Gymnastics landings

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I recently started gymnastics and recently, I have found landing on a landing mat kind of hurts my ankles, and I was wondering if that is normal.
 
No it is not.

Questions: What do you mean by a landing mat? A crash mat? Does that hurt whereas landing on a stiffer surface (spring floor, panel mat) does not? That might imply an ankle stability problem that might be helped by a wobble board. If it won't cause problems to other gymnasts putting a stiffer mat over the top so the landing surface is more stable might help too. Alternately if you do not mean a crash mat but some sort if thinner mat it may not be providing adequate impact absorp Also, landing what? Are you warming up and stretching your ankles at the beginning of the class?
 
Clicked too early by accident.

A thinner mat might not provide adequate impact absorption for the skills you are training.

Whatever the cause pain is not something to ignore. That often leads to injury.

You should tell your coach that you are having this problem, and you may also need to see a doctor or a physiotherapist.
 
No it is not.

Questions: What do you mean by a landing mat? A crash mat? Does that hurt whereas landing on a stiffer surface (spring floor, panel mat) does not? That might imply an ankle stability problem that might be helped by a wobble board. If it won't cause problems to other gymnasts putting a stiffer mat over the top so the landing surface is more stable might help too. Alternately if you do not mean a crash mat but some sort if thinner mat it may not be providing adequate impact absorp Also, landing what? Are you warming up and stretching your ankles at the beginning of the class?
I do stretch a lot and warm up before classes. The pain generally occurs when I land on a vault landing mat.
 
It sounds like it could be down to ankle instability, which is would explain why you have the problem landing in the softer, squashier mat, compared to tumbling on the floor.

As I say, I would recommend getting a wobble board and working on the suggested exercises (rocks side-to-side and front-and-back and circles in each direction) to strengthen your ankles. Also let your coach know so they can monitor for any technical issues that could be contributing and make any required modifications. If you have pain that persists you should see a doctor.

You should never just ignore pain. It is a signal that your body perceives itself at risk, so you have to act on that information and try to find and address the underlying issue or you are likely to end up injured.
 

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