My daughter wants to quit gymnastic

[flipper's fan]

I agree with Cher here, although I respect what rbw said. Sometimes fear goes away with a little more practice and confidence. sometimes it doesn't. I think that a thoughtful parent would take that into consideration and that if fear did not subside when steps are taken to work through it, of course you would not force your child to continue. But I think if it's "fixable" as Cher put it, then one should try to fix it, then reconsider.

 

[gymcoach34]

Gymnastically, I think a 13 year old L10 is a different than a 13 year old L7 or prep opt gymnast. These girls have given up a whole lot more and worked so hard to get where they are, and ALL girls at this age & level think of quitting (not saying the other gymnasts dont work hard as well, its just different.). Its VERY VERY hard at L10. I think as adults we have to help them think through it, and make the right decision. 13 is such a strange age, and these kids have so many hormones, etc going on that their heads aren't on straight enough to make an informed decision.

I agree w Dunno that a meeting w the HC needs to happen ASAP. I hope the coach is experienced enough to know this is quite common and have the sense to make a realsitic plan to keep this kid in the gym while she processes everything. If it was me and cutting down 1 day/ week and pulling her out of meets would keep her in the gym, I would do it. I also think this gymnast needs to know her feelings are common, its ok and that a lot of it is bc of physical & hormonal change- this will help her feel better I am sure. Also, perhaps another year of L9 is the answer....also, plan some fun non-gym stuff you know she likes on her off gym time. I also think taking her to a collge meet might just fuel her fire enough to get through this. I'm not sure where you live, but if you can take a long weekend to go to a Georgia, UCLA, etc meet she might just get inspired!! I think if you contacted any of the NCAA programs and explained the situation (assuming your DD is not in HS, that would make things sticky for the NCAA rules.) they would do something special, have her come to a training to watch, tour the facility, etc.

I think its worth it to do whatever it takes to keep her in the gym. I always tell my gymnasts to wait until they are on an upswing, and then if they still want to quit, it is truly meant to be.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Gymnastically, I think a 13 year old L10 is a different than a 13 year old L7 or prep opt gymnast. These girls have given up a whole lot more and worked so hard to get where they are, and ALL girls at this age & level think of quitting (not saying the other gymnasts dont work hard as well, its just different.). Its VERY VERY hard at L10. I think as adults we have to help them think through it, and make the right decision. 13 is such a strange age, and these kids have so many hormones, etc going on that their heads aren't on straight enough to make an informed decision.

I agree w Dunno that a meeting w the HC needs to happen ASAP. I hope the coach is experienced enough to know this is quite common and have the sense to make a realsitic plan to keep this kid in the gym while she processes everything. If it was me and cutting down 1 day/ week and pulling her out of meets would keep her in the gym, I would do it. I also think this gymnast needs to know her feelings are common, its ok and that a lot of it is bc of physical & hormonal change- this will help her feel better I am sure. Also, perhaps another year of L9 is the answer....also, plan some fun non-gym stuff you know she likes on her off gym time. I also think taking her to a collge meet might just fuel her fire enough to get through this. I'm not sure where you live, but if you can take a long weekend to go to a Georgia, UCLA, etc meet she might just get inspired!! I think if you contacted any of the NCAA programs and explained the situation (assuming your DD is not in HS, that would make things sticky for the NCAA rules.) they would do something special, have her come to a training to watch, tour the facility, etc.

I think its worth it to do whatever it takes to keep her in the gym. I always tell my gymnasts to wait until they are on an upswing, and then if they still want to quit, it is truly meant to be.

spoken like a 'real' coach thru and thru.^^^

 

[alexis1]

hey i am 13 and i started when i was 3 and i was a level8 i had the same problems as your daughter with fear I couldnt do it anymore so my parents let me quite but to keep up my tumbling i do it once a week for a hour so it helped me i hated getting scared and my parents had to force me to before the year was over and i broke 3 bones in gymnastics with vault tumbling and beam so ya umm my elbow also ended my carrer hope that help

 

[gymnastbeth]

This thread is over a year old. Please do not post in ancient threads.