Fear of jumping from low to high bar

[crc]

My daughter is a prep 3 gymnast in tn, she has always had a fear of jumping to the high bar. She worked through with stacking mats and was doing very well, she won gold in state meet at the end of last year on bars in her age division. She has no problems with a smaller bar setting, great kip, cast, no kip squat on because of her fear, but she can jump to the high bar and do her lay out fly away. Bigger Bar Big Problem. She can jump to the bigger bar set if she stacks mats and then pulls them away one by one, and she remains jumping to the big set for weeks at a time, but then she get the fear back and we are back at stacking mats agian. This week the coaches told her no more stacking mats and if she couldn't jump and catch the bar at the end of the day she can not compete. I don't know what to do? Is stacking mats not a good idea? Should I just encourage her to give up competative gymnastics and just do recreational classes? The gym wants the all the girls to jump to one bar setting and even though she is great on the smaller bar set, she is very afraid of the bigger setting. help.

 

[gymjoy]

That's a tough problem. I wouldn't encourage her to quit though because it sounds like she is a hard worker.
My feeling is that doing things like stacking mats too often or for too long becomes a crutch for not conquering the fear. She can do the skill, and it might take some time to adjust to a new bars setting, but she needs to focus on overcoming the feelings that are stopping her from doing the skill. The coaches ultimatum might seem harsh, but might be just what she needs. I would encourage her to go in a keep trying.

Try reading and watching these articles and clips about mental training for gymnastics:

Headgames

Mental Edge Mondays | Gymnastics Coverage on Gymnastike

I have a deal with my DD. She can't quit because of not getting a skill. If a skill is giving her trouble and making her want to quit she must first conquer the skill, then if she still wants to quit we will discuss it. She has never wanted to quit after conquering the skill or fear. She's even thanked me for making her work through it.

 

[margymmom]

I feel your pain! My daughter had the same problem when she moved to level 5 last year. She was the smallest in her practice group- the bars were almost always set for the larger girls, and occasionally she would be told to tap (but not grab) the bar because the setting was to far. She struggled with fear all season (but was injured and out of competition for most of it). She is competing in an optional season right now- with girls her size and a different coach. Fear of the high bar has not been an issue- not one time. I really feel like having girls her size (and presumably a different bar setting) has made a big difference. I'm not sure that helps, but...I hope things work out for your daughter.

 

[KAQuinlan]

How is it going?

I was just wondering how she is doing now that it has been a couple of weeks?