Handstands on beam fear

[KaylaTheGymnast]

OK so in the last month i have gotten pretty comfortable with doing handstands on the high beam, but last night i fell. Like i was fine when i was kicking up into it but when i came down i kinda straddled the beam but fell off one side really fast onto my back. I didn't get hurt or anything but now beam just scares me. How can i get over my fear?

 

[KarenUK]

ouch!

I am just a parent, but my daughter had a couple of falls on beam when practising jumps, got some nasty bruises and was scared of beam afterwards. She went back to practising on a line on the floor and on the floor beam for a while, and slowly progressed back up to the high beam. It took a while for her to get the confidence to put the height back into those jumps, but she got there eventually. I would say not to rush, take it a step at a time, and be prepared to get to the point where you feel that your fear is conquered, then the next training session to have a wobbly day!

 

[gymnastbeth]

What helped me with handstands (you may already be doing this) was putting my thumbs AND my index fingers on the top of the beam. It feels so much safer, and it makes the handstand a lot sturdier.

Good luck, believe in yourself! Everyone gets fears sometimes!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

fall down 7 times...get up 8 to hate... the beam one more time!

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

I broke my ankle doing a bhs on beam. My coach never spots any of us on beam anymore. We first do the skill on the floor out-of0bounds line. Then, we move it to the floor beam. From there, I progress to the high beam.

 

[All Chalked Up]

I'm petrified of cross handstands, so could you cartwheel to handstand (so you're sideways) and step down?

I compete it (along with BWO-BWO) and it's very pretty when done correctly.

 

[CoachValk]

I have my level 4's do a cross handstand at the end of the beam with a large mat behind it. It allows you to hit the full handstand, and should you fall over, you have a soft surface. If you fell coming back down try doing it on the high beam with enough mats stacked under so you would not be able to straddle should you fall off. That way your ON the high beam, but its not really high, help boost the confidence again.