Nothing is extra irritating than watching your gymnast hit routine after routine in apply after which as her meet approaches, she loses her abilities. Or maybe she will do her abilities in apply however then will get to her meet and completely freezes up and may’t do her abilities.
These days that is one thing I have been listening to quite a bit from dad and mom. They’ve observed that their gymnast can do her abilities completely in apply however then within the days main as much as her meet she begins to lose her abilities.
Coaches get pissed off! Mother and father get pissed off! Gymnasts are pissed off!
It is a actually robust state of affairs as a result of issues is likely to be going very well. After which out of nowhere (or what looks like it), your gymnast buckles beneath the stress and may’t do what she’s able to.
Why does your gymnast lose abilities proper earlier than her meet or at her competitors?
It is baffling when your gymnast is persistently hitting abilities after which begins to lose them, with no time to spare earlier than her meet!
If it begins to occur within the week main as much as her meet, your gymnast won’t have the time to attempt to get her talent again as a result of coaches are busy watching routines and never working abilities.
Or if it occurs in warmup at a meet, your gymnast may need to scratch her routine with none prior warning which could be a actually devastating state of affairs.
This is why this is likely to be occurring to your gymnast…
Much like what occurs throughout a psychological block, your gymnast’s mind is perceiving stress. Any time your gymnast’s mind perceives stress, it interprets that as hazard. Hazard then units off her fight-flight-or-freeze response which leads to her mind shutting down her abilities.
What makes this irritating is that the majority gymnasts aren’t conscious of the ideas they’re having which are inflicting their brains to sense hazard.
These is likely to be issues like:
- I’ve to hit a great routine at my meet this week
- I’ve to get a excessive rating as a result of I am good at this occasion and I am anticipated to maintain scoring excessive
- I want to position within the prime 3
- My coach expects me to place up a great routine
- My staff wants me to attain excessive
- I’ve to show that I can compete this stage
- I’ve to show to my previous health club that the swap I made was the best determination
In fact there are different ideas that may additionally contribute to your gymnast feeling stress. Each gymnast is totally different and feels issues in another way however these are some examples that I’ve heard from the gymnasts I’ve labored with.
So what are you able to do in case your gymnast retains dropping her abilities proper earlier than her meets?
Within the second that it occurs, there’s not a lot to be finished. Her mind is at risk mode and is doing what it thinks it must do in an effort to keep protected. There’s not a lot that may immediately reverse this response for her. Deep respiratory and letting her mind know it is not in any hazard is the very best factor she will attempt.
However more often than not you simply have to hold on for the bumpy experience and get by it for that meet.
Afterwards, although, it is vital that your gymnast be taught to determine the issues that is likely to be inflicting her to enter this hazard response.
If she will determine these ideas, she will then work to alter her ideas to make her mind really feel safer.
How does she do this?
Properly, when your gymnast begins to consider her meet and will get nervous, she’s doubtless centered on issues she will’t management.
For instance, she is likely to be fascinated with getting a sure rating, inserting within the prime 3, hitting a clear routine, or making her coach pleased. If you happen to discover, these are all final result objectives. They depend upon the result or results of what occurs at her meet.
Consequence objectives are scary to your gymnast’s mind as a result of her mind is aware of it could actually’t management an final result or what occurs. And when she’s so centered on getting a specific final result, it causes her mind to really feel uneasy concerning the state of affairs.
Which means that her mind will sense “hazard” and do issues like shut down her abilities and even trigger her to bail out of abilities resembling when she begins falling on abilities she will simply do.
One strategy to fight that is on your gymnast to deal with the controllables.
Controllables discuss with the issues which are beneath your gymnast’s management. These are issues like whether or not she says her key phrases, how laborious she tries, what she chooses to deal with, her angle or temper on the meet, or whether or not she does her pre-meet routines or focuses on calming her nerves.
When she goes right into a meet pondering “I’ll deal with my type” or “I’ll deal with saying my key phrases throughout my routine” or “I’ll deal with exploding off the board” or “I’ll deal with recognizing the beam” these are all issues that she has management over. If she units objectives which are inside her management, her mind is pleased. A contented mind does not shut down abilities; it permits her to compete properly.
The opposite factor that tends to occur is that when a gymnast has a troublesome meet and may’t go for her abilities or falls quite a bit, she usually carries worries of repeating these errors at her subsequent meet. So it begins a cycle of fear that escalates earlier than her subsequent meet and makes it even more durable for her to do properly.
Once more, your gymnast should learn to deal with the issues she will management and set objectives for herself that do not deal with the result, however the course of.
Going again to among the unique ideas which may shut your gymnast’s abilities down, she should learn to modify these ideas to be issues that assist her deal with her controllables.
Listed here are some examples of how she will take these unique stress ideas and make them really feel higher to her mind:
- I’ve to hit a great routine at my meet this week–> I am unable to management the result however I can deal with my type which is able to assist me have a great routine.
- I’ve to get a excessive rating as a result of I am good at this occasion and I am anticipated to maintain scoring excessive–> I am unable to management what rating I get however I can management how laborious I attempt. The nice rating will come if I deal with my corrections.
- I want to position within the prime 3–> I am unable to management how good my competitors is however I can management the place I put my consideration. I can faux I am in a bubble and deal with doing what I must in an effort to hit my routines.
- My coach expects me to place up a great routine–> I am unable to management what my coach thinks. Plus, if I attempt my hardest, I do know my coach might be pleased with no matter occurs in the long run.
- My staff wants me to attain excessive–> I am unable to management my rating however I’ll go on the market and provides all of it I’ve acquired. My staff might be happy with me it doesn’t matter what.
- I’ve to show that I can compete this stage–> I am unable to management what different individuals consider me. However I am happy with how far I’ve come and I do know I’ll hold getting higher.
- I’ve to show to my previous health club that the swap I made was the best determination–> My previous health club could by no means suppose my determination to modify was proper. However that is not what issues. I do know I am in the best place and I can be ok with that.
If you happen to discover, in each case the brand new thought is targeted on issues she has management over as a substitute of worrying concerning the final result or what different individuals suppose.
When your gymnast can acknowledge that her nerves and emotions of stress are coming from ideas which are outcome-based, she will then discover new ideas which are course of based mostly and put her in management.
Hopefully this weblog gave you an thought of what is likely to be occurring to your gymnast if she retains dropping her abilities proper earlier than her meets. You may perceive how stress prompts her mind’s hazard response and makes her mind wish to take issues into its personal palms by shutting her abilities down.
By understanding her pressures after which working to make them really feel extra controllable, your gymnast can slowly get to the purpose the place meet stress does not get to her as a lot. It undoubtedly takes time and is a course of to get your gymnast to acknowledge her ideas and alter them round. However it’s definitely worth the effort!
—–
If you happen to or your gymnast wants assist, along with the sources beneath I additionally provide one-on-one teaching periods through Zoom.
Useful Hyperlinks:
- Free Downloads: Get free gymnastics downloads to assist your gymnast work on her psychological abilities in gymnastics.
- Stick It Lady Academy: Enroll your gymnast in my membership group the place she will be taught totally different psychological coaching strategies and get on a weekly LIVE name with myself and different aggressive gymnasts.
- Free Fb Group for Mothers of Gymnasts: Be part of this group to speak with different gymnastics mothers and get ideas for learn how to assist your gymnast navigate by the psychological ups and downs of gymnastics
