Parents We survived the week daughter update

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Well after Monday daughter was really upset and frustrated not sure if she wanted to continue. She was having alot of tumbling issues on floor this year as a level 6, her heels hurt and she seemed to be very unhappy. She has a meet Sunday and wanted to go to see if she wanted to continue with the sport. I thought this maybe it and I was also frustrated with things wondering why they were even letting her to compete floor when she was having trouble and in general wondering why she is struggling with level 6 when she could be doing prep or repeating 5. I had already expressed my concerns to the head coach a month ago and was told to just be patient. Anyway I felt I needed to let her coaches know what is going on before the meet.
Well it turns out that one of her main coachs she is of my daughters favorites and mine was just so supportive and wonderful. She talked to both my daughter and I addressed our concerns and turned the situation around. Her coach decided since she is having trouble with her floor that she is letting her scratch floor she feels and I agree that it is causing her too much anxiety at the meets and the other three events my daughter is doing very well at. She thinks that she will be able to enjoy the meet better without competing floor. She discussed this ahead of time with me before talking to my daughter. She also claims that daughter is so happy in the gym that she does not feel she does not want to be there but is just struggling with her floor. Her ROBHSBT is very inconsistent and she will just basically chuck the skill with out thinking eventhough she is sometimes barely making it over. We think that maybe she is scared of the skill but instead of balking she will just do it hoping she is going to make it over. She will not admit to her fears.
So last night at practice she took my daughter aside and told her about scratching floor well what ever she did and said my daughter came home from practice happy and annoucing she is not quitting. She also told my daughter after the meet both my daughter and her will come up with a plan on how they can conquer the skill. Daughter had practice tonight and was fine. She told me during floor the coaches took her aside and were working on drills and stuff to improve her rebound after her BHS I am happy that she no longer feels the pressure and that they are no longer pushing her eventhough she still needs to do all around qualify for states. But in the scheme of things who really cares if she goes to states if she is miserable. I would much rather have her take her time and if she has to repeat 6 next year. I actually feel grateful that she is in a gym where they are not pushing her but stepping back and letting her take her time. I was begining to question if she was in the right place but her coaches really put me at ease the way they reacted to the situation.
It is such a relief to see her come home from practice happy and be excited about the meet this weekend.

 

[gymnut1]

that is the best news. So glad you all got together and made things better. Good luck at her meet. She can concentrate on rocking the other 3 pieces.

 

[bogwoppit]

Great news, so glad you have a coach who cares enough to try to work things out.

 

[gymjourneymom]

This is wonderful news!!! Gotta LOVE supportive coaches like that, that REALLY see the bigger picture!!! Hope your DD has a wonderful & stress free meet and she hits the gym next week with a new perspective!

 

[UnoMas]

Wow. That is a great story. What awesome, supportive coaches she has. I love reading stuff like that. Sounds like she is on her way back to loving gym again...and I love that she will be able to do it on her own time!

 

[Optionals United]

Sounda like you hvae wonderful coaches to me! Im sooo glad that your DD is finally starting to enjoy gym again without the pressure, and worrying about the BT. I was that way with my seires on beam, but once you get over the fear you dont mind doing at all. Im glad that your coaches are going to come up with a plan to help her get over her fears. They sound really supportive of their girls.Keep us updated!

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

We came back from the meet tonight. It was a far drive but I think it was worth the ride. We stayed the night before she had her level 6 teammate with her and another who is doing prep, also another teammate came to cheer them on. So we actually felt like a had a team! The girls had a great time hanging out together so daughter had a lot of fun
Her 2 favorite coaches that work with her and the ones who are really great with her were both coaching them. She did all the events but floor. The scoring was really tough I thought but daughter was able to get low to mid 8's in all the events that she did. One of our more competive gyms that we normally compete againest was not there. To my surprise daughter actually mangaged to get medals 1st place in bars and 2nd place in beam. Of course during awards I did not expect her to get anything so I had no camera ready! Anyway she was thrilled. Her teamates also got several medal 10 medals between the 3 of them. So everybody was happy.
We are supposed to decide with her coaches what she is going to do the rest of the year. She actually only needed a6.6 on floor to qualify for states and it was the last event. Her coachs still decided to make her scratch despite of her having a chance to qualify. I actually think it was good that they stuck to the orginal plan because I want daughter to be able to do the floor routine well not just get by, since she knows it is holding her back I think she will be more motivated, we will see.
I think the meet definitly gave her a confidence boost to say the least.
So for now quitting is on the backburner, her coach told me she said to her she really had no intention of quitting. Funny she said her heels do not hurt as much. It is so hard fiqure out what is going on in their heads. I am sure this will not be the end of it.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

We got back from daughters meet early this evening. It was a far ride 4 hours but worth it. We stayed overnight at a hotel with her level6 teammate another teammate who is prep and another teammate who came to cheer them on. The girls had so much fun the3 of them got to compete together and we actually felt like a team.
Daughter did really well the scoring was really tough I thought. She got all low to mid 8's in all 3 events she competed. She scratched floor like they planned. One of the more competitve teams we compete againest was not there. To my surprise she walked away with 2 medals 1st in bars and 2nd in beam. I did not even have my camera ready because I did not expect her to place. Her teammates did very well also we got 10 medals between the 3 of them(surprising since they only went out 2 places so they were all1st and 2nd.
She actually would of only needed a 6.6 on floor to qualify for states and it was the last event. I am glad that her coaches stuck to their guns and made her scratch anyway because I want her to be able to do the floor well not just get by.
We are supposed to meet with the coaches this week and come up with a plan. The meet was a great confidence boost for her (she has never actually come in1st in any meet it was always 2nd and above.) I quess quitting is on the backburner for now she actually told her coach prior to meet that she had not intention of quitting. Funny her heels do not hurt as much. Try to figure out what is going on in their heads is so difficult. I quess we will see she is definitly going to have to work on her floor but I think her motivation to do it is better.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

We got back from daughters meet early this evening. It was a far ride 4 hours but worth it. We stayed overnight at a hotel with her level6 teammate another teammate who is prep and another teammate who came to cheer them on. The girls had so much fun the3 of them got to compete together and we actually felt like a team.
Daughter did really well the scoring was really tough I thought. She got all low to mid 8's in all 3 events she competed. She scratched floor like they planned. One of the more competitve teams we compete againest was not there. To my surprise she walked away with 2 medals 1st in bars and 2nd in beam. I did not even have my camera ready because I did not expect her to place. Her teammates did very well also we got 10 medals between the 3 of them(surprising since they only went out 2 places so they were all1st and 2nd.
She actually would of only needed a 6.6 on floor to qualify for states and it was the last event. I am glad that her coaches stuck to their guns and made her scratch anyway because I want her to be able to do the floor well not just get by.
We are supposed to meet with the coaches this week and come up with a plan. The meet was a great confidence boost for her (she has never actually come in1st in any meet it was always 2nd and above.) I quess quitting is on the backburner for now she actually told her coach prior to meet that she had not intention of quitting. Funny her heels do not hurt as much. Try to figure out what is going on in their heads is so difficult. I quess we will see she is definitly going to have to work on her floor but I think her motivation to do it is better.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

sorry I posted too many times

 

[Jennemmy]

Congrats to your daughter! Sounds like a perfect combo of friends, coaches and family resulted in a great meet.

 

[gym law mom]

Great to hear how positive this sport can be when everyone works together for the good of the gymnast. I think the key is to stick with the plan and as she works more on drills for the ro-bhs-bt, her confidence will continue to grow. She'll know when she's really ready to do the floor routine and not just do it because she has to for a state qualifying score. She's making alot of progress!!!

 

[Crystalflipz]

Glad to hear your DD had a good meet this weekend! Have you talked to an orthopedist/podiatrist about your daughters heel pain? It sounds like Sever's disease which is a fairly common overuse/growth injury that you see in gymnasts. Caileigh had it in both heels the first year she competed Level 6 and ended up dropping back to L5 midway through the season to decrease the pounding on her feet. The poor kid would get out of bed some mornings and be almost in tears because it hurt so much to walk.
We used the Cheetah Heel Cups with velcro like these Tuli's Cheetahs, Ankle Support With Heel Cup, One Size Fits All
on both Caileigh's feet, and lined them with Dr. Scholl's gell pads and it made a huge difference for her.
I don't know if these would help your dd, but they might be worth a try if she continues to have a lot of pain.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

We did go to the orthopedic doctor in the fall and he said that she has Severs but he just gave her heels pads and knowing she is a gymnast said she could tumble all she wants it won"t cause any damage unlike her wrist (she had stress fx in her wrist in the spring and was not allowed to tumble for 6 weeks). She uses a heel cup it seemed better over the weekend but tonight after practice she did have some pain but she seemed to be fine about practice and stuff. She seems to love bars and is doing really well in them I wonder if because that causes less pain. I did try to get her to take that vitamen stuff they say helps but she refused and said it tastes bad.

 

[mariposa]

Glad that her coach figured out what was going on and is working with her. Better to do this now and scratch floor for awhile then have her get fear issues or just burn out. Sounds like she had a great meet! I think it is wonderful that they didn't push floor even with her being so close to qualifying for states. Sounds supportive and like a good plan for now. Maybe with some steps back and working on fixing her ROBHSBT, she will get her confidence back and will want to compete floor again.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Well what ever daughters coaches are doing she has had a great 2 weeks in the gym. I do not know how much she is working on her floor routine or if she will even compete it next meet but she has been very happy going to the gym and has had a smile on her face when I pick her up. They have been working on a team dance for our home meet that they will be performing daughter loves it, and tonight she was telling me how she was doing backhandsprings on the low beam and landing them, she has also made improvements to her bar routine which already is pretty good. I think by just stepping back and letting the coaches handle things and not pressuring daughter about her floor routine really helped. I am really glad I did not pressure my daughter into private lessons or push her with things. She seems to be really enjoying the sport again. I also am very lucky that she has such awesome coaches and gym owner who are able to see beyond her just competing the floor routine to move on and get a qualifying score for states. Sometimes I think you just have to step back and let them find their way.

 

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

But it was worth posting, because she is a happy camper now and isn't that really what it is all about?