Parents Flyaway

[gymfun]

Ok first post here. Been reading a lot for a while. My question is... My daughter has a fear of the flyaway and has now for over a year. Coach said this week she doesn't know what else to do to get her to do them. To me this sounded like the coach has given up. I am not happy with that. Also we do not have a pit at our gym. Without adding too many more details what do we do??? Suggestions please. This may make her quit if she cannot get over this fear. She is not out to be an Olympic gymnastic or elite just has always loved gymnastics until now... I am thinking our end time is near and i think she will be ok with that but I would rather she end on a positive year and not have any regrets.

 

[munchkin3]

We have lost girls over refusing skills. It is very frustrating.
Remember that the coaches are human too and they get frustrated.
I am sure they are trying everything.....patience, optimism, and dont give up!!

We don't have a pit, and have L10 boys and girls.

 

[SeasonedGymDad]

You mention not having a pit. Do you think she'd try the flyaway with a pit? If so, attend an open gym at a gym with a pit and give it a shot.

 

[naruto]

Our DD's gym does not use a pit for teaching flyaways, after the girls swing back and forth three or four times with their knees close to their stomachs on the low bar, their spotted by their coach by her using her arm to flip them over on a flat mat, they then use a huge fluffy mat a few feet thick like a big pillow to land on from the high bar. Its not made to stick landings, it used just so the girls don't hurt themselves if the land wrong. My DD landed on her face and got up like it was nothing and did it again.

 

[LizzieLac]

Agree with above post - spotting can help a gymmie get the "feel" for the skill and feel safe.

 

[profmom]

I am sure she's done every drill in the book, but the one that really worked for my DD was dead cows (where they release the bar and land flat on their backs). DS's coach has also had to deal with some flyaway fear issues, and he does some heavy physical spotting -- catching the boy when he releases and manually flipping him over. The boys actually didn't work their flyaways into the pit all that much. Within the last several months three of DS's teammates lost and regained flyaways through his just dialing them back to the point where they could do it, even if it meant him basically carrying them all the way through the skill.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Ok first post here. Been reading a lot for a while. My question is... My daughter has a fear of the flyaway and has now for over a year. Coach said this week she doesn't know what else to do to get her to do them. To me this sounded like the coach has given up. I am not happy with that. Also we do not have a pit at our gym. Without adding too many more details what do we do??? Suggestions please. This may make her quit if she cannot get over this fear. She is not out to be an Olympic gymnastic or elite just has always loved gymnastics until now... I am thinking our end time is near and i think she will be ok with that but I would rather she end on a positive year and not have any regrets.

her issue is vestibular. this causes some kids to either 'feel' like they will land on their head OR climb on the swing up and hit the bar.

and i can't recall right now if i have posted this before. maybe i'm just thinking i did. but there is a simple drill and one that the coach can easily spot at first. the coach will still have to be patient though as it may not 'happen' on day 1. this will help everyone else here at this site also and sorry if it is redundant.

you usually set the bar width just as you would do for their bar routines. not everyone has the same bar setting. when they are smaller, the bars are in closer and when taller a little wider. but what you do want is for them to be able to stand on the low bar and be able to easily jump to the high bar in the same way you would do so in the Level 5 compulsory routine. what you don't want is the bars spread out so far that they can't easily reach the high bar or that too much swing is generated. spreading them all the way at first is a bad idea.

so then, the athlete simply jumps from the low bar to the high bar. if they do this correctly, their feet will be behind them as their hands catch the high bar. and when their feet swing thru the bottom and then forward and upward you let go and do a flyaway.

in our gym we call them "jump flyaways". when we start the kids on flyaways we lower the low bar and high bar so that they correspond to each other (FIG). this means that the bars are set in the same position. no lowering the low bar and raising the high bar. from FIG you lower each bar 1 0r 2 or 3 'clicks' downward.

in this way, jumping from the low bar to the high bar creates sufficient swing to facilitate a flyaway. they then can practice keeping their feet behind them as you do when going from a handstand and clear the low bar. this allows them to 'feel' when and how to tap. and because it comes from a lower swing they don't feel like they will climb and hit the high bar. and after they do it a few times, they learn that they won't land on their heads either.

after a few weeks of this the coach can then incrementally spread the bars a little wider each week to simulate more of the same swing they will feel/encounter when they go from a high cast or handstand. this allows the kid to feel the tap and for the coach to stand their and watch the tap and pass their instructions along to the athlete.

this drill is very simple, uncomplicated and very non-intimidating.

finally, the coach has to do very little work. they just stand alongside their athlete and guide them thru the flyaway. additionally, this same drill works for the boys also.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and by the way, pretty sure the coach hasn't given up. sometimes in cases like this their knowledge is limited to their experience. the drill above will add a tool to her box.

 

[Becauseisaid]

DD was scared of jumping to the high bar for a year. She had no issues squatting and jumping from a single rail and had 0 fear of doing skills on the high bar. For her, the fear was literally jumping and catching the high bar.

She wants to be L4 this coming season. Her coach finally sat DD down and asked her what she could do to help? DD was told that Coach would do anything she wanted as long as DD was trying to gain the skill. DD had a private with the same coach that weekend, so I made her sit down and write out a few things.

1st was EXACTLY what she was afraid would happen. I told her I didn't care if it seemed silly or not, but if the coach doesn't know the fear, she couldn't help DD work through it. (Turned out she was scared of pinging off the high bar, landing on her face, and dying. Literally.)

2nd - I asked DD to write a list of each of the steps for doing the skills. I wanted detail. Body position, form, what do you look at, etc. I wanted DD to realize that she KNEW how to do the skill.

3rd - DD had to write down things that could be done to help her get over her fear. For example, she wanted the huge squishy mat under the open space between the bars. She also agreed to count 1-2-3 and then GO for it.

4th - Consequences. Once DD came up with a technique for working through the fear (with a little prompting and some suggestions from me), she had to create a consequence for not following through. For DD, I asked her what conditioning skill she hated. Turns out 20 V-ups is a great motivator to go on 3 whether you like it or not.

I wanted all this in writing for A) her coach, and B) so DD had a written plan of attack. Writing it down just seems to make things more concrete and REAL. 30 minutes into her private, DD was jumping to the high bar with no spotting and no mat. However, none of this would have made a difference if DD hadn't decided she wanted the skill and to be a L4 more than she feared it.

I can't fix a mental block. A coach can't fix a mental block. It HAS to come from the gymnast.

 

[iwannacoach]

.....in this way, jumping from the low bar to the high bar creates sufficient swing to facilitate a flyaway. they then can practice keeping their feet behind them as you do when going from a handstand and clear the low bar. this allows them to 'feel' when and how to tap. and because it comes from a lower swing they don't feel like they will climb and hit the high bar. and after they do it a few times, they learn that they won't land on their heads either.

after a few weeks of this the coach can then incrementally spread the bars a little wider each week to simulate more of the same swing they will feel/encounter when they go from a high cast or handstand. this allows the kid to feel the tap and for the coach to stand their and watch the tap and pass their instructions along to the athlete.

this drill is very simple, uncomplicated and very non-intimidating.

Take 200 and call dunno in the morning.......