Parents Pullover advice

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Marissa Barrow

Proud Parent
DD (3) has been at her new gym for about 4 months and there is a lot of pressure on her to get a pullover.

A little backstory- at her old gym they were really reckless with the kids, having them do stuff they weren't ready for, not supervising the kids on the equipment, and while the teachers were nice girls it just wasn't a good environment for a little girl who loved gymnastics. During her last class at her old gym they had the kids jumping from the high bar to the low bar and DD slipped and snapped her toes on the bar which bloodied up her toes and split one of her toe nails in half. She was in pain when she walked for about a week. After that she has been terrified of the bar, especially her pullover.

It didn't take long for her to start doing different hangs and even little casts, but she won't even try a pullover. She'll start with her chin at the bar and will raise her feet up a bit but then freak out and go all limp noodle on the bar. After 4 months her coaches are loosing patience with her and she's not improving at all. I don't know how to help her. She loves everything to do with gymnastics except that darn pullover.

Any advice on how to overcome her fear or anything else would be greatly appreciated. I'm new to the gymnastics world and she loves it so much, I would hate to see her held back by this and her coaches made it pretty clear that there would be no advancing if she didn't get a pullover.
 
Oh no I totally agree, she has so much fun and never wants to leave, it's just this one thing. I honestly don't understand why they are so focused on this one bar skill and aren't willing to give her time and let her do something else. I hate the way they are pressuring her and I've explained that she's scared and what happened at the last gym but it didn't really make a difference. Is this something worth switching gyms over? I don't know what else to do since I've tried talking already.
 
Old gym had 3 year olds jumping from the high bar to the low bar?

3 year olds are top heavy. Their heads are proportionally large compared to their bodies which can make gym skills, including pullovers, very difficult.
 
This is totally normal. I've seen dozens of rec kids who are afraid to do a pullover, for different reasons. Most have been scared of falling, some were scared of being upside down, some were afraid of hurting their tummies when getting on the bar. The recipe of curing this is the same - giving them time to think about it, taking the pressure of, not forcing them to try, letting them just do chin up holds and leg lifts without actually making the skill. Some might want to try it with a block in front of the bar that they can use as a wall to climb their feet up and then kick over.

Like everyone else said, she's 3 years old. Work on the things she loves and forget this one skill. And when she asks if she can try the pullover let her. But wait until she asks. She's got plenty of time on her side.
 
If they are still pushing this one skill, it may be time to consider another gym switch.
She has a fear issue. If they don't know how to deal with fears, how are they going to handle future fears???

Talk to them one more time. Give them one more chance to demonstrate compassion and understanding. Then go from there.
 
I'd be concerned with a gym that was 'losing patience' with a 3 year old who is not doing a pullover. At 3 yrs old gym is supposed to be fun. If it's not fun it's not worth it. There's nothing anyone can do to 'fix' her fear issue, and her coaches putting pressure on her will likely make it worse.
 
What does 'advancing' mean in your gym? 3 is still young for a pre team.
I don't know, I wasn't sure I wanted her to go competitive when we first switched there, it was just for fun and recreation, so I never really asked. But she's made a ton of progress in every other event besides bars, is in love with the team girls, and talks all the time about wanting to be like them when she grows up and how she's going to work so hard to earn medals and trophies. TBH, if she wanted to go competitive we would probably switch to a different gym.

I'm going to try talking to her coaches once more because it would be a shame to uproot DD again without giving them a chance and they've done so much for her overall.
 
Very few 3 year olds have a pullover.....they simply don't usually have the arm strength or coordination to do them at that age. Every once in a while you will get an older three year old that is just super talented and can do it no problem, but this is rare. Your dd shouldn't be having to worry about fears at her age. She will do it when she is ready (strength and coordination wise) and when she is comfortable trying it again. Definitely no reason to stress about it at her age. She has plenty of time. Even if she didn't get her pullover until she was 5 or 6 she would be ahead of many kids that age. I am so glad you got her out of the other gym before she got seriously injured. Having preschoolers jump to the high bar is ridiculous.
 
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3 yr olds should be having fun. There should be no pressure. Find a new gym.

And if you are using your real name you might want to rethink that. There might come a time where you don't want people to know who you are.
 
They jumped from high bar to low bar? I'm having anxiety just thinking about that! What were they thinking?
I wish I had spent more time researching gymnastics before we sent her there. I thought a facility that had locations all across the country would be a good, safe option and they have awesome reviews all over the internet but all she learned there was a lot of really bad gym etiquette. The first time they had me scratching my head and saying "this probably isn't a safe idea" was when they had 3 year olds who weren't being taught even the most basic things doing back tucks off the beam. 2 weeks later we gave them notice and didn't show up for her last 2 classes.
 
I wish I had spent more time researching gymnastics before we sent her there. I thought a facility that had locations all across the country would be a good, safe option and they have awesome reviews all over the internet but all she learned there was a lot of really bad gym etiquette. The first time they had me scratching my head and saying "this probably isn't a safe idea" was when they had 3 year olds who weren't being taught even the most basic things doing back tucks off the beam. 2 weeks later we gave them notice and didn't show up for her last 2 classes.
They should be reported to the State.
 

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