Coaches Gymnast scared to hit shins during squat on

[Greenhairedcoach]

Just as the title says, one of my gymnasts won’t attempt a squat on by herself because she’s scared to hit her shins. We do countless drills and shaping for squat ons that she does great with on her own. When spotting her on them, I’m really doing nothing more than giving her a “finger spot,” which tells me she’s capable of doing it on her own. She says she knows she has it, but won’t go for it herself because she doesn’t want to hit her shins. I feel like I’m at a standstill with her on this because I’m having a hard time thinking of ways to help her overcome this fear. She’s done it in the past and even competed it last season, but it seems like she’s having a mental block here. I’d appreciate any tips as this is one of the two main skills keeping her from moving up. Thank you!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Do you have P Bar arm protectors in the gym, perhaps she could wear them on her shins to protect them.

I’d have them practise squat ons on all sorts of surfaces - floor bar, box, pommel horse anything you can think of, starting with softer things.

Holding a gymnasts upper arm seems to help too as they have more confidence to get their feet up and you can help them balance on the bar.

I always spot all squat ons and jump to high bar until the gymnast are in level 6.

 

[procmadz]

Maybe don’t do this on the real bar, but get a lower bar or a floor bar, and drape a sting mat over it. Have her work squat ons on her own or with minimal spot and show her that it won’t hurt if she does it properly. If she thinks she will hit her skins when the time comes, then she can always bail the skill.

 

[JBS]

Just as the title says, one of my gymnasts won’t attempt a squat on by herself because she’s scared to hit her shins.

Do press squat ons on the side of a tall block. These don't have to press all the way... at a certain point they pretty much just squat up and complete the skill.

 

[Greenhairedcoach]

Do you have P Bar arm protectors in the gym, perhaps she could wear them on her shins to protect them.

I’d have them practise squat ons on all sorts of surfaces - floor bar, box, pommel horse anything you can think of, starting with softer things.

Holding a gymnasts upper arm seems to help too as they have more confidence to get their feet up and you can help them balance on the bar.

I always spot all squat ons and jump to high bar until the gymnast are in level 6.

We do squat ons onto many different surfaces and in many ways and I do spot the upper arm as well.
We don’t have arm protectors since we don’t have P bars, but I like the idea. I’ve been looking into something like that to put on her shins to act as a slight “cushion.”

 

[mark031111]

You could try using soft padding or a crash mat to lessen the fear of injury. Positive reinforcement and visualization techniques might also help her overcome the mental block