WAG Fear of Flyaway

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astrogabbyx

Gymnast
I've been working on flyaways for a really long time. A couple of months ago, I was doing them just fine with a coaches spot/into the pit alone. Now I can't. When my coach is spotting me, I freak out and don't let go. When I try it into the pit, I get too scared to flip so I end up doing a timer. Apart from that, I have a bad habit where I seemingly "freeze" in the position I let go at, then flip. I'm moving up to xcel platinum this year and my gym requires a flyaway...I have all my skills but it. Any tips?
 
This is my low-spot flyaway progression.


I think freezing comes from low-confidence in "what's going to happen" when you let go of the bar.
If you think you're taking a gamble on your release timing every turn...
-maybe I will go too close to the bar
-maybe I will go too early
-maybe I'll go and then stop going
-maybe I won't go at all

Then you need a way to let go of the bar from a swing where you are guaranteed (or close) to being safe afterwards, and then do that hundreds of times or until you're so confident at swinging yourself off the bar to fluffy mats that you already know what's going to happen when you flyaway.

This gymnast in my post spent about 2 months going up and down these progressions (3-4 days a week), competed a tuck flyaway from giants in her first meet, changed to a layout for her last meet, and did her first double tuck flyaway into the pit by herself yesterday (6 months from starting drills/not having a flyaway).
 
This is my low-spot flyaway progression.


I think freezing comes from low-confidence in "what's going to happen" when you let go of the bar.
If you think you're taking a gamble on your release timing every turn...
-maybe I will go too close to the bar
-maybe I will go too early
-maybe I'll go and then stop going
-maybe I won't go at all

Then you need a way to let go of the bar from a swing where you are guaranteed (or close) to being safe afterwards, and then do that hundreds of times or until you're so confident at swinging yourself off the bar to fluffy mats that you already know what's going to happen when you flyaway.

This gymnast in my post spent about 2 months going up and down these progressions (3-4 days a week), competed a tuck flyaway from giants in her first meet, changed to a layout for her last meet, and did her first double tuck flyaway into the pit by herself yesterday (6 months from starting drills/not having a flyaway).

Tysm! This really helps.
 
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Flyaways take a long time to learn and get the body position and shape just right and know when to let go. And until it is really ingrained in your muscle memory... sometimes you will lose it.
My advice on flyaways is to take it one step at a time. You will know before you even climb on the bar whether you are going to let go or not. If you are not flipping or flipping with bad technique, don't just continue to repeat it. Go back to how you learned it the first time. For example, if you started doing it into the pit off a lower bar with a spot, take it back to there until you have reinforced technique and confidence. Then slowly move back to where you were instead going cold turkey.
 
Flyaways take a long time to learn and get the body position and shape just right and know when to let go. And until it is really ingrained in your muscle memory... sometimes you will lose it.
My advice on flyaways is to take it one step at a time. You will know before you even climb on the bar whether you are going to let go or not. If you are not flipping or flipping with bad technique, don't just continue to repeat it. Go back to how you learned it the first time. For example, if you started doing it into the pit off a lower bar with a spot, take it back to there until you have reinforced technique and confidence. Then slowly move back to where you were instead going cold turkey.
Ty! This also helps a lot.
 

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