Women Tips for gymnastics mental health?

[christinemay21]

Both my girls are pretty hard on themselves, and quite sensitive too, sometimes I really struggle with how to help them get through the lows of gymnastics and the negative self-talk, its a tricky world to navigate as a parent, and I hate not being able to really help! The world of gymnastics is definitely a tough one, and I think being able to deal with those big emotions and to be able to take criticism gracefully are skills they really need to succeed in this sport, its just hard to teach them that.
I just wanted to share something that has been a real game-changer for my two gymnasts recently. We found this app called The Vault, and oh my gosh it's amazing! It guides them through their own journaling so they can reflect on practice privately, they don't have to tell me or their sister anything. It encourages them to think about what they're good at and what they need to work on, but in a really positive way. They really love it and I've definitely noticed an improvement in their attitude towards practice since using it. And thats just one of the features on there, there's so much for them to use including goal setting, meet score tracking and at home workouts. I'd definitely recommend it to other moms out there at a loss for what to do!

What tips do you have for navigating mental health struggles in young gymnasts? Do you know of any other resources we could try?

 

[Melilot]

I’m going to check out the Vault - thanks for sharing. It sounds like a great resource.

For us, our 11 year old is in the process of working through mental blocks on bars (which had been going on for 2 seasons, holding her back from moving up) and intermittent issues with cartwheel on beam. We first named the issue being gentle but transparent with her about this possibly being the last season. It seemed to clarify for her how much she wanted to keep team in her life, and realized she needed to be way more proactive. Her motivation and our very active support kicked off a few things. 1.) I met with the coaches and advocated for her and we brainstormed specific ways we could do a final push to see if she could get there by June. 2.) She knew about the conversation and it seemed to give her explicit permission to ask for what she needs. She was very hard on herself and she was stuck with the feeling of being embarrassed and didn’t want to draw attention to it, so just sat with that defeated feeling. But after the meeting, she told us and her coaches very specific drills and spotting that helps her feel confident. They immediately set those up which were overt signals of their support and belief in her. They did this in a very low key way so she wasn’t self conscious or the center of attention as she worked them. In the first practices she made very small improvements and the coaches affirmed that it was enough, great job etc. Those little boosts of confidence and trusting herself built up and she very quickly began taking bigger risks. She controlled the changes to the setups so wasn’t forced to add difficulty before she was ready. In the past I think that approach caused setbacks and she felt defeated and gave up a bit. 3.) She asked me to watch practices because it makes her feel supported so I take her most days. 4.) Sports therapy once a week, 1:1, has been amazing. They largely talk about gymnastics but since he’s a psychologist it goes way beyond that. She’s reframing a lot of things and these lessons and exercises will carry into her life more broadly, regardless of gym. He spent a lot of time in one session talking about the relationship between coaches and athletes needing to be solid. So communication and self advocacy is really important to foster trust. It’s a two way street so if the coach is saying something that feels more like criticism than constructive feedback, it’s human to shut down. In other words, athletes should be encouraged by their gym to develop their voice and work as a team with coaches. So 100% recommend working with someone who can teach your girls skills to communicate in a way that can be productive for them and not put coaches on the defense. Easier said than done for sure! Check out Robert Andrews’ site - so many articles about this and they have a network of therapists who are fluent in gymnastics and mental blocks.

 

[christinemay21]

Thanks for this, some real great ideas in here! I'd never heard of Robert Andrews before but I've just gone down a rabbit hole and found some fantastic things, so I'll definitely be using that! I've also been thinking of sports therapy for my oldest, its great to hear that its been successful for you

 

[Melilot]

So happy to hear, and thank you!

 

[Melilot]

Meant to add that I just downloaded the Vault app and she’s really into it.