WAG how to deal with your mind

[proud.gymnast]

I am a 16 year old gymnast. my mind gets in the way of everything and holds me back from doing skills… i guess it’s like a mental block but way worse as i’ll have full on panic attacks about new skills… i tried to ask my mum for help but she doesn’t know much about gymnastics and my coachs try but all they can say really is “just try your best” and while that’s great it doesn’t help

my question is does anyone have any tips of not letting your mind get to you as much?

 

[Aussie_coach]

Fear is not a bad things, when it’s well controlled it’s a good thing. Fear is designed to keep you safe, as gymnasts we don’t need to try and suppress it, instead we need to learn to work with it and break it down.

when facing a new skill or a skill that scares us, we need to break it down into steps, as many small steps as you can come up with and work through the steps to build your confidence. Once the step feels easy and safe, it’s time for the next step.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Two answers:

The best way to deal with fear and mental blocks is to take a step back and spend more time on the basics leading up to the skill. Break it down into its components, see if you can figure out what component is scaring you, and focus on isolating that.

The best way to deal with regularly-ocurring full-blown panic attacks is to talk to your doctor, to see if there might be some underlying issues contributing. Fear is normal and healthy, but frequent panic attacks are not

 

[JPC13]

Two answers:

The best way to deal with fear and mental blocks is to take a step back and spend more time on the basics leading up to the skill. Break it down into its components, see if you can figure out what component is scaring you, and focus on isolating that.

The best way to deal with regularly-ocurring full-blown panic attacks is to talk to your doctor, to see if there might be some underlying issues contributing. Fear is normal and healthy, but frequent panic attacks are not

I agree, and if this isn't just a gymnastics problem, but rather a life problem that manifests in gymnastics, I would suggest:
1) Talking to your regular doctor (probably not going to be helpful, as they're not trained for these things)
2) Locate a GOOD therapist, preferably one that deals in sports/performance psychology. Depending on where you live, there are almost always such people who are affiliated with university D1 athletic departments.
3) Do some talk/cognitive behavioral theory. See if that helps.
4) If not, and this is a problem more generally, start thinking about anxiety/anti depression/ADHD meds. You would probably want to do at least an extended consult with a psychiatrist, even though a lot of GPs will prescribe based on an informal screening by a therapist. Many different neurodivergent situations can manifest as anxiety, so keep an open mind.