faeries needed

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

2 days until Regionals and dd has come down with a bad case of mental block on 2 important skills. :yikes: She is just beside herself with anxiety, and I'm trying to hold it all together for her.
I know this is par for the course in this sport, and I know that one way or another she will survive it. She is doing all she can to push herself through -visualizing, positive thoughts, key words, trying to be honest with her coaches.
I am a nervous wreck inside. :worried: She works so very hard, and it has been a tough season.

We could both use some mental toughness faeries, prayers, good thoughts, crossed fingers, and anything else you can throw our way.
 
Oh major bummer! These mental blocks/fears have horrible timing for these girls, don't they? I am sending all of my fairies to you as well! I bet she does great once she gets out there!
 
Sending your DD some NZ fairies! My DD lost an important skill a week before her mock comp - the panic and anxiety it can cause is a horrible feeling. I hope it all comes right in time for your DD!
 
She seems to have had a good practice yesterday.

She talked to her coaches before practice (I've always told her that being forward and honest with them is the best idea).
She did her whole floor routine, all tumbling passes. Coach waited at the corner for the double twist, and that's all she needed!! Hurray!!!!
He didn't have her work on her bar dismount though. He had her just do fly away instead of her double tuck. Don't understand his logic, but he is the coach. She plans on trying it today, and is feeling a lot more confident about it.

I'm very proud of her for digging deep. And I'm proud of all her team-mates who got behind her yesterday. They saw she was struggling (she told a few, the others just picked up on it). They talked her through it, gave her encouragement, and cheered her on at practice even though most of them are competing today and had their own worries.

I'm still a nervous wreck! I'm hoping today builds on yesterday, and Saturday goes as well as dd would like. So we will still take all the good luck we can get through then.
 
Good luck! This happened to my teammate competing at regionals on saturday also. SHe wouldnt let go for a flyaway in any shape or form. from giants tap swings or cast hs. but she got through it. Good job on getting the double full back! That flyaway will come. I hope she has/had a great meet today.
 
How things went, well, it's a bit of a long story, but I will try to shorten it.

Friday my dd fell apart. She wanted to quit. No actually, she was scared and wanted to run away from being scared and possibly failing at her goal of making westerns, and she felt like quitting was her only out. She was freaking out, I was freaking out, Dh was freaking out, coach was freaking out. I told dd she was committed to competing at Regionals, and somehow she would have to get through it. Her coach talked to her and basically told her she was not allowed to quit - she is too good of a gymnast, she has not reached her potential, and she needs to stop worrying about her competitors and about always being one of the best and just do what she trains to do.

Whatever else the coach said, it sunk in. By the end of practice, which I did not watch because I sat in the parking lot crying out of pure frustration, dd had decided not to quit. She just gets into the car, says her coach was right, she will not quit because her goal is at least a college scholarship which she really does want, and yes, she needs to put less pressure on herself. Her and coach agreed that dd would compete only what she was comfortable with at the Regional Competition. If that meant no bars or floor - so be it.

Saturday. Dd was a little nervous, but never wavered about going to the comp. Her coach literally ran over to hug her when she arrived. She competed watered down routines on bars (no double tuck dismount), beam (again, no big dismount) and vault (choose to be safe an threw a tuck, but scored well with it). She did do her full floor routine. She asked her team-mates who were with her to stand at the corners where she lands her hardest passes so she could see them. They happily obliged, and dd was able to pull of one of her best routines of the season. I do not know who was happiest - dd, team-mates, or coaches!!

Dd, of course, didn't make Westerns, but did medal with her floor routine. She asked to buy a new leo after the meet. I said only if we never go through this again!! She promised. We talked a bit more, at intervals, about how she can handle the pressure better by not keeping it to herself. That she needs to focus on what she is doing, not on what others might be doing better than her. That she trust her coaches, not say no to new skills before she works on them, and to always be honest and open with her coaches and us, her parents. We are all there to help her, to believe in her, and to back her up.

Her coaches assured me they have a plan for her to get back to the top of her game - and beyond. It starts with getting her mind working in the right direction.

To me, dd won when she walked into the competition. She won again when she did all four events because I know she was embarrassed about not doing her full difficulty, but she sucked it up with a smile on her face. To me, she was the best gymnast on that floor.

And that is the short version.

(One of her team-mates did make Westerns. The bitter-sweetness of dd's saga is that if she had preformed full difficulty on just beam and vault and received her normal scores, she would have qualified as well. Even with the watered-down routines she was only a couple tenths off of the scores of the girl who was the alternate. She knows this, but isn't bothered by it.)

We are now moving forward, and not looking back.
 
Gymjoy,
Im so proud for your DD and I dont even know you! What strength and courage she showed. At the end of the day, in my book, that is WAY more important than any scores or placement. Hugs to you, as im sure it was a stressful few days.
 
So proud of her for making it through Regionals after having such tough weeks leading up to it. THAT is what makes a gymnast. She has MUCH to be proud of. Seems like she knows that and is proud of herself, which is HUGE. Hugs to you, I am sure it has been torture watching her go through this. And hugs to her for getting through something so tough.
 
I am so proud of her! At the end of the day it doesnt matter what scores she gets. as long as you go out there and you rock it and sell it it will all be ok. it sounds like she had a great meet on floor and was able to do her other routines. now on to better things! :)

p.s nothing to do with your dd but my teammate was able to come through on bars and got a 9.225 and she is region camp on beam.
 
This thread makes me so happy! What a great way for your dd to finish off the season and see what she is truly capable of mentally. I love your outlook on things and am sure it has helped tremendously in helping your dd feel calm and accomplished, regardless of what scores or placements say.
Speaking as a former gymnast, what scores and placements I got at meets are largely distant memories at this point. When I see my medals at my parent's house, I honestly cannot remember what most of them are for. It's the moments when I overcame fears, injuries, and other adverse circumstances and the life skills I learned along the way that stand out in my mind as the most rewarding and memorable in my experiences as a gymnast, I'm sure this experience will only help with her confidence and ability to handle other stressful situations in the future much more than any medal or qualification score would. Sending huge congrats to your dd and hoping (for your sake) the upcoming months are much less eventful!
 
This thread makes me so happy! What a great way for your dd to finish off the season and see what she is truly capable of mentally. I love your outlook on things and am sure it has helped tremendously in helping your dd feel calm and accomplished, regardless of what scores or placements say.
Speaking as a former gymnast, what scores and placements I got at meets are largely distant memories at this point. When I see my medals at my parent's house, I honestly cannot remember what most of them are for. It's the moments when I overcame fears, injuries, and other adverse circumstances and the life skills I learned along the way that stand out in my mind as the most rewarding and memorable in my experiences as a gymnast, I'm sure this experience will only help with her confidence and ability to handle other stressful situations in the future much more than any medal or qualification score would. Sending huge congrats to your dd and hoping (for your sake) the upcoming months are much less eventful!

That says it all! This is the reality of why DD is in gym. I want her to gain that mental toughness that comes from knowing you had a fear, but did all that was possible to overcome it! That is such a life prolonging message. Kudoos to your DD!!
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back