Back tumbling fear issues...help please.

[shadow]

i think we are doing pretty good now. the fear came back once a bout a few weeks ago. we worked on it for about and hour and she seems fine now. we just hope it stays this way^^

 

[Dreamer28]

I was afraid to back tumble last year! I had provincials coming up in about a week and I couldn't to my back tumbling! Whenever a coach was spotting me I was perfectly fine then when I did it(tried it) myself I would bail.It took me a long time to get over it! I still have a bit of a fear though!

 

[Dreamer28]

My coach just spotted me for them then she would take a step back, then another, and another until she was off the floor and i was able to do it again. The same thing would happen every day!

 

[ThreeGirlsForMe]

What an amazingly intersting post. I have copied the desciption provided by dunno to hand out to a couple of people at my gym whose kids are struggling with this. There is one coach that I feel comfortable sharing with and I will print a copy for her too! Thanks so much!

 

[Caleb]

The important thing to remember is that (most) gymnasts are children. Children are not rational. A few years ago I complained of a similar problem to a very experienced coach and her reply was "you should try toilet training". Take the skill back to basics, get it spotted, do more drills, put them in catching belts: just don't let them make excuses to get out of doing it altogether.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

actually, children are quite rational as it pertains to doing things that they can 'see'. and things that do not cause them fear of the unknown. and if kids that were of the age of toilet training, and they had communication skills, i'm certain they wouldn't tell you that they thought they were going to get killed. you see, kids have actually said that...and meant that as it related to their gymnastics.

so Caleb...i'm not sure i understand your point. with some kids with a serious vestibular problem in its full throes, doing everything you said above will not find the athlete doing anything at all.

and to that "experienced coach" that you speak of above...i toilet trained my own children. quite frankly i don't see what toilet training has to do with any of this. what...like it's hard? like doing double backs on floor hard??

 

[rardjds]

I had a similar problem, and at the moment am working through it. However, I think some of my fear issues were different that this gymnast. At the beginning of summer, i started to be scared of roundoff bhs backtuck. i think partly what added to it was my coach was away. anyways, it got worse and worse and worse. everything started getting scary, and in ways that i found annoying because i knew that i could do these things but i just couldn't go for them. i got scared of bhs on beam for a long time (still working through that...) and flyaway for a short time. it is, as you said, very frustrating. i was going to quit, except now things have turned out alright.
as competition season neared, i gave up on the roundoff bhs backtuck for a little while and turned it into a roundoff backtuck with my coach standing there. this was a lot easier for me because there weren't as many elements, and only 1 backwards move. it still gave me the back salto move credit (which you do need) but i didnt need to worry about the bhs.
even the round off backtuck was hard, and it took me a long time to get it without my coach on the floor.
for the bhs on beam, what helped me when i got really stuck was just for my coach to pick me up and do a slow-mo BHS on the beam with me. slowly, this turned into a BHS, with my coach standing there, on a FIG beam.
for flyaway, it just took doing some swing stops, and slow-mo flyaways.

now i'm getting back my roundoff bhs backtuck, but the only way i can do it is by thinkng about them as different elements, not one line. also, i started from a hurdle, then one step, then really slow steps, and then a run.
the whole process takes a while, and though encouragment should be given in PLENTY, rushing is never a good thing.

pretty much what helps is getting back to basics, back to a place where NO fear is involved. this is different for everyone.
some other thing that helped was repeating a cue-word, such a "tuck" or "flip" throughout my whole tumbling line so i didnt have the chance to say no.
also, counting works, me or my coach. on 1 i'll get ready, on two i'll swing, and on the 3... well the BHS will be done!
sometimes i see what i'm about to do in my mind before i go aswell.

some other really important stuff to remeber is that, as a gymnast, sometimes working on 3 scary things all in one practice can be too much. give your gymnast a break once in a while. but also make sure that she doesnt slack and avoid stuff.

this is a really common issue, something that i realized when i was scared.
i still am.
its something i've worked through and will continue to work through.
anyone can get past their fears, either my conquering them, or chosing a different alternative. sometimes it feels like you never will, like your whole life is downright crappy because of your screwed up mind. but its not. it gets better.
make sure your gymnast knows this.
she is an amazing gymnast.
SHE CAN DO ANYTHING


I'm Level 7 in Ontario age 13

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

I had a similar problem, and at the moment am working through it. However, I think some of my fear issues were different that this gymnast. At the beginning of summer, i started to be scared of roundoff bhs backtuck. i think partly what added to it was my coach was away. anyways, it got worse and worse and worse. everything started getting scary, and in ways that i found annoying because i knew that i could do these things but i just couldn't go for them. i got scared of bhs on beam for a long time (still working through that...) and flyaway for a short time. it is, as you said, very frustrating. i was going to quit, except now things have turned out alright.
as competition season neared, i gave up on the roundoff bhs backtuck for a little while and turned it into a roundoff backtuck with my coach standing there. this was a lot easier for me because there weren't as many elements, and only 1 backwards move. it still gave me the back salto move credit (which you do need) but i didnt need to worry about the bhs.
even the round off backtuck was hard, and it took me a long time to get it without my coach on the floor.
for the bhs on beam, what helped me when i got really stuck was just for my coach to pick me up and do a slow-mo BHS on the beam with me. slowly, this turned into a BHS, with my coach standing there, on a FIG beam.
for flyaway, it just took doing some swing stops, and slow-mo flyaways.

now i'm getting back my roundoff bhs backtuck, but the only way i can do it is by thinkng about them as different elements, not one line. also, i started from a hurdle, then one step, then really slow steps, and then a run.
the whole process takes a while, and though encouragment should be given in PLENTY, rushing is never a good thing.

pretty much what helps is getting back to basics, back to a place where NO fear is involved. this is different for everyone.
some other thing that helped was repeating a cue-word, such a "tuck" or "flip" throughout my whole tumbling line so i didnt have the chance to say no.
also, counting works, me or my coach. on 1 i'll get ready, on two i'll swing, and on the 3... well the BHS will be done!
sometimes i see what i'm about to do in my mind before i go aswell.

some other really important stuff to remeber is that, as a gymnast, sometimes working on 3 scary things all in one practice can be too much. give your gymnast a break once in a while. but also make sure that she doesnt slack and avoid stuff.

this is a really common issue, something that i realized when i was scared.
i still am.
its something i've worked through and will continue to work through.
anyone can get past their fears, either my conquering them, or chosing a different alternative. sometimes it feels like you never will, like your whole life is downright crappy because of your screwed up mind. but its not. it gets better.
make sure your gymnast knows this.
she is an amazing gymnast.
SHE CAN DO ANYTHING


I'm Level 7 in Ontario age 13

Thank you for this post! My DD is fearing uptraining right now because she is afraid of the flyaway and BWO on beam! She hurt herself doing a flyaway time into the pit and now is afraid of it! I know that they are going to start working on them now that meet season is over so hopefully they take things slow so she does not get frustrated !

Dunno...
Is it still considered vestibular when the fear comes directly from getting hurt? She was gung ho on learning the flyaway before the injury...She kneed herself in the chest when landing in the pit doing the timers.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

indirectly, yes. when they consider what caused them to hit the bar, and the believe they did everything 'right' and can't see what went wrong or that everything 'felt' right, they then experience fear of the unknown. and if what they 'felt' [vestibular consequence] was right and it ended badly it is a matter of not trusting their senses. those senses come from the vestibular system.

then there is their simplistic answer..."it hurt like hell and scared the snot out of me" and i don't want to experience that again!

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

My daughter who i s competing at 6 has struggled with floor and I was told the coaches would handle it. She has managed to land all her ROBHSBT at her meets so far but I was shocked when this week after practice she told me she did not do them since her last meet 3 weeks ago since she claimed she fell on her head. Last nite she announced she did them at practice she did tell me it was fear ( good thing she has states in 2 weeks). My point is I think a lot of us parents worry about our daughters progress and maybe it is just better to let the coaches and the gymnast work these things out. I know parents have a lot of time and money invested in the sport but I am really staring to respect and stay out of the relationship between my daughter and her ccoaches. I am sure that this is not the case for all gyms but time and time again my daughters coaches have shown me they know what is best for her concerning gymnastics

 

[Deleted member D3987]

amen.......................................

 

[stargym8]

I went threw alot of stages with doing anything backwards, the best thing you can do is build her confidence. start her working backwards on a trampoline or tumble track then do it onto matts anything, and the beam just start low. With me and fly aways my coach would spot me and have me do them on low bar. Maybe these things will help