Parents Meet stage fright

[ollieblueeyes]

Thanks for all the input.

As it turns out last night at practice her coaches let her know she is almost ready to bump up to the next level as soon as she gets her ROBHS a little better. She was very excited to hear this news. I asked her today what about the meets were scary and what was she thinking about when she felt nervous and she said nothing......And that she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

So, I guess we shall see how the next few weeks go.....

 

[thnkGd4kds]

It sounds to me that your DD still clearly enjoys gymnastics and would like some help getting through this hurdle of meet competitions, if that is possible. Working on this now instead of hoping it will go away might prevent her fears from taking a deep hold and could benefit her in other areas of her life. Ignoring it (as your hubby seems to want to do) will probably not be helpful and will probably actually compound the issue.

Some people here know that I'm a huge advocate of Doc Ali and her approach. Her materials (CDs, workbooks, webcamp) are applicable to any level gymnast and will give your DD actual tools to help her deal with her fight. It will not compound the fear by making her dwell on it. Ali uses positive, hands-on tools to focus on the good, not the bad. If I were you, I'd purchase the workbook and cd and casually present them to your DD, letting her know you'd help her go through the workbook if she'd like.

Another thing for competitions that some other gymnasts' friends and I have recently discovered (and have seen positive results with) is a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy. You might want to research it.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and you stated that she is only 7. give it a rest until next year. it's just not that important in the big picture. has nothing to do with giving up, not being mentally tough and all that. she just may not be emotionally mature enough just yet. no big deal.

ooops...my bad. she's 10. still no big deal as long as her gymnastics keeps progressing. emotional maturity does not hit everyone at the same time.

and if this is helpful...i have a level 10 gymnast that is currently a junior, has been to nationals every year since 8th grade and just verbaled to a div 1 school.

her parents thought she was a bit nuts. not me. i've seen strange things over the years.

when she was level 8 in 5th grade. and not a very big invite. she walked out on the floor. judges raised the green flag. she raises her body in to her pose. the music starts. lo and behold...she walks off the floor. the music is playing. my wife looks at me. i shrug. she stops the music.

this 5th grader told us that she didn't 'feel' like competing floor that day. no plausible reason. just didn't feel like it plain and simple. she also did other weird stuff like this until she turned 14.

all the coaches got a roar out of this. AND...they still 'rib' her to this day.

 

[ollieblueeyes]

Progressing she is, she has advanced groups/coaches twice since joining team 8 mos ago. The next step is about to make is the last on the development team. I am hoping once she settles in w/a training group for more than a few months she will become more confortable/confident and this issue will resolve.

She really isn't interested in talking to me about this anymore. She and I did make a deal before she shut me down. She is going to focus on having fun and relaxing this meet and work on deep breathing/visualizing positive outcomes during the meet. I'll also have a quick chat w/her coach.

Thanks again for your thoughts. Who know what lurks in the 10 year old mind?

 

[CreateMagic]

Could she try competing just one event and scratch the other three, but sit with her team throughout? It may be just a fear of the new experience itself. Being on the floor while her friends compete may help her to see what its really like, how much fun it can be, and give her the confidence to do it, without the stress of four events.

 

[ollieblueeyes]

Good afternoon! The meet was yesterday afternoon so I thought I would update. The morning started rather shaky. DD1 announced she was not going. Nothing we said was going to change her mind. DD2 was excited and ready to go! After much discussion we decided she would go to the meet, warm up and then it was her choice if she actaully competed. I talked woth her coaches and they were great! They rearranged the grouping so that DD was with her and she started her off on one of her strong events. Both coaches pulled her aside and had private conversations with her before they began.

She started with floor and although a bit tentative at first, scored a blue ( top award). I was so relieved I may have shed a tear! She proceeded thru the rest of the events scoring blue in each. I could visably she her relax as she progressed through her rotations. She actually was smiling after the 3rd event.

DD2 had another great meet scoring 1 blue, 2 reds and one white. She had 2 falls on beam but jumped back on and completed her routine.

I have to say all around it was a great success...... She told me as she was getting ready for bed that she thought meets will be ok once she's done a few and becomes more used to them. The next meet is in about 2 months, it should be interesting to see what happens then.

 

[gym law mom]

Glad she had a good time and the coaches handled it perfectly! At this point I would just relax and let her enjoy her training and see how she feels in 2 months. By then it may be no big deal in her mind.
Congrats to both girls.

 

[lhmom]

Congrats to your older DD! Hopefully, she'll continue to feel more confident as she continues to compete.