Hopelessness...

[d0nut_l0ver]

I have been doing gymnastics for 4 years. As some of you may know, I started at a terrible gym that taught me nothing except handstand forward rolls. (I'm a master at those now! xD) And I was there for 2 years!!! Finally I switched to a much nicer gym that actually taught me lots of stuff. I've been there 2 years- the first year I was just trying to catch up to the class they put me in- pre-team, or level 4. The 2nd year, up to now, I have been working on level 5, 6 and even a few level 7 skills.

The problem is, although I've gotten so much better at some things, I just can't seem to get others.

1. My squat on on bars. During the summer, nobody else signed up for my class so I had 12 private sessions for the same cost as 12 normal sessions that would normally have a large group of kids. I got so much better at EVERYTHING during those classes. I got my front handspring, my squat-on, jumping to high bar myself, my cartwheel and handstand on high beam, my back walkover on low beam..... and I still have all of those skills, except a squat-on on bars. Idk why. One day during the summer, I just realized that I could do them and that they weren't scary, and I did a ton of them! But now I just lost them. I know exactly how to do them, I'm just TERRIFIED of them. So this is more of a fear issue.

2. My round off. That sounds really stupid, but yes, I have a terrible round off. During the summer I also really improved my back handspring, and I did it by myself on trampoline (after much persuasion... it was pretty scary for my first time alone! ) I even tried a ROBH on trampoline and it wasn't so bad. But on trampoline, round-offs are always good. When it comes to floor, I'm just so slow, and when my feet hit the ground, my upper body is leaning over. And I've been told 100 times that if you land like that, your back handspring is terrible. The coaches keep telling me, "You're going too slow, snap your legs down faster!" But I just can't get it and it's really upsetting me. I've been terrible at these ever since I started them and I have no sign of getting better. I'm 13 and I'm still on pre-team, while if I had a good round-off, I would have a good round-off back handspring, and that's all I need to get on team!

I've just sort of been feeling hopeless lately about those 2 skills. So I have 3 questions- any advice on how to get over my fear of squat ons, any other tips for a slow round-off besides "snap your legs faster", and how do you think I can pull myself out of my state of hopelessness? Any advice would be appreciated... thanks!

(Sorry for the super-long post!)

 

[gymmomof1]

You sound like a hard worker and you really enjoy doing gymnastics . Seems like every gymnast goes through fears at some point my Dd has learned to live with the nervousness and plug through the skill. After awhile you turn the brain off of what you are doing and focus more on the mechanics of the skill (tell yourself right hand goes here left hand there point toes, etc really focusing on the little details). Dd still gets nervous about the skill but does it. I hope this makes sense and helps some.

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

Thank you! Yeah, I understand what you're saying. I'll be sure to try that my next class. Thanks again!

 

[Aussie_coach]

First off don't be so hard on yourself, by the sounds of it you are progressing very well in a lot of areas. All gymnasts have a few skills which they are struggling with, if it was all easy it would be boring.

Squat ons are not to dangerous for kids your age (I am assuming your age based on the way you sound in the post). You should be tall enough to do it safely. If you are scared don't jump from the low bar but put a large spotting box in front of it close to the high bar so you only have a little way to jump. From there as you get more confident you can pull the box further out until you are jumping the full distance. Also work squat ons and just jump to the floor. If you hit a point where you are too scared go back one step and practice until you are confident.

With your round off it can be hard to snap down properly if the first part of the round off is incorrect. Make sure you have a long and powerful hurdle and that you are joining your legs early enough.

 

[iamagymbabe]

I had a similar problem with my squat ons, I had them, lost them, had them and lost them again! I've recently got them back again so my advice would be just go for it and don't worry if it takes a little while to get them back, you're not the only one! If you have a single bar at your gym you could try them on there so you don't have to worry about the jump to high bar as well, this worked for me! Also, make sure that you are tucking your knees up and not 'kicking your bum' if that makes sense, because you have less time to get your feet on if they are way behind you. Good luck!

 

[Kiwi]

It is absolutely normal to feel frustrated when skills are not progressing as well as you'd like. Just let it be okay. Observe that you feel frustrated, but don't go on into any negative self-talk that brings you down. I would say that every gymnast goes through the same feelings at times.

For the round-off, it is difficult to give advice without seeing it. But make sure you are reaching forward with your hands, not down, keep squeezing your ears with your arms, focus on lifting your chest as you come up, ending with your body in a question mark shape. I used to have a dreadful round-off, but an excellent coach has helped me improve it a lot with these tips.

For the squat-on, I've never tried these but the other night I tried a straddle-on for the first time. I was very scared, so I put humongous thick crash mats around, behind the bar (I was scared of falling backwards) and in front of the bar (I was scared of falling forwards). It worked, knowing the mats were there I was not too scared to really go for it, and I got it on the second try. I haven't tried it without the mats yet. So if you haven't tried it with huge mats yet, maybe that might help.

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

First off don't be so hard on yourself, by the sounds of it you are progressing very well in a lot of areas. All gymnasts have a few skills which they are struggling with, if it was all easy it would be boring.

Squat ons are not to dangerous for kids your age (I am assuming your age based on the way you sound in the post). You should be tall enough to do it safely. If you are scared don't jump from the low bar but put a large spotting box in front of it close to the high bar so you only have a little way to jump. From there as you get more confident you can pull the box further out until you are jumping the full distance. Also work squat ons and just jump to the floor. If you hit a point where you are too scared go back one step and practice until you are confident.

With your round off it can be hard to snap down properly if the first part of the round off is incorrect. Make sure you have a long and powerful hurdle and that you are joining your legs early enough.

I guess that's true...

I know, I can jump to high bar fine (my coaches spot me and then they let go, and I jump) it's just the squat on that gets me nervous. I've seen people "trip" on the low bar and plummet face-down on the mat, and that's what scares me, I think.

Okay. I'll try to remember that tonight at gymnastics.

Thanks!

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

I had a similar problem with my squat ons, I had them, lost them, had them and lost them again! I've recently got them back again so my advice would be just go for it and don't worry if it takes a little while to get them back, you're not the only one! If you have a single bar at your gym you could try them on there so you don't have to worry about the jump to high bar as well, this worked for me! Also, make sure that you are tucking your knees up and not 'kicking your bum' if that makes sense, because you have less time to get your feet on if they are way behind you. Good luck!

Thanks! yes, I know about the tucking in part. I'm good at that, but before my feet reach the low bar, I just give up from fear.

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

It is absolutely normal to feel frustrated when skills are not progressing as well as you'd like. Just let it be okay. Observe that you feel frustrated, but don't go on into any negative self-talk that brings you down. I would say that every gymnast goes through the same feelings at times.

For the round-off, it is difficult to give advice without seeing it. But make sure you are reaching forward with your hands, not down, keep squeezing your ears with your arms, focus on lifting your chest as you come up, ending with your body in a question mark shape. I used to have a dreadful round-off, but an excellent coach has helped me improve it a lot with these tips.

For the squat-on, I've never tried these but the other night I tried a straddle-on for the first time. I was very scared, so I put humongous thick crash mats around, behind the bar (I was scared of falling backwards) and in front of the bar (I was scared of falling forwards). It worked, knowing the mats were there I was not too scared to really go for it, and I got it on the second try. I haven't tried it without the mats yet. So if you haven't tried it with huge mats yet, maybe that might help.

I know, it just... it's just hard to stay positive sometimes.

Okay, I'll keep that in mind.

I tried a straddle-on once and kicked someone in the face... so I don't do those anymore. But yeah, I got my squat-on with giant mats around then took them away when I was confident, but because I'm the only one in a large group that does not have their squat-on now, my coaches do not let me use any big mats, just a tiny one on the floor.

 

[Kiwi]

Maybe ask your coach if you can have a medium crash mat there for a while, to help you get your confidence back? Also, are you practicing them on the floor bar? I practiced my straddle-on on the floor bar for a long time to give myself confidence I could do it, before I tried it up on the real bar. If you can do it there without getting your toes caught, that might give you more confidence.

 

[d0nut_l0ver]

Yes, I've done it on the floor bar 100 times and I'm really good on it. I've asked my coaches for a bigger mat but they said no. But next class, we're specializing on our ROBH and squat-ons on bars and that's how we're going to spend most of our 2 hour class. So, if I don't get my squat-on then, I'll be quite surprised!