WAG Pull out of gymnastics senior year?

[GymnastPotterhead]

My parents having been voicing concerns over pulling me out of gymnasrics my senior year. I've only done gymnastics for 4 years and am about to compete L7/Diamond. I've always been passionate about the sport. But my parents think there is no use doing it since I haven't done well at meets (dont know why - I think I get nervous competing and fall/don't do as well as if I was doing it at practice) - and that it is expensive and time consuming. Plus I get at least 3-4 ankle sprains a year, even when I practice and compete with ankle braces. This means being out for 2-4 months and then regaining skills each time. They think I should do something else that I can actually get something from for the 16 hours I'm at the gym. I don't know what to feel - I definitely understand their concerns but at the same time gymnastics has been with me for so long and I really don't know what I'd do without it. Just want to hear yalls thoughts

 

[&bs]

Obviously it depends on your gym’s policy but we actively encourage our Senior year athletes (Year 12 in Australia) to stay in the gym, even if it is just once or twice a week and not competing. They tend to do a lot better than those whose parents make them stop to study more. The exercise help keeps their moods stable, the gym is somewhere to escape the intensity and stress of exams and maintains their support network outside of school and family.

If your gym and parents will get on board, maybe training twice a week and not competing might be a compromise that keeps you in the gym and your parents happy.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

Obviously it depends on your gym’s policy but we actively encourage our Senior year athletes (Year 12 in Australia) to stay in the gym, even if it is just once or twice a week and not competing. They tend to do a lot better than those whose parents make them stop to study more. The exercise help keeps their moods stable, the gym is somewhere to escape the intensity and stress of exams and maintains their support network outside of school and family.

If your gym and parents will get on board, maybe training twice a week and not competing might be a compromise that keeps you in the gym and your parents happy.

Training lower hours might be something to consider... although not competing is not going to be an option since what's the point of training all year then (especially in their minds)

 

[Pfiga]

The point of doing gymnastics (at least at L7/Platinum) should not necessarily be to "do well at meets". You and your parents might instead try to think of your practices as doing something you enjoy, while getting stronger and getting all sorts of life experiences - which includes not always doing as well as you might like or expect. Competing, no matter what the placement, is a valuable experience in self-confidence (performing your routines in front of judges and an audience) as well as seeing how much progress you make over time - in comparison to yourself, not other gymnasts.

Regarding your ankle sprains, have you done any physical therapy after the previous sprains? My daughter has had ankle issues as well, and while braces have made it easier and less painful for her to train and compete, her PT warned us that relying too much on braces might actually make her ankles weaker, potentially leading to more future injuries. Even if you don't do formal PT, you might want to look up some ankle strengthening exercises and do them regularly.

Best of luck, I hope things work out well for you!

 

[GymDadWA]

If you weren't getting injured that is a different situation where the benefits of seeing gymnastics through to the end can be life skills, but if you are getting hurt that frequently than maybe you should see if there is something else you can do your final year that you would really enjoy.

 

[superNova08]

Is there a way you can train less hours? Or maybe there's a way where you can study or something at the gym? I can definitely see where your parents could be coming from with the time commitment and testing and college coming up and things like that. On the other hand if it's something you love and keeps you happy, I would stay in it in some capacity. Exercise can actually help your mental health.

On the ankle issue: see a PT. Get some ankle exercises. Using a brace long term can actually weaken your ankle, so doing exercises can help as well as help to avoid the need for a brace in the first place.

 

[NutterButter]

First of all, you should be proud of yourself no matter what you decide. 4 years into the sport and achieving L7/Diamond is awesome! I'm sure you have learned lots of life lessons in those 4 years that will help guide you though the rest of your life.

Is money a problem? If not and If you love it, stay the course till you graduate. I'm not a fan of the belief that you should only do activities that you excel in. I seem to recall that your parents have been negative on gymnastics for awhile. Are there other reasons for the negativity?

The ankle injuries are problematic....aren't you the one who sought out advice from an out-of-state sibling instead of seeking in-person medical care? Physical therapy can be beneficial and may be an excellent support to get you through your senior year but really you need to get an understanding of *why* you have so many sprains. If you have a joint or ligament issue, it may not be in your best interest to continue but you need to see a specialist to determine this. If you were my child, this would be a requirement to continue.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

For some more context, the problem is not academics. I do and have done well with school and testing. It's something like doing internships or research or some other activity that'll help me gain experience for my intended major in college and/or give me a better shot at getting into some great colleges.

Also this is kind of unrelated but one of my teammates is also a senior and she was considering quitting, but one of the reasons she's staying is so we can both have senior stuff together

Side question: how can I do better at meets? I think figuring out this will hopefully lead me to staying in the sport!

 

[superNova08]

Is there a way you can reduce your hours to be able to get an internship on your off days?

I had a whole routine for meets that started actually the night before the meet and was so detailed as to when I went to bed and woke up depending on when the meet was. What I ate, what I did at home, the order I got dressed in. I've always been superstitious. Then, in the car on the way to the meet I would listen to my floor music on repeat and text with teammates. I used a lot of visualization and pictured myself doing everything perfect. I found tuning out everything around me while doing my routine helped. Get earplugs if you can and your gym allows for everything but floor!

 

[NutterButter]

For some more context, the problem is not academics. I do and have done well with school and testing. It's something like doing internships or research or some other activity that'll help me gain experience for my intended major in college and/or give me a better shot at getting into some great colleges.

I remember you saying that you are a strong student. FWIW - Many, if not most, of your college applications will be completed by the end of year. My son was a senior last year and he had finished all his apps by mid-November. You may not have as much time as you think to have an internship that will be meaningful in your applications. Maybe a compromise is one less day in the gym during the fall while you volunteer (this would give your ankle some rest too).

 

[raenndrops]

My ortho told me (after 3 ankle sprains over 20 years) that once you have a "history" of ankle sprains you are more prone to them because the ligament is weaker. Ankle strengthening exercises do help reduce the risk, so I hope you are doing them.
As for doing better in meets, just remember that less is more.
On bars, minimize built-in deductions (limit the number of casts you do and don't do extra unnecessary skills).
On beam, do what you have to do and get off. If something isn't working in warm-ups, instead of letting it get into your head, leave it out. If it's a requirement, it will lower your SV by 0.5 ... BUT a fall costs you 0.5 and if you fall AND lose the SR, it's costing 1.0. Have "back pocket" skills ready to substitute. An extra leap or jump for a full turn ... If it is a B skill you are leaving out, either replace it with an A or find a B balance skill or jump you feel confident enough to do. You should warm these up on the practice beam. YG competed her first year in Xcel Gold without a full turn or acro on beam. Her max start value was 9.0. Her high score that season was 8.2. If she had attempted to put the other skills in, she would have still had a 9.0 SV, but would have scored 6.7 (fall on turn, fall on first acro, fall on 2nd acro).
Good luck.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

i get the feeling your parents are very "You need to win / get a scholarship / tangible thing or it's not worth anything" people. Would it help to show them some articles or something of the benefits of gymnastics for development and life lessons? About how it often leads to kids doing very well in other stuff like university? Would they be open to that or do you think they'd just kinda ignore it?

In the meantime, perhaps you can move through the levels less fast? That way, you can rest your ankle more and you may do better at meets. It's not strange you're having trouble at meets if you went to level 7/diamond in 4 years. You're competing with a lot of kids who trained longer than that, I expect.

For your ankle, I still think you should see a PT, but I can get if your parents can't afford it. I get the feeling/impression finances are also a big reason why they're hesitant about gymnastics... If you can't afford PT or a doctor, consider doing strengthening exercises and looking up free medical resources. (If chalkbucket allows it I can try to help with finding free medical resources, but idk if that's allowed.) And I hope that when your ankles get bad your coaches immediately let you off of ankle events and allow you to do core and upper body work instead (extra bars, handstands, etc), and maybe stretches.

With that all being said, I think it's time for you to think what you want. Do you want to continue doing gymnastics, or are you afraid of not knowing what else to do? If you want to explore other things, that's totally an option. You could try climbing, diving, volunteer work for your applications*(See note below). However, if you're still passionate about gymnastics and it's what you want to do, then I'd try to stick with gymnastics.

PS. About volunteer work for applications or such. Replacing your hobby imo should be with something else you enjoy. If your whole life is activities you don't enjoy, you're gonna be unhappy and you'll probably do worse at those things. Some people say school first. I say YOU first (your happiness and wellbeing), then school.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

The point of doing gymnastics (at least at L7/Platinum) should not necessarily be to "do well at meets". You and your parents might instead try to think of your practices as doing something you enjoy, while getting stronger and getting all sorts of life experiences - which includes not always doing as well as you might like or expect.

i do enjoy practices, but my parents say (and I honestly kind of agree with this) I can get stronger and get life experiences doing something else too - it doesnt have to be as time consuming or expensive as gymnastics. And the thing is its okay if I don't do well sometimes, but this is like every single meet. I don't think a lot of people have a similar experience - most do better than they do in practice.

Regarding your ankle sprains, have you done any physical therapy after the previous sprains? Even if you don't do formal PT, you might want to look up some ankle strengthening exercises and do them regularly.

I haven't done formal PT but I always do ankle strengthening exercises after I get a sprain, although I do tend to not continue doing them sometimes (I should I know)

Best of luck, I hope things work out well for you!

Thank you for your reply!

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

First of all, you should be proud of yourself no matter what you decide. 4 years into the sport and achieving L7/Diamond is awesome! I'm sure you have learned lots of life lessons in those 4 years that will help guide you though the rest of your life.

Thank you! I agree, gymnastics is a huge part of who I am and will always be.

Is money a problem? If not and If you love it, stay the course till you graduate.

kind of, but not really. Me and my parents both tend to be kind of conservative with spending money. We have enough but we really like to save and make careful choices on where to spend.

I'm not a fan of the belief that you should only do activities that you excel in. I seem to recall that your parents have been negative on gymnastics for awhile. Are there other reasons for the negativity?

Not other than the ones I already talked about, as far as I know. I guess another could be driving me to practice all the time.

The ankle injuries are problematic....aren't you the one who sought out advice from an out-of-state sibling instead of seeking in-person medical care?

Yeah like I said Ive had so many that I kinda know what to after I have another sprain. Both my parents and my sister think so too lol

Physical therapy can be beneficial and may be an excellent support to get you through your senior year but really you need to get an understanding of *why* you have so many sprains.

Probably because I've already had so many so my ankle is just chronically weak now - not sure if there's much I can do about that

If you have a joint or ligament issue, it may not be in your best interest to continue but you need to see a specialist to determine this. If you were my child, this would be a requirement to continue.

I'm not opposed to seeing a doctor (well as long as they don't tell me to stay out of gymnastics for a while) but again my parents will likely resist the extra effort of going to a doctor when they are already thinking about the possibility of quitting gymnastics

Woah long post. Thank you everyone for your replies, they are very helpful!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

I think you have a lot of great advice here.

Another option that you might be able to work in around other commitments/reduced training would be a bit of coaching if it interests you. You are still involved in the sport and get to share you passion with others.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

As for doing better in meets, just remember that less is more.
On bars, minimize built-in deductions (limit the number of casts you do and don't do extra unnecessary skills).
On beam, do what you have to do and get off. If something isn't working in warm-ups, instead of letting it get into your head, leave it out. If it's a requirement, it will lower your SV by 0.5 ... BUT a fall costs you 0.5 and if you fall AND lose the SR, it's costing 1.0.

Its not the skills. I can do my routines well in practice. I just don't do it well when there's people watching/at meets..

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

i get the feeling your parents are very "You need to win / get a scholarship / tangible thing or it's not worth anything" people.

They definitely are. And i think i am a little too but I wouldn't quit gymnastics just because I didn't get a scholarship - gymnastics means way more to me. It would be nice to do what i can at practice at meets though.

Would it help to show them some articles or something of the benefits of gymnastics for development and life lessons? About how it often leads to kids doing very well in other stuff like university? Would they be open to that or do you think they'd just kinda ignore it?

It most likely won't- I can learn similar life lessons with other activities too, not just gymnastics.

In the meantime, perhaps you can move through the levels less fast? That way, you can rest your ankle more and you may do better at meets. It's not strange you're having trouble at meets if you went to level 7/diamond in 4 years. You're competing with a lot of kids who trained longer than that, I expect.

I have my skills for each level im competing pretty consistently at practice. And there is no way I would want to progress slower - if anything I want to go faster. I might not have a lot of time left in the sport so I want to do as much as I can. I get that competing for more years helps with confidence in competing, but I'm also older so I kinda should be able to compete well. Also my ankle doesn't give me any problems in regular practice, so resting it won't do much.

If you can't afford PT or a doctor, consider doing strengthening exercises and looking up free medical resources. (If chalkbucket allows it I can try to help with finding free medical resources, but idk if that's allowed.)

I definitely do them when I have an injury but I do tend to slack off with ankle strengthening otherwise. I really should do it more often though and I'm gonna try my best to.

And I hope that when your ankles get bad your coaches immediately let you off of ankle events and allow you to do core and upper body work instead (extra bars, handstands, etc), and maybe stretches.

Definitely! I'm guilty of pushing myself and not letting my coaches know if something hurts because I just don't want to waste my time or money in the sport. They are decent at spotting this though and they make sure I rest/do other events during that time. (This might also be contributing to not having my ankles fully heal before I get back into normal gymnastics)

PS. About volunteer work for applications or such. Replacing your hobby imo should be with something else you enjoy. If your whole life is activities you don't enjoy, you're gonna be unhappy and you'll probably do worse at those things. Some people say school first. I say YOU first (your happiness and wellbeing), then school.

Definitely. I wouldn't give gymnastics up if the alternative was something I didn't like. it's one of my main values in life too - I want to do things I genuinely love or have fun doing

 

[raenndrops]

Its not the skills. I can do my routines well in practice. I just don't do it well when there's people watching/at meets..

How do you do in warm-ups at meets? If you do fine in the warm-ups (with people watching), then you might want to try visualization. If you struggle in warm-ups (which can get into your head), that's where back pocket skills, in addition to visualization, can come in handy.

I do understand doing well in practice and struggling in meets. It often comes from trying too hard to be perfect or major nerves.

Like I always told my girls ... just breathe.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

How do you do in warm-ups at meets? If you do fine in the warm-ups (with people watching), then you might want to try visualization. If you struggle in warm-ups (which can get into your head), that's where back pocket skills, in addition to visualization, can come in handy.

I do understand doing well in practice and struggling in meets. It often comes from trying too hard to be perfect or major nerves.

Like I always told my girls ... just breathe.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Warmups go good as well. As for visualization, I never really understand how to visualize. Weird question but would you visualize it in first person or third person?

 

[raenndrops]

Warmups go good as well. As for visualization, I never really understand how to visualize. Weird question but would you visualize it in first person or third person?

Visualize yourself going through the routines and hitting each skill. It is most often done in first person (I have seen people doing small movements while visualizing), but there are probably some people who do it as if they were watching themselves do the perfect routine. I don't know if that works as well.
When I played baseball, I used to visualize before going up to bat. I would picture the perfect pitch coming, me swinging, and the ball going exactly where I wanted it.
Lol, it worked unless the coach (my dad) called for me to switch hit ... then, I took a few seconds to visualize it from the other side before stepping into the batter's box.