Hello IM new..have a question!

[nodoubt726]

Hi , I just have a question that I need some advice on.
My DD is on a Pre Team. Next level would be team.
She has fallen on beam once doing a cartwheel and another
time leaping. She is developing a fear of beam now. Any advice
on how to overcome the fear before it gets worse??? Thanks!

 

[gymjourneymom]

Hello & welcome to the Chalk Bucket! May I ask how old your DD is and how long she has been on preteam? Falls can be very scary at any age or level. But for young ones, just starting out, once it happens a few times & they "survive", most learn to just take falls in stride. They learn to dust themselves off & get back up...it's part of the sport. Hopefully her coach is supportive, up beat & encouraging. Starting her out on the lowest height beam(with coach spotting her as needed) & slowly moving her to higher beams as her confidence/skill improves. Good luck to your DD!

 

[nodoubt726]

Hello & welcome to the Chalk Bucket! May I ask how old your DD is and how long she has been on preteam? Falls can be very scary at any age or level. But for young ones, just starting out, once it happens a few times & they "survive", most learn to just take falls in stride. They learn to dust themselves off & get back up...it's part of the sport. Hopefully her coach is supportive, up beat & encouraging. Starting her out on the lowest height beam(with coach spotting her as needed) & slowly moving her to higher beams as her confidence/skill improves. Good luck to your DD!

My DD is 11 yrs old. Her gym has 2 pre team levels. She has been on the first level for only 3 months and she already moved up to the next level. She was always the one to run to the high beam while the rest of the girls would run to
the low one. Now she will get on the high beam, but you can see the resistance. I will speak to her coach. Thank you for the welcome and the advice!

 

[Caligirlzz]

What I find most interesting about your question, and I am very new as well, is that your daughter is doing a cartwheel on beam. My daughter went right to team and they have yet to practice a cartwheel on High beam. It's always on the low beam or with mats up to almost the top of the beam. She hasn't worked on Leaps just yet either.

Maybe my gym is just different, but I don't see why on pre-team she would be practicing a level 5 skill.

 

[cathiann]

As the PP said, it'll take time for her to see that falling is a normal thing and she will recover. Hopefully it'll be a brief time that she's fearful--but don't be startled if it happens again. I've seen the girls on team get scared with new skills all the time--but a few months later and they're doing those same skills with ease (for the most part ;-) ).

 

[mariposa]

I think that for an 11 year old, it is much more common to have a little more fear after having a fall off of beam. They tend to think things out much more. Hopefully her coaches will help her by being positive and not rushing her back to the high beam too fast. Starting on the lower beam and working her way back up is a great idea.

 

[gymjourneymom]

What I find most interesting about your question, and I am very new as well, is that your daughter is doing a cartwheel on beam. My daughter went right to team and they have yet to practice a cartwheel on High beam. It's always on the low beam or with mats up to almost the top of the beam. She hasn't worked on Leaps just yet either.

Maybe my gym is just different, but I don't see why on pre-team she would be practicing a level 5 skill.

Yes, all gyms are different, with different philosophies & training styles. That is what is so interesting about CB! We can compare & discuss the pros/cons of different philosophies to help us see what is the best for our DD's. nodoubt when your DD enters team...does your gym's "team" start at L4 or L5? Since L5 is the 1st level you have to score out of(per USAG), some gyms don't compete until L5.

 

[mariposa]

Maybe my gym is just different, but I don't see why on pre-team she would be practicing a level 5 skill.

Not sure how her gym works, but some gyms do not even do level 4 and go right to level 5. Level 4 isn't a required level to compete at or score out of, so some gyms start their teams at level 5.

Also, sadly, some gyms don't have coaches that are trained to do safe progressions, etc.

 

[bogwoppit]

Also in some places a cartwheel on beam is a basic skill. Not everyone here is in the US or follwing the USAG levels. Here my DD's can do a handstand, cartwheel or a front or back walkover, whichever they choose is fine and worth the same.

As for the OP's issue, all you can do is let it be and let your DD try to handle it. My youngest had a bad beam crash doing a cartwheel when she was 7, she is still struggling with beam because of it. But as we have five apparatus here she can still do well AA. I have learned that the more a parent stresses over the fear and lost skill the more the gymmie will stress too. Not really our goal?

A good coach will take her back to basics, cartwheel on a line, cartwheel with low beam and mats and then slowly moving up to the high beam when the skill is perfected many times at each level. Gymmie has to feel safe and in control.

Also gymmies do need to get used to falling, as it happens a lot, learning to fall safely is very important and from all apparatus. Once she realises she can fall without really huritng herself it will become less stressfull.

 

[gymjourneymom]

Great post Bog! Excellent advice as usual! I often do forget this is a world wide web & not everyone on CB competes USAG.

 

[nodoubt726]

Thanks to all of you. I really need to read up more on the skills that are needed for each level..I do not know . I know the skills my dd needed to move up from one preteam level to the next and some were: Floor: back & front walkovers, back & front handsprings, full turn, round off back handspring. On beam it was handstand, leap, cartwheel, full turn.
Bars: pull over, back hip circles. squat on, jump to high bar and proper tap swings.
Vault : Handstand flat-back , run and hurdle through to handstand, handstand fall to feet off table.
I don't know what level this is though. Thanks again for all your replies.

 

[mariposa]

With those skills, it sounds a lot like they are preparing the girls for level 5 competition, if you are in the US and doing USAG. I think I just assumed US and USAG as well, sorry.

 

[bogwoppit]

Based on that I'd say she isn't follwoing USAG. DO you live in the States? Those skills sound more like what my girls needed for team in Canada.