Women Fear issues about EVERYTHING

[ayyyrial]

I was talking to a friend about this the other day, and was remembering that when I was a L7 gymnast I had a lot of fear issues. Not about one skill, but multiple things on each event. My fear issues also weren't caused by a specific bad experience I had with anything, and I wasn't going through a growth spurt. For example, I was terrified of my front handspring on beam, even though it was a very solid skill for me and I'd competed it for two seasons. Every day when it was time to warm up my front handspring, I'd get nervous and sweaty and have to warm it up five billion times on the floor. On bars I was afraid of casts on the high bar and giants. I was always afraid of back tumbling, even passes I'd competed for several years.

I'm wondering if you guys have encountered anything like this. Fear issues that don't go away even though the gymnast performs all the skills consistently and never balks. I think it was a big factor leading to me having trouble training, and especially competing, at the optional level. I also think one of the factors was a fear of heights since things were fine on the low bar but terrifying on the high bar - same deal on beam. Is it possible to make this kind of fear go away? Is it common? It definitely interfered with my success and I eventually quit because of it.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My YDD has similar issues. My ODD fears new skills but is eventually fine, but not my YDD. She has skills that she has down cold yet she still gets scared every single time she's asked to do them. They aren't even her hardest skills by a long shot. She's also afraid of heights, oddly enough. She's fond of telling me that it doesn't matter if she's afraid, though, only if she lets her fear stop her.

 

[agtc0424]

I've had/have this. Skills like a back walkover on beam, something I've had for years now, still needs to be warmed up on floor, then line, then low beam, etc. I've always been scared to vault - particularly front stuff (fhs, full off, etc). High bar still scares me (mildly) after 2 seasons of competing on it. I'm not sure if it's possible to go away, maybe with sports psychology or something. If it's mild, maybe confidence boosters? I think it's common. I have a few friends and lots of teammates who have a similar thing. Most of the "scary" skills are skills we have solid. I'd say the biggest thing is how a coach handles it. If they are harsh, hard and uncaring, the gymnast might not thrive. But if they are understanding and work out a plan, the gymnast will most likely stay in the sport.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Doing gymnastics could be the best thing for you! If you are afraid but do it anyway, you are learning one of the most valuable life skills imaginable.

You could consider hypnotherapy. If the fear is irrational it is being triggered by something in the mind, a hypnotherapist can help you to locate and overcome this fear.

 

[ayyyrial]

Doing gymnastics could be the best thing for you! If you are afraid but do it anyway, you are learning one of the most valuable life skills imaginable.

You could consider hypnotherapy. If the fear is irrational it is being triggered by something in the mind, a hypnotherapist can help you to locate and overcome this fear.

I am aged out of the sport now. The thing is, I think attacking my fears over and over again was more psychologically destructive, rather than a learning experience, because of the high level of anxiety I faced every day. Overcoming certain fears felt positive, like I was learning that I had the ability to conquer them and perform skills safely. With the fears that never went away when I got to optionals...it was constant dread and stress. Even though I was training and competing all those skills I was afraid of, I was losing to the fear.