States is 5 weeks away...so why does dd seem bored and uninterested?

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Has anyone else experienced the "almost to the end of the season" blues? I know gymnastics can be a long season (it seems like gymnasts train all year round), but how can I motivate my dd who seems like she has lost her spunk? She had a not so great meet last weekend and she is feeling a little down. She still has 5 weeks until states, so still plenty of time to work on routines and get skills cleaned up. They have started uptraining the level 5 skills (Level A for MDL) and she is even starting to master these quickly. But she seems bored or maybe burned out.

My question is how can I get her to focus on continuing to clean and polish level 4 routines and get excited for states? This is only her first year so maybe this is just an adjustment thing for her?
 
She may be a little tired of the whole practice/meet thing. Sometimes they have just 1 too many meets during the year. When I saw her last video, I thought Dani looked like she had lost a little of her "spark." The routines and whole meet day aren't new and exciting anymore like they were 2-3 mos ago. Might be time for her to take a practice or 2 off and just have some fun time. 5 weeks is a long time to keep in the "meet mindset" and at this point, you may find that some relaxing time then building to states will work better for her.
 
She may be getting nervous too. This is her 1st year in gymnastics right? All the talk of "states" may be ovewhelming her. Since she's never been states, she probably doesn't have a clear picure of it in her mind. Just reinforce that "states" are the pretty much the same as any other meet. No need for her to worry or stress. She just needs to do what she always does at meets, have fun & try her best. State meets tend to have fun "themes"decorating the venue( beach, rodeo, circus), to make it more fun memorable for the kids. She just needs to relax & just have fun being there. Sending the "relax & have fun fairies" off to Dani.:D
 
I would just keep making her go to gym and she probally will eventually snap out of it. I know when my daughter has a rough meet she kind of gets discouraged until her the next time when she has a good meet then she gets reenergized. Also when she gets new skills she also gets more motivated. It seems like your level 4 season is long ours was over in March. I think they start to get bored with the old routines believe me I know my daughter just finished her 2nd year of level 4. Did she have to qualify to states, you could tell her it is a honor not everybody qualifies. Also is she doing anything as far as camp or training in the summer you could talk about that and get her excited about that. I know my daughter really liked going all summer and is looking forward to summer training.
 
Thanks everyone for responding.

Gym law mom--I think you are right in that the routines may seem boring to her so she is not putting as much effort into them at practices. I asked her if she wanted to take a practice or two off and she said no, so she definitely still wants to go to practices.

Gymjourneymom--I think the nerves may have something to do with it too. I was talking to her the other day about her meet and she mentioned that she "was trying too hard". She said that she was really focussing on doing another really good vault (and trying to get 1st and a good score) and it threw her off. She said that when she trys too hard and thinks about it, the routines don't come as naturally. But when she just goes out and "has fun" and doesn't think too much she does well. So, she said that she is just going to try and take this attitude for states. She sees the banners up in the gym with State Champ on them and I think that is putting a little pressure on her. I told her not to worry and just to do the best she can and have fun with states and see what happens.

Panda-girls Mom--I think she will snap out of it too. She seems to have good days and bad days. When she was doing cheer, they changed up the routine like for every competition so there was always something diifferent to work on. I think she is more used to that style because she did do cheer for many years. So I think that she just needs to get used to "how gymnastics works". Everyone on her team qualifies for states (they have to attend at least 3 out of the 5 regular meets--that is just how MDL does it).

All in all, I think she will snap out of it and I think a lot of it has to do with the long season, doing the same routines over and over and having a "not-so-great-meet" hang over her head.

Thanks again everyone!!!
 
Yeah, sounds like the long season is getting to her. You really have 5 more weeks until State?? Wow! That is a long season--sheesh, I'd be getting bored too. I'm sure she'll work through it. Does she get to uptrain during this time too?
 
Yeah, sounds like the long season is getting to her. You really have 5 more weeks until State?? Wow! That is a long season--sheesh, I'd be getting bored too. I'm sure she'll work through it. Does she get to uptrain during this time too?

Yes--she is doing a lot of uptraining (they started uptraining in Feb) and she seems to be picking up these Level A skills (and some B skills) quickly, so at least she has that to look forward to and help with motivation. It just seems like everyone else on her has already had their states or are finishing their seasons within the next week or so. May 16th seems like so far off!!
 
Wow. You do have a long season. When did they start competing? Our states were one month ago. My kids always seem to get bored about the last month or so. At least your gym has been doing uptraining since February. I don't think we do much uptraining once meets are underway (Nov. - March for compulsory) so after a while I think the kids just get burnt out because practice is mostly routines all the time. Ever since state ended, my youngest dd's L4 team has just been working L5+ skills, so she is a lot more excited about things for now since they are doing different things, and they aren't doing routines all of the time. I think it's a pretty normal thing for kids to experience things such as what your dd is feeling. A fun day off might be a way to get her mind off of things for a bit. As for motivating, maybe have her set some goals for her state meet that she can work towards in the meantime.
 
Spring is always rough. She has had a loooonnngg season also, w/ doing L4 in the Fall and then optional season in Spring. We did that one year w/ dd-she competed L5 all Fall and then her gym put them in some Spring meets for practice (there in CA, Spring is off-season for Compulsories). By the time she was done in March she & I were both burned out!

See how she feels after States. Give her a few weeks to 'come down' from it, and talk w/ her then. It will basically be Summer, the pressure will be off, school will be out, and she'll be able to paly w/ friends & 'be a kid'. If she's still having fun w/ gym, then she will probably be happy if she sticks w/ it for the next season.

But if she does do next year, I would think twice about doing a 'double season' like she did. 3 or 4 months is about all I think they should do, meets just get old after a while, but that's just me! :cool:
 
well

Trust me, im a level 6 soon to be level 7 hopefully. And by the time sectionals comes around your just ready for the season to be overr. You excited for summer and you get to work more uper level skills its just funn. But then this years spring season was weird and its 5 weeks inbetween the last meet at state and you just want the season to be over all the stress to be overr. But the five weeks they just seem so much longer and boring. So im sure after state she will be back to normal when all the pressure is off and she can just lay back and relax.
 

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