Sending the Canadian Fairies down. Some skills just get to kids more than others, especially when they have moved along very well, it can be a shock when all of a sudden a skill doesn't come the same way.
That's what Sean and I and her coaches reminded her. WE know that every gymnast faces this with a certain skill, often many times in one's gymnastics "career," but it's still frustrating for Cait, who also does know this in her head.
She looked so forlorn tonight when she came home from gym. She sat on my lap and I asked if something awful happened at gym (did someone get hurt? did another gymnast do something mean to her? did a coach say something awful to her? was she kicked out of the gym?), knowing that it was that darn ch to hs, but trying to make her see that it is just one skill and trying to get her to smile. Then, I asked her about all of the positive things that happened tonight, trying to get her focus off the thing. I really don't want her to fixate more on it. We talked then about how few gymnasts make it to level 10, and the frustration of not getting skills when one thinks one should is one of the reasons, and how she can respond to this challenge in a positive way. She seemed to feel stronger and more confident after that. I hope so!
I hope this doesn't screw with the rest of her bar routine, which is really good. She really doesn't need it to be all the way to hs, even though that's obviously what she wants. She is getting some points deducted for not being at the exact angle that she does need to be, and that's bothering her, but she still does well on the whole rest of the routine (with the exception of this last meet).
Please, ch to hs, come soon! And, if you don't, don't let this screw with her head anymore!
