Coaches Mental Blocks

[peace.love.gymnast]

Help please! I have a 15 yr old tumbler that has only been tumbling for 2 school seasons. She actually just finished her second season last week. She's so naturally gifted w/the sport which is soooo exciting....just so determined & such a hard worker. Last season she managed to get her standing BHS (and sequential BHS), her round off BHS, front & back walkover on floor and beam. She also started other skills. This year she has managed to get her standing back tuck, almost a front tuck, got her front handspring (and sequential FHS), round off BHS layout, & several other combination tumbling passes. Anyway, my concern is that back in November she missed the entire month for various family reasons & since then, she will NOT do ANY of her tumbling w/o me spotting her ( or atleast standing there). I'm so patient w/her b/c I don't want her to get frustrated & not want to try anymore...I just don't know what else to do...I feel like I've tried everything. Can anyone offer a bit of advice for me with this concern??? Thanks so much..

 

[Shan126]

Maybe she is getting to comfortable knowing you will be there. Even though it might seem like the right thing to offer a spot, it may actually be giving into the mental block. If she has done the skills before and you know she can do it without a spot, I would start by standing next to her but not spotting and each time backing away more and more (maybe allow her to ask for a "spot" (standing next to) only a set amount of times during a practice. Explain to her you are doing it because you know how good she is.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

is it a 'backwards problem'? if so, these problems are vestibular by nature. don't put alot of stress on the athlete. start from beginning and work slow to the end. if there is no end...no big deal. use resi's, mats, wedges, etc; to regain comfort zone then work forwards slowly.

sometimes these vestibular problems subside...sometimes not. good luck.

 

[Aussie_coach]

This is very common and very normal. It sounds like this girl has progressed quite quickly, progress doesn't always go in a steady up hill motion generally it goes up and down quite a bit.

The first step is to make sure she is achieving something every class, even if it is something small make sure she knows she has done well. Point out any improvements she is making and praise her. A lot of the time mental blocks are mixed with an "I can't do anything" attiutude because they feel so down about losing their skills. If youy keep her feeling like she is achieving you will get more out of her.

Next step is to set up drills so she can do the tumbles without a spot. Go back to easy steps. Get her to do her skills on the trampoline or the tumble track. Get her to go from a spring board or mini tramp to a thick mat, get her to do it on a line of thick mats. Whatever she will willingly do it on on her own.