Parents mental block and moving up

[Gymmom6207]

My daughter has learned all the skills required to move up to the next level (L7). She's been doing them all summer. Now that test day is upon us, she has become extremely stressed and developed a mental block on giants. Because she doesn't have it on test day, she will have to repeat L6. Is this common at other gyms? She really hasn't had much time to work this through this poorly timed mental block in my opinion, and we still have 4 months till our first meet.

 

[Coach Kate]

It depends on your gym. Our gym honestly discouraged having specific testing day at all and instead looked at consistency and progress over a period of time. Some kids only do things/well on test day and other kid psyche themselves out, as it seems your daughter has. It also depends on how the mental block plays out. It might be worth a conversation with the coaches.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

All gyms do it differently, our coaches wait until October to make final level decisions to give girls as much time as possible to show readiness. It’s not as black and white as having skills or not having skills on what level they compete but what level they feel is the most appropriate for their long term success in the sport. This looks different for everyone, and definitely causes some drama between parents.

With mental blocks it’s usually best to take the pressure off, so by having her do 6 she has no timeline on when she needs to work through it. Also, she can compete it at 6, along with other 7 skills when she gets them.

 

[Carly]

Both gyms that my dd has been to do not have testing days. The coaches know what skills the girls have and if they seem prepared for the next level. They have discussions with individual girls and parents if they are not moving up before the rest of the girls are told that they are moving to the next level. This happens mid to late August. Competitions usually start in November/December.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Dont know what all gyms do. But no. Not for us. My kid has lost her giants a couple times, even at level 8. And she just this past season can do a solid consistent BHS BHS connection. If she was at a gym that had your gyms rules. She would of quit gym at L6, 5 yrs ago

 

[mezzamare]

No do-or-die test day at our gym. The coaches obviously have general benchmarks they're looking for the girls to hit, but it's not an exact science. At this point in the summer, the girls know what level they're on track for, but nothing is written in stone yet.

 

[jlw1619]

As our kids grow, their bodies' change. Sometimes it just takes some time to adjust to body changes in order to do big skills like giants. I think it is reasonable for your daughter's coaches to consider this and give her some time to work through this. It's definitely something I would talk through with your daughter/coaches and what she feels comfortable with moving forward.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

She really hasn't had much time to work this through this poorly timed mental block in my opinion, and we still have 4 months till our first meet.

It is not poorly timed, this is a very common time for a block to happen. Mental blocks usually occur during times of increased pressure/stress - so beginning of season and championship events are usually when these occur.