Parents Injuries

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Djin Anderson

Proud Parent
My daughter is 7yo and trainning level 4 (to compete fall 2017). She has struggled doing ROBHS independently and required a spot every time she tumbled. In June her group went to the tumble track and she was confident enough to complete the skill independently 10+ times. On her last turn before rotation she was a little high going into the BHS and she broke her arm. Both her ulnar and radius. She is recovering well and the cast will come off on her 8th birthday in August.
Now she says she wants to stick with gym and can't wait to be cleared for full practices. But I am so worried! Can anyone share forms of encouragement for me and my daughter? The skill she was so frightened of for more than a year and she breaks her arm doing it! I think when the time comes for her to tumble again she'll be more frightened of re injuring her arm. Any books or personal stories that will help are greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
 
During this time that she is injured she actually may not associate that she broke her arm doing the round off bhs believe it or not. There is a lot of distraction for the child gymnast and extra attention that takes place with the injury that she has. By the time she gets her cast off, her team will really by gearing up for the competition season and she 'll probably have some extra adrenaline that often is the silver lining that accompanies an injury. I won't be surprised at all if she gets her cast off and is back training the round off back handspring within a few weeks. At nine my daughter injured her arm doing a handstand backhandspring on the beam. She never associated that skill though with the injury and I was worried about it like you are. Within 10 days of getting clearance she was back doing that exact skill.
 
If you are worried then she will worry... you need to trust the doctors and PTs and coaches and be confident that your daughter will work her way back (if this is what you really want). Let her know you believe in her and teach her this valuable lesson of perseverence at an early age. There will be set backs in any gymnastics journey and knowing you can work hard and overcome is important. The mind is powerful - make hers powerful in a positive way.
 
Odds are, she will recover from this injury with less fear than you. :) I have seen lots of kiddos experience similar injuries, and bounce back quickly. She will want it so bad by the time she is released to try, that her desire will likely be greater than any remaining fear. As an 8yo, it will feel like AGES to her, even though it's really just a few short weeks. I think in order to enjoy your child's journey in this sport (as well as many others) you have to accept the reality that at some point, they will be injured. Learning to come back and do the thing that hurt you is hard.

Kipper fractured her tibial plateau doing a round-off, back tuck beam dismount in March. She was fully released in early May, but did not do that skill again until July. Now she does it daily and consistently. Her coach was awesome. She spent that time perfecting Kipper's roundoff to build confidence that she could do it right every time, and therefore not be re-injured. She feels MORE confident now than before the injury, but it took time and patience. That is best outcome you can hope for.
 
A old gymnasts told me once- Its better to break a bone, than have tendon/soft tissue problems.........
Once bones heal, they heal.....

Dont worry.
 
In 2013, my DD fell on uneven bars doing recently learned giants broke both Ulna and Radius, one was compound fracture, had 3 surgeries didn't tumble for 6 months, went back competed level 6 and 7 successfully. Kids are tough and the younger ones are not as worried. Now the teenagers....that's a whole new story.
 
My daughter just got over a growth plate fx in her elbow from doing a double BHS. She had just mastered the skill then one night did 3 of them the 3rd one she hyperextended her elbow and separated it. She has a history of knee injuries so she knew what to expect. That being said the first 2 weeks off of the cast she was scared to do just a regular BHS. She finally got the courage at a trampoline park and would do them on a tramp at gym. By the 2nd week she was connecting 2 on a tramp and just put a BHS on the floor. The one thing I learned was not to push her cause she seemed to regress more and she did have a fear of it getting hurt again. Even as frustrating as I KNEW she could do it. The worse part of everything was getting her arm to straighten after having the cast removed. Major tip for summer cast after being removed we got an exfoliating scrub with lavender and used that for the first shower after the cast. It really seemed to relax the muscles and get that dead skin off. Good luck and best wishes for a fast and full recovery. [emoji173]️
 
Thank you to those who have replied. This is our first injury and this support means a lot. The group of girls she trains with are all 7-8 years old and none of them have had an injury at all and the coaches haven't really said much to me about what to expect. So ithe is a major relief to hear such positive things from all of you!
 

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