its importance.
Build In Recovery Time
Recovery matters for the mind as much as the body after a hard match. A rough loss sits heavy on a competitor, so give them a short way to wind down before they log off. It keeps one bad game from spilling into the next practice. Just don't forget to make it a habit so they are preconditioned to better cope in the future.
How Do You Keep These Wellness Habits Going?
You keep these wellness habits going the same way you build any team habit, through repetition and a coach who lives by them too. So:
- Model the habits yourself: This could mean talking about how you sleep more than eight hours a night before every tournament or you showing them how your computer setup is always at the right distance.
- Keep each habit small and specific: The last thing you want is your team resenting more rules, so by keeping habits small and specific, you’re helping to make them automatic and not something they have to actively remember every day.
- Name the payoff out loud: If a student is told how the habit is helping them, they are far more likely to stick to it. So point out the wins and explain why something is good for them so that they understand why it's important.
That’s it. It's really that simple.
So, Where Does a Healthier Team Start?
Now that you know what healthier esports practices look like and why they matter, where does a healthier team begin? It's simple. A healthier team starts with picking one or two of these habits and adding them to your practice plan this week.
I can almost promise that the teams that treat esports as a sport worth training for are the ones whose players stay healthy enough to keep improving and keep loving the game.
At the United States Academic Esports League, we build this kind of healthy structure into our programs so that any coach can run a healthy team from day one. If you would like to see what it looks like to coach the whole athlete, book a demo, and we will walk you through it.
