CWA Blog Archive-(Route)Setting Good Standards Prevent Burnout, Support Your Team

(Route)Setting Good Standards Prevent Burnout, Support Your Team

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This article addresses burnout prevention for routesetting teams, situating it within the broader pandemic-era focus on employee wellness programs to reduce mental stress, increase physical activity, and improve morale. In routesetting specifically, while gyms have improved what they offer to keep setters healthy and happy, there are varying ideas about what should be prioritized as ongoing routines versus treated as a one-time perk. Writing as the busiest season approaches, competition setting and personal season projects, the author offers considerations to keep teams from burning out physically or mentally and to keep the psych high. The article details injury planning as a central concern. One of the most frequent problems the author sees is a setter showing up injured or unwell, a dilemma sharpened by the lack of PTO many setters face: without paid time off, they must choose between resting for an unpaid day or showing up to give 60 percent while maintaining their paycheck. The author offers guidance for head setters to advocate for their team's health while ensuring everyone can still get paid. The most important step is simply to PAY ATTENTION, because the author has worked with setters who went to great lengths to hide an injury or illness. If someone seems off or isn't forerunning the way they usually do, head setters shouldn't be afraid to ask. The throughline is that preventing routesetter burnout requires proactive, attentive leadership, especially around the injury-versus-paycheck bind that setters without PTO face. For head setters, the message is that supporting a team's health means watching for hidden injuries, opening honest conversations, and advocating structurally so setters aren't forced to choose between their bodies and their paychecks, keeping the team healthy, sustainable, and psyched through the demanding season.

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This piece addresses routesetter burnout, focusing on the injury-versus-paycheck bind setters without PTO face when choosing between an unpaid rest day and working at 60%. It urges head setters to pay close attention, since setters often hide injuries, notice when someone's off, and advocate structurally so teams can rest without losing pay.