WAG Cautious gymmie?

[gracyomalley]

DD has always been cautious to a certain extent - never afraid of getting hurt, but likes to go step wise with things. I will say that one disadvantage is that as she moved up in the levels this approach (along with the coaching strategy she was taught which encouraged it) has led to her being VERY good at the "required" skills for whatever level she was - but having very little "else" in her bag of tricks....as in she never learned a front walk over even!!! It also led her to have a hard time this last few months when she has been primarily conditioning with the team and then sent off to do drills or work on new skills by herself (not competing, took a couple months off, working on L8 at new gym). Basically she doesn't know "how" to work on stuff by herself - except to perfect old things....give her a drill, and teach her how to do it - and she'll work it carefully and well as many times as needed...but tell her to "work on your front layout/full and your C and D leaps some" - and even though she wants to she often is left standing around not knowing "what to do"....

She did fine in a small gym with a few optionals and a coach who knew how she ticked and could give her more direction - she had many advanced skills (but many holes). Great form and strong compared to the rest of the gym....but she's floundering in the bigger gym environment where her hesitancy is sometimes seen as lack of desire to get the new skills....wish she'd chuck a few things so they'd know what she's capable of!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Do you think it hurt's their progress to much or it doesn't really matter on the whole grand scheme of things, I am leaning towards - it doesn't really matter camp but what do I know.

Eventually they will need both, the actual skill and the detail and form.

So different roads will be taken but to continue on you need to get to the same place.

 

[stillgotmyleotard]

Cautious one here, too. She likes to understand the mechanics of everything completely before she does it but that does mean it is usually good when she does. She says she visualises her vault on her way to sleep and that's why her sides hurt when she wakes up.

 

[sewgood]

My daughter used to be a chucker until she broke her arm. Ever since then, she is much more hesitant and has had to deal with fear issues a bit. Ironically, she broke her arm doing something completely unrelated to gymnastics, but when she got cleared to go back to gym by her orthopedic surgeon, she came back much more hesitant (even though her injury wasn't a result of a gym skill gone bad). On top of that, she grew a bit while she was out during those 4 months, so when she did go back, she had to relearn everything because nothing felt the same. On top of that, she has SPD, so the months of limited physical activity in general messed with her proprioceptive and vestibular isues.

It took over a year before she would do a robhs or a bt without a coach spotting her. It definitely wasn't a skill issue, as she was being "spotted" by the coach basically tapping her back as she went around. It was frustrating for her, but it just took some patience and time, and she's fine now. Just a little more cautious than she used to be (in the gym and out).

 

[GYM0M]

Do you think it hurt's their progress to much or it doesn't really matter on the whole grand scheme of things, I am leaning towards - it doesn't really matter camp but what do I know.

Nope. My dd is similar to yours. She too needs it to feel right before she goes for it. Her coaches are very hands on so this helps a ton. They take her through the body positions and what not several times so she can 'feel' it. DD is 9 and will compete L9 next year. I refer to it as her perfectionism.

 

[GymMom4]

My dd is cautious. She may take a little longer to get some skills but once she does have it she usually has it down really well and with good form.