New to Chalkbucket- gym mom

[Kkrrmt]

Hi there- stumbled upon chalk bucket looking for answers in how to support DD through fear on giants. It's been a two year struggle! :-(

She was doing them, then had a pretty traumatic crash the week before her first meet (hand slipped and she fell to the side partially missing the mats). Of course this happened on a Friday on her last bar rep, the coach did not make her go again, so the fear solidified over the weekend.

She went the whole season struggling through competitions doing free hip instead. She made it through Lvl 7 last year and finally was doing them after state and looked beautiful. Made it to regional and the weeks between state and regional had another crash. This time banging her shins on the high bar on her layout.

She worked and worked all summer and has all her level 8 skills EXCEPT the giant. She would rather do a pirouette than a giant. We are now calling the giant an "elf" so it doesn't sound so scary! LOL, She's 10.


Texas gym mom~

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Welcome!

Fears are had to get through. Does she have either a stalder or toe shoot? She could use one of those in addition to her free hip, if the gym is willing to do that..

Good luck!

 

[Kkrrmt]

Thanks. I don't think she has those yet. She was doing great with her giant but then she grew an inch in 16 days and was banging her toes
On the low bar. She's been working to adjust her ?hollow? But she was struggling with the momentum shift with that.

She is now doing them consistently on the pit bar but freezes when she tries to move it to the competition bar

Any advice for searches or specifi forums for parental advice to help her through this?

I'm trying the, " You'll get it. Hang in there. I believe in you approach" and hoping for the best.

 

[amiandjim]

That is honestly the best you can do as a parent! Don’t ask about it and if she brings it up, just encourage.

 

[UnoMas]

My daughter went through a 2 year plus battle with giants as well. She also did a season of 7 with the clear hips...repeated and did attempt to compete them her second year of 7.
Mine never had the “crash” experience, she was just deathly afraid and her body/mind literally wouldn’t let her do them, even with a spot. Spots terrified her. For her, it all came down to her being mentally ready to do them, and all we could do was wait for that to happen. Nothing would have convinced her that she could do them until her mind settled. As soon as she was mentally ready, she did them pretty much immediately.
So I guess my advice would be...patience. Growing really can throw them for a loop with big skills like that. My daughter was pretty much done growing when she finally did them.

 

[Mish]

I have no real advice, just support. My dd, 10, is going through almost the same thing. She lost her giant on a really bad fall (wasn't super consistent to begin with) and is now afraid to do it even with a heavy spot on pit bar. She was supposed to compete lv 7 this season but our gym won't let you without a giant. She will be repeating 6 until she gets it, but at this rate looks like wont be a mid season moveup (although she keeps saying she will!).

What I can tell you is that it helps to just keep it in the gym. The less I have talked about it at home, the better for all of us! I only talk about it if she brings it up, and usually just tell her that she will get it back when she is ready. Some nights I have to bite my tongue to not ask how bars went. Some days I can tell if she needs a pep talk, but I try to make that more general and not focused on the skill.

Are they pressuring her at gym? Our gym is being very patient and has her doing low bar giants with bent legs. Unfortunately, this is where she has been stuck for 2 months now.

Hope she works it out soon! Please keep us posted on her progress and welcome to Chalkbucket!

 

[BachFlyer]

What I can tell you is that it helps to just keep it in the gym. The less I have talked about it at home, the better for all of us! I only talk about it if she brings it up, and usually just tell her that she will get it back when she is ready. Some nights I have to bite my tongue to not ask how bars went. Some days I can tell if she needs a pep talk, but I try to make that more general and not focused on the skill.

Agree with the above, but IF (and only IF) she brings it up, I might suggest she try visualization. I really believe in this process and have seen it work both for myself and for my kids. Picture doing it over and over again, making it all the way around the real bar. If she can't picture herself doing it and gets "stuck" on the image or the image gets negative, the details of where she gets stuck will help her pinpoint the exact moment that makes her feel afraid. And then she can work on the mental image from there, pushing past the negative images until she can see herself doing it. This is something she can do on her own before she falls asleep at night. Everyone seems to agree that gymnastics is so mental, but I don't see coaches very often specifically addressing this by giving them tips and tricks on how to train their mind to think differently. Our gym is very good at this I think, but our last one was not. You need mental training just like the physical training. Clearly she has the physical capacity.

 

[CAKE]

I was introduced to the Headgames program at one of the gyms we trialed at. The coaching there believed if you worked the program from a young age you'd have the tools to help prevent the blocks before they ever formed. We didnt end up at that gym, but we love Coach Aly and I value the coaches' advice so we invested in the entire program. Taming the Fear Beast and Athlete Warrior are both wonderful! If you dont want to go all in, you can start with the visualizations you can buy on her website and see if they help at all.. There is a specific track called "Face it" that your gymmie might find helpful . Im not experienced, but I really trust the coach who suggested it and the program is helping my very sensitive child develop mental toughness.

 

[raenndrops]

Until the giant comes back from vacation, she could compete L8 without one. Clear hip circle on low and high bar, an uprise, a pirouette or a straddle cut or straddle back (or another high-low transition) or a jump full turn kip are some possible B skills.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Maybe she has a stalder/ toe on that is good enough as well?

Until the giant comes back from vacation, she could compete L8 without one. Clear hip circle on low and high bar, an uprise, a pirouette or a straddle cut or straddle back (or another high-low transition) or a jump full turn kip are some possible B skills.