Women Beam Nerves

[Gymnast28]

ok so I am having this huge issue with beam and competitions. I have always been one to never really get nervous or turn the nerves into adrenaline on every event other than beam. I’ve always been a bit nervous on beam but last comp season my nerves got so bad and have followed me through to this year. My beam was solid last year if I wasn’t competing I could stick 5 beam routines in a row with minimal wobbling but as soon as I competed I would fall or have huge wobbles. My beam is not as strong this year but still decent but when I hit completion it just falls apart(fell twice at my most recent comp and wobbled on everything). As soon as I get on the beam I get sweating and start shaking. I was just wondering if anyone had tips to reduce nerves on beam and be more confident in yourself while competing on beam. Thanks

 

[JBS]

Beam is an aggressive event just like everything else… I like to say “aggressive focus”. Make sure you don’t have any skills in the routine that you are worried about being “aggressive“ on.

Otherwise it’s just more numbers. Instead of 5 in a row… try doing a pressure set with the whole gym watching.

See it… do it… win it!

 

[gym_dad32608]

Mental visualization, work through mentally when you did a strong set, the night before. Step by step.

 

[JBS]

With numbers... remember that you can't do better than 1 out of 1. Numbers like 9 out of 10 are really not very good... what if the one you missed was regionals and you din't make nationals? Then the other 9 are junk.

We give numbers / assignments more like...

"Everyone do 5 routines and tell me how many you went 1 out of 1 on?"

"This is Nationals... let's see you go 1 out of 1 right now!"

"Everyone has 5 chances to go 1 out of 1 three times right now... let's see who can win!"

We basically turn everything into a 1 out of 1 assignment because that's what a meet is.

 

[Coach Kate]

Besides pressure routines, another thing we have our girls do to build confidence and consistency is triple routines: you go throw your entire routine with all your choreography, but when you get to a skill, you make it three times in a row. Example: mount, choreo, turn, turn, turn, choreo, BHS, BHS, BHS, and so on.

 

[Gymnast28]

Thanks you all so much for your help. I had another competition and didn’t fall once and was actually proud of my beam routine.