Women Closed eyes while tumbling?

[meganliz77]

Is it normal for a gymnast to close their eyes when tumbling on floor? DD mentioned last night that she sometimes closes her eyes during her ROBHS -BT because sometimes when she sees the floor it "freaks" her out.

Just curious - that's all. Hoping for her sake it doesn't become problematic or anything... but really, I am just curious...

 

[lindsaygymnast7]

I also do this! I have no idea if it's bad or not, but I do know that a lot of gymnasts do it.

 

[j.gymnastt]

I do this too. Whenever I have a skill where I have to go upside down and my hands won't touch the floor, my eyes are closed.

This makes it really hard for me to land front tucks.

 

[duyetanh]

My child does this everytime she learns a new trick that requires 'air time.' And yes she gets scolded for it by the coaches, big time. Apparently according to her it is important to spot the landing, so she really needs her eyes open. It has got so I know when she closes them (doesn't happen as much anymore), because she always biffs, lol...

 

[meganliz77]

My child does this everytime she learns a new trick that requires 'air time.' And yes she gets scolded for it by the coaches, big time. Apparently according to her it is important to spot the landing, so she really needs her eyes open. It has got so I know when she closes them (doesn't happen as much anymore), because she always biffs, lol...

Ha! Yeah, I had NO idea she did this on occasion... but I think with ROBHS-BT it's because she recently had a 'fear' issue with it - same time she began struggling with BWO on beam. She wouldn't do either unless coach was standing there (Spotting, but no touching). This last week however, she was great on the ROBHS-BT and has been doing it without a coach anywhere near her. But she admitted she will sometimes close her eyes... I asked if she is able to stick the landing and she apparently has been thus far... maybe for her it is a new thing that she will grow out of quickly...?!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

It's common, and it is an error that needs to be fixed.

Here's the thing: closing your eyes and feeling your way through works fine for a back tuck. But eventually she will start growing and the skills will feel different, and if she's used to relying on feel alone, this can cause mental blocks. Also, when she starts doing more complex skills (twisting, double saltos, etc), it will become EXTREMELY important for her to have her eyes open and see where she's going.

 

[duyetanh]

It's common, and it is an error that needs to be fixed.

Here's the thing: closing your eyes and feeling your way through works fine for a back tuck. But eventually she will start growing and the skills will feel different, and if she's used to relying on feel alone, this can cause mental blocks. Also, when she starts doing more complex skills (twisting, double saltos, etc), it will become EXTREMELY important for her to have her eyes open and see where she's going.

You sound like my child's hc, lol...

 

[meganliz77]

It's common, and it is an error that needs to be fixed.

Here's the thing: closing your eyes and feeling your way through works fine for a back tuck. But eventually she will start growing and the skills will feel different, and if she's used to relying on feel alone, this can cause mental blocks. Also, when she starts doing more complex skills (twisting, double saltos, etc), it will become EXTREMELY important for her to have her eyes open and see where she's going.

So what would you suggest I do with what she told me? Encourage her to speak with her coach about it? Ask her to explore it with her coach? She did mention she "knows how it is supposed to feel".... and I really don't want to see it become a problem for her. Is this something that the coach will see she is doing before it gets to be an issue?

Thanks for all the insight... I really thought this was a silly question to ask ... but I figured seeing where you are going would be a BIG deal in this sport!

 

[Deleted member 17723]

I do it too. Only in tucks, trying to break the habit now. I don't really like the feeling of having to see how high I am. My coach and I are working towards solving this problem IMO - a back tuck is something that you can learn the feel of pretty easy; compared to twisting and doubles, etc.

Seeing where you are going is a big deal Not a silly question at all!! I'd probably just tell her to ask her coach. But only once I wouldn't push it too much, not yet.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I never even considered it and didn't want to plant a seed in the childs head, so I looked at pics....... eyes open.

 

[meganliz77]

I never even considered it and didn't want to plant a seed in the childs head, so I looked at pics....... eyes open.

All my pictures of DD also show eyes wide open! In passing last night, she just happened to mention that she sometimes shuts them during her back tuck... That's why am wondering if this is maybe a new thing she's doing…

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I would either mention it to the coach or encourage her to mention it to her coach, and let them take it from there. As I said, it's a fairly common issue, and even if she doesn't fix it immediately, it won't be hugely problematic for awhile. It's important, but not urgent. I don't think I learned to properly use visual cues until I was already a level 10.

One thing that is also quite common; often kids think they are closing their eyes when in fact they do have them open. For a lot of gymnastics skills, if you're not actively thinking about what you're seeing and haven't trained to use visual cues, you kind of just don't really process what you see while doing it. It's hard to explain to somebody who hasn't done the skills themselves, but it's like your brain just tosses out the information coming from your eyes rather than actually processing it or remembering it. The result is that you land with absolutely zero memory of having seen anything during the skill, even if your eyes were wide open the whole time. Your DD may just be doing this, and in this case it's mostly just a matter of becoming more comfortable with the skill.

 

[gymnndance]

It's hard to explain to somebody who hasn't done the skills themselves, but it's like your brain just tosses out the information coming from your eyes rather than actually processing it or remembering it. The result is that you land with absolutely zero memory of having seen anything during the skill, even if your eyes were wide open the whole time. Your DD may just be doing this, and in this case it's mostly just a matter of becoming more comfortable with the skill.

Totally agree with that. I totally did this, especially in backward skills and tucks. Sometimes I knew that I had my eyes closed, but sometimes I was just not used to the skill enough, it wasn't "second nature" yet. As I got more comfortable, I could really focus on actually seeing something.

It is also usual that a new skill seems super fast and as you get used to it you can really control it.

I would just tell coach or let dd tell it so she/he know, but no big deal IMO.

Good luck!