WAG No nerves before meets for my little one

[cbone]

As we head into the spring meet season that culminates in our state championships, I decided to talk with my daughter to see where she was at mentally. I asked her if she was nervous heading into meet season. She laughed and said, "Dad, I only got nervous for my very first meet." I was just blown away. She was cool as a cucumber. I remember how hyped up I would get for a game when I was young. For her it's just another day doing gym.

Is that normal? Or maybe a better question is: are you/is your daughter like that?

 

[Amber]

My DD only has nerves if she had a fall at a recent practice. Then she worries she will repeat a fall at a competition. If her practice goes well before a meet, she's fine .
I say enjoy it while it lasts! From what I've heard, nerves go up as age and levels go up.....

Good luck this season. Keep us posted!

 

[cbone]

I'm glad she doesn't freak out, but not getting a little hyped is so much different from my personality that it seems strange. For the record, she broke down before state last year, so she has gotten nervous at more than her first meet, but she never seemed even the slightest bit nervous during fall season.

I wonder why nerves increase as the level increases- more riding on performance (i.e. getting to college) or more dangerous skills? Something else?

 

[wallinbl]

I wonder why nerves increase as the level increases- more riding on performance (i.e. getting to college) or more dangerous skills? Something else?

It's a heck of a lot easier to fall off the apparatus when you're letting go of the high bar to perform a flip before catching it again or when you're doing a tumbling pass on the beam.

 

[gymgal]

Dd didn't get very nervous in the young years. As the skills got harder, the nerves increased for meets. I think its age as well. They become more aware around 9-10 that people judge them (spectators, not just the judges) and fear of embarrassment is a huge part of it. Dd now gets a lot more nervous when family comes to the meets than if its just mom. So I think some of it is also fear of disappointment.

 

[htimcj]

My DD doesn't get particularly nervous before meets either but she does become VERY serious and focused. No joking or being goofy allowed with her at all before or during a meet then afterwards she's all smiles and bouncing around.

 

[gymdog]

I wonder why nerves increase as the level increases- more riding on performance (i.e. getting to college) or more dangerous skills? Something else?

Well a lot more can go wrong and the girls are older. Those are the main factors. On top of battling injury, fatigue, stress from juggling schoolwork. But I think they learn to manage the nerves and put it in perspective, you usually won't see much crying. But there is just more awareness that isn't just for fun.

One of the optional parents here attributed the decline in parental drama as level increases to "everyone just hoping their daughter doesn't kill herself out there". They're too afraid to watch! That should tell you something. My mom used to get hives. Other parents would go sit in the car while their daughter took her turn.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Last year The Fellows was just like you said, cool as a cucumber. Nothing seemed to phase her. She just went out there and did her thing just like she practices it every day.

I can see how in the long run this just do your thing state of mind might be helpful because as it gets tougher I can only imagine that letting your body do what it knows how to do will be very important. But I also worry sometimes that she doesn't get "up" for a meet either. Some girls go out there and really shine at meets and she looks pretty much just like she did in practice the day before.

She enjoys getting medals and checks her score during meets, even though we always talk about how she shouldn't be worried about her score but doing her best. She is one of the most competitive people I have ever met, but she doesn't let a mess up or a bad meet get to her either. She just goes and does her thing and then gets back to work to fix what went wrong. Practice is kinda like this too. She doesn't get upset when she gets strong corrections or her coach gets frustrated and she feels good about a good day, but just sees it as something to bring into practice the next day. Little machine, I guess.

Overall, good things I would think.

With all that said, this year there is more pressure on her from her coaches to do well and really get all the fine details right so she is feeling it a little more.

We had a practice meet and she was really shaky up on the beam and just looked absent during bars. She said she got really nervous. I was worried, but she shook it off and says that she feels really great going into her first meet of the season this weekend and her routines have looked great all week in their "under pressure" sets.

So, I guess we will see how it goes this weekend.

Good luck to your dd this season.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

One of the optional parents here attributed the decline in parental drama as level increases to "everyone just hoping their daughter doesn't kill herself out there". They're too afraid to watch! That should tell you something. My mom used to get hives. Other parents would go sit in the car while their daughter took her turn.

One of our optional moms who works in the gym some says the same thing. She will not watch her DD's meets. She goes of course, but won't watch until after on her iPad. It makes her way too nervous.

 

[wallinbl]

One of the optional parents here attributed the decline in parental drama as level increases to "everyone just hoping their daughter doesn't kill herself out there". They're too afraid to watch! That should tell you something. My mom used to get hives. Other parents would go sit in the car while their daughter took her turn.

During the Olympics, the NBC coverage kept making a big deal out of how much Aly's parents were squirming in their seats. Really annoyed me - it has to be extremely stressful watching your child do beam in the Olympics. I'd need to be sedated. I can't even imagine remaining conscious.

 

[SignHere]

When my DD was training level 4, I used to wonder why the Optional parents never showed up for "observation" weeks (our gym allows observation by parents one week out of the month).

Now that DD is training those higher level skills, I know! I can't watch those things until they are solid. Sometimes it's just better not to know what my DD is attempting to kill herself with in practice.... lol!!!