WAG Layout flyaway mental block

[lime-gymnast]

I’m in a relaxed gymnastics competitive program. I’ve been competing for about a year and a half and have been in the sport for 3 years and a half. This program is laid back and our team is 10-15 (age) and very wide range of skill, but most of us are working on kips and cartwheels on beam, front tucks, back handsprings, etc. It’s not USAIGC or Xcel or anything like that, but I have higher level skills than most girls on the team that I should probably be on one of those. However, I prefer this team that is much more laid back so I plan to stay here.

Anyway, I got my layout flyaway a while ago. It was a progression and I perfected it on the pit bar and the uneven bar set. I was working handstand layouts with a spot on the pit bar with a mat, and got pretty good at it too.
However, I started practicing more layouts and was flipping before letting go of the bar. I tried to let go and then flip but it just wasn’t clicking. I bailed twice yesterday and landed in my back. I’m scared of hitting my toes on the bar even though I’ve done it before and not gotten hurt and my body just won’t do the skill anymore. I can still do tuck flyaways with ease but I can’t go for a layout.
My coach told me to work on something else because he could tell I was getting stressed out but I’ve never had a mental block before. This is my first time and I think that’s making it worse because I’ve never experienced this feeling before. I always just go for it. I went for giants on the strap bar without a spot within the first minutes of me going on a strap bar for the first time.
But every time I think about layouts and the fact that I have a mental block I get really anxious and stressed out. I hate the fact that I know it’s a mental block because I know that it’ll be hard to get over and I know that it’ll set me back for a long time. I can’t go for it and I don’t know what to expect because I’ve never had the feeling of not being able to go for a skill.

 

[gymnastkiley]

As a fellow gymnast who has had mental blocks on this same skill, I understand your fear and frustrations. Something that helped me was taking a few steps back. Start letting go and landing on your back onto a squishy mat, resi, or pit. Once you feel comfortable letting go, ask your coach to spot or stand in. Try doing tuck flyaways before you push yourself to do layouts. I hope this helps

 

[lime-gymnast]

As a fellow gymnast who has had mental blocks on this same skill, I understand your fear and frustrations. Something that helped me was taking a few steps back. Start letting go and landing on your back onto a squishy mat, resi, or pit. Once you feel comfortable letting go, ask your coach to spot or stand in. Try doing tuck flyaways before you push yourself to do layouts. I hope this helps

Yes thank you so much! I actually just got my layout into the pit before a week break!! I’m very excited but it’ll take a while to go back to how I used to be. Hopefully I can do it once break is over. That is what I ended up doing so thanks for the tips

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Honestly, I think bar flyaways are the scariest skill in the whole sport. I think I've seen more athletes (including myself) develop mental blocks on that skill than on any other skill.