Parents How to know when a mental block is not going to go away.

[Cksplawn]

Hi gymnastics family! I have a broken hearted level 7 gymnast who was at the top of her game and then suddenly struggled to go backwards on her series on beam then it spread to tumbling which was her strong skill. Then to flipping fault. She has been fighting through it and managing it since May but it’s so discouraged and scared that she wants to be done. She’s embarrassed to go to gym and doesn’t understand why this is happening. How long do you let them wait it out? I’m so scared I’m going to damage her mentally and to be honest I’m sad to let go of her doing gymnastics as well.

 

[NutterButter]

How old is she? Recent growth spurt? How supportive are her coaches and what is their recommendation for working through the block (ie do they support her going back to basics and building up again or is she having to stand on a beam and just go for the skills that are no longer there?)

My daughter dealt with blocks her entire time in the sport. Mostly it was limited to just one skill on one event but the few times it spread to other events like you describe there were bigger problems going on which needed to be addressed before her brain moved on from the block.

 

[Cksplawn]

How old is she? Recent growth spurt? How supportive are her coaches and what is their recommendation for working through the block (ie do they support her going back to basics and building up again or is she having to stand on a beam and just go for the skills that are no longer there?)

My daughter dealt with blocks her entire time in the sport. Mostly it was limited to just one skill on one event but the few times it spread to other events like you describe there were bigger problems going on which needed to be addressed before her brain moved on from the block.

She is 12 and her coach is just lovely with her. It’s like my daughter won’t accept going back to basics as she is embarrassed and is just trying to force her way out of this. How did your daughter handle always fighting a block?

 

[kecks]

Try explaining to her that it is like an injury. If she broke her leg and needed surgery she would not be embarassed to work on learning to walk again, to jog again and after a while jump and sprint again... It is the same with an injured brain which is another way of saying "I am experiencing a mental block". She needs to do rehab for her brain so to speak which means teaching the brain the skills once again like her coaches are trying to do. An injury can and will happen to anyone in gymnastics given enough time in the sport and the same is true for mental injuries. I would also be honest with her and tell her that the block is rather unlikely to just go home all on its own. She has to work for it which means doing what the coaches tell her to do to deal with the mental block embarassment or whatnot.

 

[NutterButter]

Yeah, forcing herself out of it isn’t going to work. Your DD needs to understand that blocks are a normal part of the sport. Sooner or later all gymnasts will experience it to some degree but my guess is that your DD hasn’t seen too much of her teammates dealing with blocks since she is only L7. My DD had blocks starting in Xcel Silver but it wasn’t until she was in L8 that her teammates started experiencing them.

It was hard and so many times I would think “this is it, this is what makes her quit” only for her to push past it. At the end of the day she wanted to stay in the sport. I finally had her work with a sports psychologist her senior year of high school and it was very helpful. I wish I had done that when she was in middle school. Big regret of mine now, lol but really I thought sports psych were for athletes going elite or NCAA. If you have the means to enlist a psych, I totally suggest that.

Anyways, sounds like your DD has a supportive coach. Maybe the 3 of your can have a meeting where you come up with a plan. These worked best when my DD had a plan with small and attainable steps and where she felt like she had control - in coming up with the plan and in execution of the plan. I’m sure this has been done already in some form but maybe just a goal that for one week your DD is just going to do BHS on the floor (or whatever is appropriate for where she is currently).