I have a gymnast who is 8, has competed lvl 3 and is currently Xcel silver. She is very competitive. The problem is she gets so anxious and nervous before meets that its has led to her actually pulling out of a meet just days before hand. She worries she won't be the best one there or she won't place first on any events. This does two things, it either makes her so anxious that she doesn't want to compete or so fired up and competitive to be the best that when she's not it wreaks her world. I know this causes problems with her parents because they are now hesitant to even sign her up for a meet. They don't know how to handle this or how to teach her to cope.
She doesn't have much experience in competing xcel outside of her fellow silvers since the meets we did this year ended with us being the only team competing silver. We may have done one meet with other gyms and she was top gymnast. Now we have states coming up and the family is questioning if she could handle a big meet like that. She is a great gymnast and could do very well at states.
As a coach how would you go about helping her understand realistic expectations and coping with competition? Is there are resources I can give to the parents to help them with her?
She doesn't have much experience in competing xcel outside of her fellow silvers since the meets we did this year ended with us being the only team competing silver. We may have done one meet with other gyms and she was top gymnast. Now we have states coming up and the family is questioning if she could handle a big meet like that. She is a great gymnast and could do very well at states.
As a coach how would you go about helping her understand realistic expectations and coping with competition? Is there are resources I can give to the parents to help them with her?