WAG End of an era?

[Cloe Forner]

I need help... I'm 15, I am a gymnast, and I have worked super hard to be where I am right now. I'm proud of all my accomplishments and I proved to myself through this sport that I truly can do anything I put my effort towards. But, there's a down side... First lets go way back. I started gymnastics @ 13, no experience, I was super weak, and I was incredibly inflexible. I progressed very fast through the levels of our gym and passed levels some girls were stuck in for years. I made it to excel gold (which is what I am in now), and my coach is trying to get me to excel Platinum. I am taller than most girls which makes almost everything harder for me than it is for them. I feel like I am always getting inquiries while other 4ft girls haven't gotten an injury in years. Currently, I have a stress fracture in my back, my ankle feels like it's sprained all the time and it WON'T go away! My wrist has on and off bad days where any pressure on it hurts, and I get a rip every single practice. I am the worst on the "excel Platinum" team because I'm not as good as the other girls since I don't have the basic experience they do. I mean they've been in gymnastics for like 7 years! I also don't have that love for the sport any more like I used to. For so long I was a "gymnast", I loved it, I did it every where, all I thought about was gymnastics. And I don't know if it's because I'm older but now I just don't love it. I don't like the inquiries, I hate trying new passes because of mental blocks, and I'm getting older. I'm a sophomore in highschool so finding that time to practice gymnastics sometimes feels impossible and almost interfering with my school work. Almost everytime I have to go to gymnastics I'm like dreading it. Some days it's fun and then I don't want to quit but more often then not, I don't like it. I really want to try volleyball but I'm not allowed to till I'm done with gym. And I do not want to compete this year because I feel like I'll be terrible. Please help, I don't know what to do!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

I need help... I'm 15, I am a gymnast, and I have worked super hard to be where I am right now. I'm proud of all my accomplishments and I proved to myself through this sport that I truly can do anything I put my effort towards. But, there's a down side... First lets go way back. I started gymnastics @ 13, no experience, I was super weak, and I was incredibly inflexible. I progressed very fast through the levels of our gym and passed levels some girls were stuck in for years. I made it to excel gold (which is what I am in now), and my coach is trying to get me to excel Platinum. I am taller than most girls which makes almost everything harder for me than it is for them. I feel like I am always getting inquiries while other 4ft girls haven't gotten an injury in years. Currently, I have a stress fracture in my back, my ankle feels like it's sprained all the time and it WON'T go away! My wrist has on and off bad days where any pressure on it hurts, and I get a rip every single practice. I am the worst on the "excel Platinum" team because I'm not as good as the other girls since I don't have the basic experience they do. I mean they've been in gymnastics for like 7 years! I also don't have that love for the sport any more like I used to. For so long I was a "gymnast", I loved it, I did it every where, all I thought about was gymnastics. And I don't know if it's because I'm older but now I just don't love it. I don't like the inquiries, I hate trying new passes because of mental blocks, and I'm getting older. I'm a sophomore in highschool so finding that time to practice gymnastics sometimes feels impossible and almost interfering with my school work. Almost everytime I have to go to gymnastics I'm like dreading it. Some days it's fun and then I don't want to quit but more often then not, I don't like it. I really want to try volleyball but I'm not allowed to till I'm done with gym. And I do not want to compete this year because I feel like I'll be terrible. Please help, I don't know what to do!

You need to get healthy first. Maybe coaching might be a nice way for you to stay involved in the sport you used to love without all the personal heartache that has taken the fun out of it. Your injuries suggest you need a break, so I don't see why when healthy enough you can't re-build your fitness with Vollyball.

 

[Cloe Forner]

You need to get healthy first.

But what do you mean by healthy?

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Currently, I have a stress fracture in my back, my ankle feels like it's sprained all the time and it WON'T go away! My wrist has on and off bad days where any pressure on it hurts, and I get a rip every single practice.

Doing gymnastics with a stress fracture is not healthy.

 

[Cloe Forner]

Doing gymnastics with a stress fracture is not healthy.

Yes definitely not. I guess in some way when I think of quiting I feel quilt. Almost as if I "have" to compete this season.

 

[gymgal]

Some gymnasts are more injury prone than others but the quick pace at which you learned skills and went up the levels likely has a lot to do with it too. Pineapple is right - you need to take some time off to rest your injuries. Especially that spinal stress fracture but also those ankles and wrists. Maybe work on conditioning during this time and it will give you time to decide whether you really want to continue with gymnastics. The level you are at now is when many, many gymnasts decide to leave the sport. It becomes too time consuming and too difficult physically and mentally. And that's OK. Only you can know whether it's time to choose another sport but just some insight from what I have found over the years - once a parent or gymnast expresses aloud that they are questioning whether to leave, it is usually long past time to exit as they have not been happy for months, possibly years before they tell someone.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Move on. One door is closing but others are openin. Go forward