Coaches and Parents

[gym monkeys mom]

Ok so my DD as many know is training Level 9 probably competing Level 8 she will be 15 yrs in Nov. She is ok with doing Level 8 again this year.

Today she commes home and says I can't do giants anymore any wheree but the single rail bar.

My response not very loving I am sorry to say. As many of you know 2 years ago this was a huge issue with her. She had spent about 2 years finally learning them and they are nice.

Her coach is not very helpful in this particular area he is however very patient with her. He is a great coach we would not trade him for anything. I would not do his job either a bunch of teen girls all day is not my cup of tea so to speak. A few great 16 no way.

So it got me thinking is it common for things like this to reoccur out of the blue? Does this happen to others and if so how did you help them deal with it?

I must say I was not very good and had to go back and apologize.

DD is not very open to doing Doc Ali stuff not sure why. She is very Methodical/Engineer (this is good) type by nature so you would think it would work for her.

Ideas and thoughts welcome. I would like to be more supportive without being pushy.

 

[gymdog]

yeah, it happens. Putting more pressure on her is likely to backfire and cause more problems. I think at this level and age she needs to work through it herself (with coach input during practice, of course). I would just suggest to her she has overcome her fear in the past and she needs to keep working on it and keep an open mind each day for how she can progress that day.

 

[gymgramma]

Has she grown at all recently?

 

[gymjoy]

First sign of a growth spurt - trouble with giants. Can't tell you how many times I have seen this at dd's gym - including my dd.

Sorry your dd is having a rough time (and that it is rough on you too).
She is old enough to work it out for herself. Just be available when she needs you. Not really the best advice (sorry).

Maybe give the coach a quick call and ask what he is seeing at practice (?)

 

[gymdog]

Growing can affect timing but I assumed since she is in her mid-teens there wouldn't have been a big growth spurt (possible, just unlikely). But another thing she can do in any case is make a plan for herself to transition back into what she could do before. She is old enough and experienced enough that she can do this with minor coach input and approval and carry it out. i.e. day one - do five turns of giants on the single rail, then five turns of cast handstand into flyaway on the regular bars. Day two, giants on single rail, cast handstand flyaway, then baby giant to clear support on the regular bar. Day three, giant with spot on regular bar, etc. This will not only help her feel more in control rather than letting her mind spiral out of control and just feel defeated.

This is a proactive way to make decisions of how she will progress. If that sounds like something she needs you can show her this post and respond or PM if she wants more "plan" suggestions. It will also help her put down in realistic terms how much the skill is in her grasp and how much time she is spending just to drill things she already can do easily - however I think it is necessary often when fears crop up to make the plan, commit to going back for x days, rather than to have the fear spread and cause further problems.

I think I've mentioned before on here I would have reacted pretty badly to my parents "judging" my gymnastics at that age. And they rarely did in any way, but even the mildest comment could practically enrage me under the surface. Just thinking about the general idea of it kind of makes me angry. I think this is hard to explain but a common problem. Fine if the parents say they don't want to pay for gymnastics but to offer to do it and then judge when they aren't the ones having to face it everyday makes you feel vey misunderstood and offended. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I am just trying to offer a perspective though, because I have seen family relationships become strained over gymnastics "issues" and I think that's really too bad, it's not worth it or necessary imo. Gymnastics is all cool or whatever, clearly it's my life, but it's not really that big a deal.

 

[emandelsmom]

My dd is the same way. She will get a skill and then it will be gone. I just don't comment now and blandly answer that it will come back. I just don't engage the conversation. 2 weeks ago she lost her front hilp circle. Now it is back. Her biggest one was the ROBHS. But that was due to a 2 inch growth spurt. It is now back. Hugs.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yep, normal. like terminator stated in the movie...i be back!

 

[gymjourneymom]

yep, normal. like terminator stated in the movie...i be back!

I so wish that you were my DD's coach! You have such a way with words!

 

[nevertooold]

Gymnastics is all cool or whatever, clearly it's my life, but it's not really that big a deal.

Mind if I make this into a shirt ?

awesome

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Completely normal. She'll get it back in time.

In the meantime, DO NOT PRESSURE HER, as this will almost guaranteed make the problem worse -- sometimes a LOT worse.