Is your child a performer?

[NGL780309]

My DD is not a performer for sure. She hates to have people watch her and she's very, very shy. I think it's going to be difficult for her to compete. It's a good thing meets are so chaotic that she might not even notice anyone is looking at her.

What about everyone else? Do you have a child who really loves having all eyes on her?

 

[Shelovesthebars]

Honestly when it comes to meets, we have yet to do one. At her dance recital, she was so nervous but once she got on stage, she ate up the audience like they were candy. She LOVED being up on stage and really had a fabulous time. We may have more of a broadway performer on our hands!

 

[gymdog]

I'm not at all, but I'm also terrible at competing so I'm not sure that really proves much of a point anyway. I still went through the JO levels. When the skills were physically easy to me I could more or less hide it and be successful but I hate competing. I am still pretty young, enough to still do a lot of gymnastics, and so content now to just do gymnastics and not compete. Once in awhile I miss it or I miss the idea of it but overall it's like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I lived so many years with this nagging dread that was just always there.

Uh, not to be a downer or anything. I really like gymnastics, and I don't think I'd change it, because I liked the training element of competitive gymnastics. And if you want to train in high level gymnastics, you have to compete, so that's just what I did.

 

[Bajanswife]

DD doesn't mind being the centre of attention. She's a third child, so she takes attention where she can get it.

Her best friend is also very good at gymnastics, but won't join the team even though she's been asked to, because she hates everyone looking at her. Fummily enough, she's also a third child - but she expresses her need for attention in other ways - she's not keen on that many eyes looking at her.

 

[gym law mom]

I think this like many things is very individualized. Just like some people almost pass out at the thought of public speaking and there are others that love it.

Usually at the beginning of the season most of the girls look pretty serious because the floor routine is still new to them and they are thinking their way through it. After a few meets, more start showing personality and getting into the routine. Don't know how much you can really "perform" the compulsory routines because they are so scripted. Generally some nice flow to the routine and a few smiles go a long way.

My gymmie is not the performing type(at home she certainly can put on a show)---she loves the tumbling and tolerates the dance. If we see her smile its at the end of a tumbling pass or this past year a teammate came up with some silly nicknames for her and would shout them out during her floor ex. Even with the rather stoic look most of the time she usually scored in the 9.3-9.5 range as a L8.

To NGL, it might help to tell your dd that not everyone will be watching her(certainly you will be) since there are 3 other events going on and people are up and down to get food, go to the bathroom and move around to take pics/video. Probably the worst thing is to be the last one up on beam for a session. Beam usually is the last event to finish, so most people are watching the gymmie do the last beam routine. My gymmie absolutely hates that.

 

[gymnast695]

I love competing and showing off my skills, however, I'm appear serious and never crack a smile! So I guess I'm not a good performer, because although I love competing floor, it doesn't show through my serious face! And the funny thing is I'm not a serious person! Before and after my routine I'm making and jokes and laughing, but once my music starts my smile turns into concentration! It's the same on beam too!

 

[gymnut1]

I don't think my dd is an overt showoff. She tries to perform well because she doesn't want to look silly in front of lots of people and come last. Some kids light up in front of an audience. It is amazing to watch them compete. I think you can learn to cope with performing even if it doesn't come naturally.

 

[sportyspice]

I don't think my dd is an overt showoff. She tries to perform well because she doesn't want to look silly in front of lots of people and come last. Some kids light up in front of an audience. It is amazing to watch them compete. I think you can learn to cope with performing even if it doesn't come naturally.

My DD was considered a little reserved and not the "show off" girl when she first started competing 5 years ago, but she is now one of those kids who "lights up" when she does floor. More from the experience of realising she does better in her floor routine if she enjoys it (so really performing for herself - no eye contact with audience - just in her own little world). I have seen some naturally talented performers on floor from age 5 and others who have "matured" into being performers.

 

[vagymmomma]

My daughter does NOT like the idea of judges and people in the stands watching her. The stress has given her stomach cramps at times, but I don't think the shyness has significantly impacted her meet performance. She's done really well at states both times she's competed there.

I think it helps that she's naturally very competitive in addition to being shy. Plus, they practice the routines so much I think it becomes like second nature in the competitions.

I do believe it's helped her shyness at least a little in school. Once you've competed in front of a whole gymnasium full of folks, I think the prospect of speaking in a class of peers is not as intimidating

 

[gymkat]

I'm not a performer, but I'm a competitor. I really, really hate being the last person to compete and having everyone watch me, but I always function best (in gymnastics and in life) in high pressure situations.

 

[coachmolly]

I am not a performer by any stretch of the imagination and hate being the center of attention. As a result, I really struggled at meets. What my parents and coaches saw from me in the gym was totally different from what they and the judges saw at meets. I have also dealt with some serious anxiety issues from around the time I started competitive gymnastics which certainly did not help the problem.
I competed for 7 years and never got the hang of competing and always fell apart. Beam was the worst. My legs would literally shake, anyone watching could see my entire body tremble as I was on the beam. Eventually this caused problems in the gym as well when I joined a new team of very experience gymnasts who I was very intimidated to practice in front of and was one of the reasons (along with serious injuries) that I left the sport as a competitor.
But there are some shy people who are able to perform incredibly well at meets and achieve great things in the sport, so it really is an individual thing.

 

[NGL780309]

My DD won't be competing for awhile still, but I was just thinking about it today because she is so shy. If we are in public and someone talks to her she hides behind me and makes a noise like get them away from me.

She does dance and she has done 3 recitals. The first year I had to bribe her and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. She was 3 and at the dress rehearsal she stood in place and cried the entire dance. So I told her she could have anything she wanted if she would just go on stage and do her dance. She did and afterwards she was so proud of herself. The past 2 years she's been excited about it. She says it doesn't bother her because it's up on the stage and she can't see the audience.

I guess when I said performer I was really talking about the ability to compete. I've seen some gymnasts that are lackluster in practice, but at meets they pull out the best routines of their life. Others are so nervous they barely make it through. I was never a gymnast, but a musician. I could never perform or audition well. I finally started taking meds for performance anxiety in my 20s and they really helped. I wonder if any gymnasts use those? Are the allowed? I've had several high school music students who used meds to perform/audition. They had their parents permission of course and an RX from a DR.

 

[gymdog]

I'm not a performer, but I'm a competitor. I really, really hate being the last person to compete and having everyone watch me, but I always function best (in gymnastics and in life) in high pressure situations.

I was going to mention this, actually, because that's probably the crux of the issue. I know girls with very similar personalities to me (gymkat's probably included in this ) who did fine in meets because they thrived under pressure even though they're generally reserved in terms of performance.

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

I'm a natural performer and was always a crowd pleaser as an ice skater, but my nerves and dedication to gymnastics sometimes get in the way of my comfort and thus my ability to "show off." Perhaps it is also that the style of the compulsory routines, though I think they're quite pretty, means that I can't improvise at all, which a forte of mine. I do love to get into the routines and the compulsory music is a little...bland...tuneless..which prohibits that. However I am a natural performer and this has helped my meet anxiety a lot.

 

[coachmolly]

I'm not a performer, but I'm a competitor. I really, really hate being the last person to compete and having everyone watch me, but I always function best (in gymnastics and in life) in high pressure situations.

If only I had been that way! I am a pretty competitive person, especially when it comes to competing with myself, but that competitive nature just brought out even more nerves and pressure to do better at meets meaning a disappointing performance. My shy and reserved personality combined with my great desire to do well and the great amount of pressure I put on myself really just proved to be self destructive in my case, but don't let the fact that your daughter is shy make you worry about her competitive gymnastics experiences. I really think I am in the minority as far as gymnasts who competed for several years and just never got comfortable with competing and a whole string of factors contributed to that.
I am sure I have read several accounts of otherwise shy people who are extraordinary athletes, performers, etc. because they are just able to do what they know how to do when it comes time to perform/compete.

 

[gymnastbeth]

In the compulsory levels, I always found it easier to really perform my floor routine, stretch, smile and present. I think it was probably because I didn't feel like I stood out, since everyone had the same music, I figured even if I made a fool of myself, not many people would be watching.

In level 7, I got a crazy routine with shimmies in it, and, being a shy kid, I just COULD NOT perform it. Every time I had to compete, I hated floor, and felt like everyone was looking at me. In two years, I had a great routine, and I loved to perform to it. For me, I feel like it depends on the routine that I have to "perform".
(And I do very well under pressure.)

 

[Kiwi]

I have one of each. The 9yo is very shy and hates anyone watching her. She does rec gym amd I talked her into doing a novice competition recently. I don't think she thought of it as a performance or about people watching her though, as the whole gym was full of kids so the 'spotlight' wasn't really on her. The same with her trampoline badge days.

My 7yo is a born performer, although a little shy as well. She loved being on stage in her ballet concerts and also really enjoyed her gym comps this year. She is very focussed and pretty good under pressure. She doesn't really 'show off' to the crowd though, she usually looks very serious as she tries to do her best!

 

[mumoftwogymnasts]

I was going to mention this, actually, because that's probably the crux of the issue. I know girls with very similar personalities to me (gymkat's probably included in this ) who did fine in meets because they thrived under pressure even though they're generally reserved in terms of performance.

This pretty much describes my dd, I would consider her a fairly shy kid, particularly when out of her comfort zone. Yet at competitions she has this uncanny ability to "rise to the occasion" which so far is serving her well. She gets very nervous the night before and morning of a comp, but once we actually get to the gym, she bounds off with her friends and is fine.

DS, who is older, is the one who worries about everyone watching him, before his first comp he was so nervous I didn't think he would even manage a single apparatus. He now realises that there is lots of other activity during a comp and that the focus is not solely on him which has helped. He still has to work hard on reminding himself to focus and not get overwhelmed by everyone watching.

I don't think you can every really tell how a child will cope with a competition until they have done a few, they might surprise you in how they react, mine certainly have .

 

[gymgurl]

I have always been a performer but not show off-y in dance and gymnastics i have always loved being out there performing. I guess i was on stage so young (i did dance when i was 3 and had a concert when i was 3 or 4) that i just got used to it. This really paid off at my last meet because my floor routine particularly i was not nervous at all (maybe because its close to dance). However i hate to perform in drama performances to the point that i get myself worked up and have had a panic attack because of it. Yet i love public speaking....just not when i am playing a characters role...im weird always have been. I also work well under pressure generally. At school, at flute just in general i do well in high pressure situations which i guess will pay off at gym

 

[Flippers Mom]

Flipper is painfully shy. She used to hide behind me when someone complimented her, but, after years of work, will now smile and say Thank You (admittedly through gritted teeth).

Get her to a competition and she becomes a different person. She thrives under pressure and comes alive as soon as the judges say her name. She is nervous, but handles the pressure (mostly from herself) beautifully and shines at competitions. I've asked her how it is possible to be unable to talk to 1 or 2 people but be completely comfortable in front on hundreds for gymnastics. "I'm good at gymnastics!" Can't explain it but have seen it happen at every meet for 5 years, so I now completely relax knowing she loves to compete. Practice - now that's a different story!