WAG Behind on Front tumbling ... HELP

[mOm2gymnast<3]

Hello everyone,


My dd is level 7 this year. Early on, even as a level 4, she has always have a hard time with front tumbling. She can back tumble all day long but when it's front tumbling, it's somehow difficult for her. She has been having a difficult time these past couple of weeks because her knee has been bothering her. She hasn't been doing her front floor passes and is behind. However, she is ahead when it comes to bars and beam. She spent her times practicing those two events while her knee is recovering. In our gym there's only 7 level 7s. Her being the youngest in the group. One coach express that if she doesn't heal fast she will be behind on floor tumbling. The girls are doing front handspring front pike and sometimes layout. My dd has a hard time, and in good days, she's lucky to land front handspring front tuck. She is worried and causing her lots of anxiety. In good side, she's the only one that has a clearhip handstand giant flyaway on bars and the only one that has series on beam. I am at a loss because she's worried and I have no idea what to tell her. I don't want to give her the impression that she needed to push her body even if it hurts, and I definitely don't want her ignoring any pain. What can I tell her to make her worries go away?

 

[kayjaybe]

Everyone gets different skills at different times. It isn't a race and there isn't such thing as "being behind." Everyone will progress at their own pace, especially as you enter the world of optionals.

She (and you) can't worry about where she is in relation to other gymnasts. All it will do is frustrate you both and, in the long run, it just doesn't matter.

She should focus on being the best gymnast she can be, no matter what anyone else is doing.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

It is absolutely essential for her to have a healthy knee. Nothing else is more important to her long term progress in the sport, and a pain free life in the future. She should absolutely not push herself thru pain in tumbling to "keep up". The coach has no business telling her she will be behind if she doesn't "heal fast". As her parent, I would tell the coach to back off. Has she been to the Dr? Our team Dr communicates directly to the coach on what the gymnast can and cannot do, and the parent gets a copy of the plan. I would tell her that her tumbling will improve greatly once her knee heals. That has to be step one. I know it is hard. DD ust sat out an injury for a month, and is finally back to where she was 2 months ago. But she is fully healed and pain free and starting to progress again. The coach's approach to injury is directly causing her anxiety. It need to change.

 

[ascarter1]

My dd had the opposite problem as a lv 8. She could front tumble like a beast, but her full was far from pretty. She had 1 meet as a lv 8, broke her foot in 3 places, narrowly avoided surgery, and was out the entire season and then some. She listened to her body, her orthopedic, and her physical therapist. When she finally came back 100%, she not only got her full back, but immediately started throwing her 3/2 and is now working on her 3/2 tuck. Allowing the body time to properly heal will help her in the long run. The beauty of optionals is that there are options. Her coaches can find her a pass to meet the lv 7 guideline that won't hurt her knee.

Gymnastics is a marathon. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

 

[raenndrops]

Hello everyone,


My dd is level 7 this year. Early on, even as a level 4, she has always have a hard time with front tumbling. She can back tumble all day long but when it's front tumbling, it's somehow difficult for her. She has been having a difficult time these past couple of weeks because her knee has been bothering her. She hasn't been doing her front floor passes and is behind. However, she is ahead when it comes to bars and beam. She spent her times practicing those two events while her knee is recovering. In our gym there's only 7 level 7s. Her being the youngest in the group. One coach express that if she doesn't heal fast she will be behind on floor tumbling. The girls are doing front handspring front pike and sometimes layout. My dd has a hard time, and in good days, she's lucky to land front handspring front tuck. She is worried and causing her lots of anxiety. In good side, she's the only one that has a clearhip handstand giant flyaway on bars and the only one that has series on beam. I am at a loss because she's worried and I have no idea what to tell her. I don't want to give her the impression that she needed to push her body even if it hurts, and I definitely don't want her ignoring any pain. What can I tell her to make her worries go away?

Once she is healed, remember… a FHS-FT satisfies the L7 requirement. She can always upgrade (to the pike or layout) later.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Everyone gets different skills at different times. It isn't a race and there isn't such thing as "being behind." Everyone will progress at their own pace, especially as you enter the world of optionals.

She (and you) can't worry about where she is in relation to other gymnasts. All it will do is frustrate you both and, in the long run, it just doesn't matter.

She should focus on being the best gymnast she can be, no matter what anyone else is doing.

This.

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

Thank you everyone. I tried explaining it to her, but she has a difficult time understanding. She's soon to be 9. All she has in her little mind right now is that she can't make front floor passes. And now, her vault is affected to. I tried giving her boost of confidence telling her that the bars seems to be the hardest event and she's really good at it, but it's not really working.

 

[M2Abi]

Coach needs to back off. She's 8 years old and she has a pass that meets the requirements.

 

[gymmomx2]

When does your competitive season start? Summer training has barely started and I think it's really good if she can already land a FHS FT sometimes! Can she do them without pain on the tumble track? Maybe that's an option until her knee is better. Regardless, a 9 year old L7 is in NO rush and should in no way be told that she's behind! Even if she competes with an iffy FHS FT (which my DD did at the beginning of the season), I have no doubt that it will click.

FWIW, my DD is not a fan of front tumbling either but she is getting better at it now. It comes more naturally to some than others and it was not natural for her! She also had some knee issues last summer and said that front tumbling is a lot harder on her knees than back tumbling. What is the diagnosis for her knee pain?

 

[mOm2gymnast<3]

Yes she does them on tumble track and it seems to help her out a bit. I forbid vault and any hard pounding per dr orders. Her knee, she was diagnosed with SLJ. And dr also said that she has calcium build up. Dr ordered her to lay off on anything that stresses her knee and I am very specific to the gym about it. One time, she came home with a swollen knee because coach made her front tumble even though she told them that it was hurting [emoji35] this was about 1 month ago. Her knee is slowly healing but I guess not to the coaches liking.

 

[M2Abi]

Maybe you need to express to your daughter and the coach that her knee healing is more important than competing Level 7. She still has plenty of time to get her front tumbling skills, but it's better to rest her knee and let it heal. It will be okay if she has to scratch floor or vault at the beginning of the season or not compete at all rather than injure her knee permanently when she is this young.

 

[Committed]

This may sound silly, but I spend a lot of time talking to my DD about reasonable expectations and feelings.
Why is your DD so concerned about her front tumbling? Does she feel like she will have to repeat the prior level?
It's still June, there's plenty of time to get that pass down. If it never comes, it can be changed.
Is she just stressing herself out?

DD and I recently had a discussion that she's not disappointing anyone. Sure, if a certain something doesn't happen, people will be disappointed. But FOR her because she works so hard.

The more pressure your DD puts on herself, the more likely she is to crumble. Just keep pointing out her strengths & reminding her that she has plenty of time to fix up competition skills.

 

[ayyyrial]

Some kids will never be as good at front tumbling as back tumbling. For others they catch up in a few years - although I know a few years is hard for a 9-year-old to keep in mind. Or maybe they find out a particular skill works better for them than others - for example, some kids prefer to tumble out of a punch front and others out of a front handspring. My punch pike was always stronger than my punch tuck.

Also, having any kind of foot/knee injury makes front tumbling a lot harder. Having even a little bit of pain, or feeling instability, can make it hard to be aggressive with front tumbling. She may find that once she's healed and confident in her knee, things come faster and she's able to be more aggressive.

I'd say focus on the positives, like bars!

 

[profmom]

My DD was always behind on front tumbling. She finally is landing FHS FLO FT, but I remember her falling on almost every front tuck the year she competed old L6 (new L5). She did not upgrade to the front pike until L8, even though her back twisting was progressing really well. But she understood that working through injuries would make it happen slower, not faster. I think you may need to check in with the coach to ensure that your DD is getting a consistent message on that point in particular.

 

[Teezi]

For me, I am the complete opposite. I was always able to front tumble very well but, back tumbling is my Achilles heel. I competed this past season as a level 7 and honestly the first 4 meets of the year I didn't get credit for my back layout. It was frustrating and I put so much pressure on myself. But once you take a step back and realize that tumbling is not life or death, the stress goes away and it makes it much easier to approach it. It just takes time, and it's understanding that everyone has different strengths.