Gymnasts Best way to deal with fear and hesitation?

[FrozenMode]

I was just at practice yesterday and one of the biggest things I noticed was my hesitation. I would always stop a little which would kill any momentum I had built. Even for skills without momentum I would do this. What should I do to be more confident in my skills? I think my biggest fear is getting injured in some unforseen way.

 

[LuluGymnast]

I have dealt with this a lot. I actually have been hurt kind of a lot, but mostly just sprains. It’s really tricky when you get in that spot because it’s hard to shake the feeling. Something that helps me is this: I imagine a little part of my brain is glowing a color that makes me feel calm and confident, for me that is a glowing light bright blue. That part of my brain is the part that knows that I know how to do this and the part that is confident and ready to do the skill. I imagine the little bubble of color spreading all over my brain and bringing that feeling with it, and then I imagine it making a bubble around my body like a safety net of confidence basically. It sounds kind of silly but I love it and it makes me feel safe. It’s also good to remember that you are just a floating speck of dust on a spinning speck of dust and you just happen to be good at this thing and in a really beautiful way, it just doesn’t matter. You love it, it’s fun and awesome to have something you live doing, but at the end of the day you are a speck of dust and that’s kind of all there is to it. Gymnastics has pretty much been my life and thinking like this helps to take the stress out of it. It might not work for everyone but it does for me and I hope that can help you mentally!

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

I'm a senior in HS now and this is going to be my last season and month of practice. I've had the same doubts as you because I want to stay healthy, and I'm very ankle sprain prone. But, the higher, stronger, faster you go, the better your skills are, and you have a lower chance of injury. For example, if you do a high layout on floor, you'll have time to spot the ground and prep for landing vs if you hold back, you're likely to land short and get injured. Also, time is limited. Like for me, I've been trying to go for everything possible so I can at least say I tried it. I don't want to live with the fact that I let my brain get in the way of doing something.

 

[Aussie_coach]

The high 5 for fear.

1. Check your thinking, what is going through your head before yiu do the skill? If it’s “I hope I don’t fall.” It’s making things worse, thinking something like “I got this”, “fast feet” “power” etc will make all the difference.

2. visualise - picture yourself doing the skill perfectly in your mind, try not to just see it but feel it in your body. If you have difficulty picturing it, watching someone else do it well will help.

3. Break it down, take it back a step. Go back to the tramp, put an extra mat down, ask for a spot, take it back to a set up where you know you have it, do the drills.

4. Ask for advice. Your coach will be giving you feedback through the whole process, but yiu can ask your coach an others or tips on overcoming the fear.

5. Walk away, go and work a different skill. Standing there and not going for it can increase the fear, sometimes it’s better to leave it for another day.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

The high 5 for fear.

1. Check your thinking, what is going through your head before yiu do the skill? If it’s “I hope I don’t fall.” It’s making things worse, thinking something like “I got this”, “fast feet” “power” etc will make all the difference.

2. visualise - picture yourself doing the skill perfectly in your mind, try not to just see it but feel it in your body. If you have difficulty picturing it, watching someone else do it well will help.

3. Break it down, take it back a step. Go back to the tramp, put an extra mat down, ask for a spot, take it back to a set up where you know you have it, do the drills.

4. Ask for advice. Your coach will be giving you feedback through the whole process, but yiu can ask your coach an others or tips on overcoming the fear.

5. Walk away, go and work a different skill. Standing there and not going for it can increase the fear, sometimes it’s better to leave it for another day.

The phrase "high 5 for fear" is a new one on me, but I agree with absolutely every word of this!