being mental sucks.

[rlsxoxo15]

Ok.. well I'm stressed, worn out, overwhelmed, and tired all day, every day. I'm not some hard core elite gymnast, I'm a level 7 but I want to be one of those hard core gymnasts. I've been working my butt off every day I'm in gym (which 4 days a week 3 1/2- 4 hours.) I want to be the best I can be. I have dreams of going to the Olympics and I really want them to come true. However, I'm a bit old to be deciding this now. I'm 14, and I'm going into high-school. But I believe I have the determination and the drive to really be the best that I can be (I just hope it's Olympic level....) Anyways, I'm not your average gymnast, I'm 5'4" and that is huge disadvantage for me. I quit for a year and a half when I was in fifth grade which triggered a growth spurt. If I hadn't quit I would've been a level 9 by now. I'm not even joking or exaggerating. I was great as a kid. Until I fell on bars doing a squat on. I didn't grab the bar and landed flat on my back and there was no mat there. I'm over that now but when your young, something like that kind of scars you and I'm afraid of bars. I believe the only thing keeping me from moving forward and doing the things I'm capable of doing is my mind. I am extremely mental and I over think everything and I don't know how to stop it. I'm sick of it yet I can't stop being afraid. I beat myself up about not doing the things I know I can do and I literally make myself cry because I make myself feel so bad. It's ridiculous but it's what happens. I can barely do a baby giant because I'm afraid to cast bigger. I don't know what I'm afraid I just am. I'm so frustrated and I want to show my coaches I have what it takes but it gets so hard. I'm about ready to cry right now.. well that's my venting. sigh...

 

[JBS]

Just have fun...that's what it's all about.

Figure out a way to get up to handstand on bars without casting. We have a giant spotting platform. When I have a girl that has a hard time with casting...they just kick to handstand off the spotting platform onto the bar to start their baby giant or giant. This way they can still work a baby giant or giant without having a cast or a spot.

 

[jenniffir]

Im right there with you on being a headcase, except i cant tumble to save my life and i wont vault over the real vault only a vault trainer. Ive competed all the skills i am afraid of and have hurt myself on a bhs but other than that i dont know why i am afraid, my coaches get frustrated but i cant explan why i am scared so it ends with me feeling horrible.

I have never had trouble on bars, but it seems you just have to get used to casting. Do you have a pit bar? if so you can try to cast and drop into the pit so you dont have to worry about peeling off the bar or have too much foriegn power into a baby giant.

 

[gymnast4life94]

i have an irrational fear of bars. no matter what simple skill it is but i have slowly gotten over it in some aspects in other aspects i just cant. the thing that gets me most is release skills i cant do them very well so of course i am mental over them! and i have a fear of completely missing the bars and landing on my tummy and hurting myself so thats my problem!

 

[htimcj]

I am sorry you are struggling with the bars. Try to take a deep breath and rememeber why you're there. To have fun. Everything else is bonus.

 

[iBleedChalk]

I understand you completely. Although it's not the deepest of words, here's my advice: Breathe. When you're stressed and upset, take a breather and block out everything that's upsetting you.
But here's what I want you to keep in mind when you're stressed about being to old for the olympics. You're not! If this is something you really want to do...you'll have the drive inside yourself to do it. There's a thirty-something year old olympic gymnast out there who has already raised a family and she's competing Elite. Now I'm not saying this happens often, but it's obvious that gymnastics is her passion and she wont let age stop her from that
If you want this enough, you'll be just like her. Make sure your loved ones and people around you know how much you want it and how hard you're willing to work. You never know, maybe they'll be willing to take you to a gym with a more experienced coach. You never know what could happen!
Hope this helped. I know how you feel, you just have to breathe.

-Maili

 

[mamaritz]

I know exactly how you feel. I've been mental going on about 5 years now, and it really does suck. For a long time, I lost my giant on the real bar and would only do it on the pit bar. No matter what I did, no matter how bad I wanted it, no matter how much I was pushed, my mind just refused to throw it on the real bar. The practice before State, I did it three times with a spot that was on a very tall platform. I didn't throw it at State. I casted over on purpose twice, and saluted. I think I got like a 6.5 on that routine. It was the worst I had ever felt about gymnastics. Ever. Actually I still haven't thrown it on the real bar. I don't think I'm competing this year because my mentalness on bars spread to everything else. I wish I had some awesome way to help you get over your mentalness, but I don't. I agree with JBS that having fun is what it's all about. I started gymnastics when I was 18 months old. Surely I should be over those fear issues by now? I also know how you feel with the whole not knowing what you're afraid of. I think it helps to just take a step back for a little while and let your mind calm down about it a little bit. After that, it's just muscle memory. Try not to beat yourself up too much. I of all people am completely guilty of reducing myself to tears, but it doesn't help anything. If you must say things to yourself (who doesn't?) say positive things to yourself, so that when you get back in the gym, you feel good about any progress you're making rather than feeling sucky about what you haven't achieved. Just go for everything with all you've got.

 

[mamaritz]

also, about the whole elite thing... even if you don't make it to the Olympics, make sure you are happy with the gymnast you are, not the gymnast you want to be. Find things about your gymnastics that you truly appreciate and love, and that will be enough

 

[rardjds]

There r so many of us mental gymnasts out there it's niceti know that lots of girls r going throug the same stuff. All I can sayvis try your best not to beat yourself up about it. Tr doing your skill once or twice but if it's not working then stop. Take a breather. Then go back to the skill and try thinking about it a different way. Also don't dread doing bars. Just think of it like u don't wanna do it but u r because u r an amazing gymnast.

Also one thing I did is that once I realized that my problem was that I doubted myself a lot, not only at gym but outside of it I wore a rubber band on my wrist. Every time I found myself doubting I would switch wrists that the elastic is on. I helped meceealize that the problem was nomy gymnastics just how I thoughtof it. I started with switching wrists 10 times a day, but slowly it lessened.

Hope this helps and don't forget that u r an amazing gymnast

 

[iJaide!!]

There r so many of us mental gymnasts out there it's niceti know that lots of girls r going throug the same stuff. All I can sayvis try your best not to beat yourself up about it. Tr doing your skill once or twice but if it's not working then stop. Take a breather. Then go back to the skill and try thinking about it a different way. Also don't dread doing bars. Just think of it like u don't wanna do it but u r because u r an amazing gymnast.

Also one thing I did is that once I realized that my problem was that I doubted myself a lot, not only at gym but outside of it I wore a rubber band on my wrist. Every time I found myself doubting I would switch wrists that the elastic is on. I helped meceealize that the problem was nomy gymnastics just how I thoughtof it. I started with switching wrists 10 times a day, but slowly it lessened.

Hope this helps and don't forget that u r an amazing gymnast

Wow that is a great idea! I am going to try this!