Parents Beam Advice

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

E

Ex member

My youngest (7) dd had a minor fall off the beam around a month ago and grazed all her back, she has just started going back on the high beam but has some fear issues, she can walk along the beam fine and do kick walks with no issues, she is ok with cat leaps and straight jumps but still not confident with tuck jumps (she can do them but not very high) and forward rolls, she hesitates for a while before attempting them, she managed 2 tonight without falling off and she got back to her feet. I am very proud of her for doing the forwards rolls especially knowing she has some small fear issues.

Dd's coach came up to me after her session and was talking to me about the gym homework dd had to do, thanking me about the comments that I made where dd was struggling with her dish and arch holds, saying it was a good idea to break them down, the coach went on to talk about dd's beam fears and say that she wants to get dd to work through her fears and slowly push her as they have to compete beam and if dd doesn't compete due to fears (no competition yet) then dd cannot stay in the group as it is a competitive group, I told the coach that I supported her, dd's coach told me she understood dd's fears.

I had a chat with dd and she says that she wants to compete in the future and stay in the group and wants to be braver on the beam.

Has anyone else been through this? Did you get past it or am I fighting a losing battle, I told dd that she didn't have to do competitive gymnastics and I would support her with whatever she decided, she told me she wants to stay in her group. I told dd that the next time she goes on the beam I would ask her coach how she got on and if I got told she was being braver I would get her a treat.
 
Tbh, it's down to the coach together with the gymnast.

If it were me, with beam fears I'd take it right back. Lines on the floor, floor beam, repetition, rolls on pads. Only graduating to high beam when it's solid on low beam and the child is so confident they're asking to try it. Sometimes holding them back can work better than pushing!

I don't think there's anything you can *do* though. I suppose at home she could work a floor line for her jumps and rolls.

I always tell DD2 that it's a matter for her and her coach to agree on- if she wants to do something, and her coach agrees she is safe to do so, then fine. If she or her coach have doubts, go back a step until they're both happy.
 
we have had 12 months of the dreaded back walkover on beam. The daft thing is she has NEVER fallen doing it, but it scares her whitless.

We have tried working up from low beam, doing a valdez instead, learning a flick instead , in the end she turned round the other day and said "Mummy, I have decided that gymnasts are scared, but they do stuff anyway, so I'm going to do my backwalkover" and then went and did them herself without her coach asking.

I think repetition can help, the more times she does it without falling, the more she will see its possible, but in the end she has to work through it herself.
 
Like iwannabemargo its between her, the coach and the beam. I think at some point most gymmies will fear beam and for my dd the key is to keep doing it even with the fear. Easier said than done but itS important for later/harder skills if she can training the mind to accept the fear and move on.
 
My youngest (7) dd had a minor fall off the beam around a month ago and grazed all her back, she has just started going back on the high beam but has some fear issues, she can walk along the beam fine and do kick walks with no issues, she is ok with cat leaps and straight jumps but still not confident with tuck jumps (she can do them but not very high) and forward rolls, she hesitates for a while before attempting them, she managed 2 tonight without falling off and she got back to her feet. I am very proud of her for doing the forwards rolls especially knowing she has some small fear issues.

Dd's coach came up to me after her session and was talking to me about the gym homework dd had to do, thanking me about the comments that I made where dd was struggling with her dish and arch holds, saying it was a good idea to break them down, the coach went on to talk about dd's beam fears and say that she wants to get dd to work through her fears and slowly push her as they have to compete beam and if dd doesn't compete due to fears (no competition yet) then dd cannot stay in the group as it is a competitive group, I told the coach that I supported her, dd's coach told me she understood dd's fears.

I had a chat with dd and she says that she wants to compete in the future and stay in the group and wants to be braver on the beam.

Has anyone else been through this? Did you get past it or am I fighting a losing battle, I told dd that she didn't have to do competitive gymnastics and I would support her with whatever she decided, she told me she wants to stay in her group. I told dd that the next time she goes on the beam I would ask her coach how she got on and if I got told she was being braver I would get her a treat.

it's only been a month. leave it alone and tell the coach to get their head out of their bum for crying out loud. here you have a coach who has never coached anyone to high level. give your daughter more time to sort thru what happened and she'll figure it out and that her irrational discomfort is normal and she'll move on. they DO figure this out. threatening to move her out of her group is a message the coach wants you to convey to your kid. i sure as hell hope you didn't convey that message. geesh.

and i understand parental instinct. to bribe. but what will you do when the next obstacle comes along? offer to buy her a Corvette? your gymnastics might get a bit expensive. :)

she's 7!
 
The best part about working on beam is everything gets easier with confidence....... hmmm, maybe that's also the worst part about working on beam.

Tell her to concentrate, forever and always, on getting the most she can out of every boring/silly/worthless warm up and basic drill. That's the first step in the journey toward "Beamification."
 
What dunno said! !!!
To threaten to move her out of the group because she is working through fear issues is terrible.
It sounds like she is working through the fears and its not like she has a competition coming up any time soon.
 
I can see the coaches point of view that some girls never get over their fear of the beam. She is getting the fear early as often it's the backward walkover that pushes them into fear and some can't progress beyond it.

I do think forward rolls on the beam are v tricky, my DD is glad she isn't doing grades as she is hopeless at forward rolls on the beam.

Have you got a home beam. Learning that falling off doesn't hurt is important.
 
it's only been a month. leave it alone and tell the coach to get their head out of their bum for crying out loud. here you have a coach who has never coached anyone to high level. give your daughter more time to sort thru what happened and she'll figure it out and that her irrational discomfort is normal and she'll move on. they DO figure this out. threatening to move her out of her group is a message the coach wants you to convey to your kid. i sure as hell hope you didn't convey that message. geesh.

and i understand parental instinct. to bribe. but what will you do when the next obstacle comes along? offer to buy her a Corvette? your gymnastics might get a bit expensive. :)

she's 7!

I think I might have worded it a bit wrong, what was said that if she doesn't want to do beam as it is too scary to the point of not trying or working then she cannot compete and therefore will not be able to continue in the group,she wants to work with her and my dd does want to get past this.

I know that there is nothing much that I can do and it is down to dd and the coach to work through, I was just looking for words of wisdom and encouragement to give to dd to help her through this, but maybe there is nothing I can say.

I am sure that some girls are a little afraid of the beam and have learnt to work through it, some of dd's issues are down to confidence and self belief.
 
Tbh, it's down to the coach together with the gymnast.

If it were me, with beam fears I'd take it right back. Lines on the floor, floor beam, repetition, rolls on pads. Only graduating to high beam when it's solid on low beam and the child is so confident they're asking to try it. Sometimes holding them back can work better than pushing!

I don't think there's anything you can *do* though. I suppose at home she could work a floor line for her jumps and rolls.

I always tell DD2 that it's a matter for her and her coach to agree on- if she wants to do something, and her coach agrees she is safe to do so, then fine. If she or her coach have doubts, go back a step until they're both happy.

I think that is similar to the way the coach is working with dd, going from the conversation dd was doing them on the floor beam and then graduated to the high beam but found that too high so they put it at the lowest setting and she wants to graduate from there gradually going higher.
 
Has anyone else been through this? Did you get past it or am I fighting a losing battle, I told dd that she didn't have to do competitive gymnastics and I would support her with whatever she decided, she told me she wants to stay in her group. I told dd that the next time she goes on the beam I would ask her coach how she got on and if I got told she was being braver I would get her a treat.

It's not really your battle to fight. From what little I've seen in our three years of competitive gymnastics, the girls just have to figure out a way to make their bodies do what their brains should be begging them not to! I don't think there is a gymnast on the planet who hasn't gone through some kind of fear issue and just from anecdotal stories here on CB, it seems the majority of them work through it but fears cause some to have to leave the sport.

A friend here on CB warned me not to do the "you don't have to do gymnastics" thing with our DDs. I hadn't thought about it beforehand, but she mentioned that her parents used that approach with her and that her "child brain" interpreted it as "we don't believe in you." I've stopped saying that type of thing with mine after this was brought to my attention.

And oh boy....that "treat" system can backfire quickly. It can become ridiculous if you let it! I started doing that with my DD and another aspect of her life and started chastising myself. After all, I'm raising a child, not a puppy!

You seem to have a lot of concern about your DD's progress and mindset so early in the game. If your DD senses your anxiety, it might make her fears even tougher to overcome. I know that you've stated your concerns about many aspects of this sport in different threads. Is it possible that she feels your worrying and is internalizing it? Sometimes, I'm amazed that my child is more aware of my emotional state that I realized. Even when I'm trying not to show stress about things going on in my life that have nothing to do with her, she seems to pick up on the fact that mommy is worrying. Could this be compounding your daughter's fear?
 
It's not really your battle to fight. From what little I've seen in our three years of competitive gymnastics, the girls just have to figure out a way to make their bodies do what their brains should be begging them not to! I don't think there is a gymnast on the planet who hasn't gone through some kind of fear issue and just from anecdotal stories here on CB, it seems the majority of them work through it but fears cause some to have to leave the sport.

A friend here on CB warned me not to do the "you don't have to do gymnastics" thing with our DDs. I hadn't thought about it beforehand, but she mentioned that her parents used that approach with her and that her "child brain" interpreted it as "we don't believe in you." I've stopped saying that type of thing with mine after this was brought to my attention.

And oh boy....that "treat" system can backfire quickly. It can become ridiculous if you let it! I started doing that with my DD and another aspect of her life and started chastising myself. After all, I'm raising a child, not a puppy!

You seem to have a lot of concern about your DD's progress and mindset so early in the game. If your DD senses your anxiety, it might make her fears even tougher to overcome. I know that you've stated your concerns about many aspects of this sport in different threads. Is it possible that she feels your worrying and is internalizing it? Sometimes, I'm amazed that my child is more aware of my emotional state that I realized. Even when I'm trying not to show stress about things going on in my life that have nothing to do with her, she seems to pick up on the fact that mommy is worrying. Could this be compounding your daughter's fear?

Possibly, I never thought about it that way, I do tend to other think things and worry about things. I don't want my dd to get negative vibes from that. Dd loves gymnastics and I want to see her continue doing what she loves as long as she wants to, I don't want my "issues" to stop dd doing what she loves and enjoys.

I need to find a way of not stressing so much and just let things go more and let dd enjoy doing this.

The thing I don't understand is that I have an older daughter in the sport who competes and does grades (disability) and I have never had any "issues" with what she is doing and progressing.

Maybe it is because my youngest is "my baby" and I am over protective of her.

Going back to this beam thing, until last night I had no idea that there was any "beam issues" any more and she was progressing slowly in her way until the chat with the coach, maybe I just read the situation all wrong and the coach just wanted to let me know what dd still has some fear issues.
 
It's so easy to fret over such things and place more emphasis on them than might be necessary. I do the same thing with DD's education. Every time I see that she's missed a test question, I go back through and try to figure out where her misunderstanding is coming from and what we need to do to remediate where she has fallen short. It's important to me that we fix educational shortcomings before they become issues.

With the gym things, I've found that so many things resolve themselves with NO intervention from me within about a week. My gymmie tells me EVERYTHING about gym, down to which leos were prettiest in the gym. So I hear about every hurt feeling, every perceived slight, and every time her coach is unhappy with her. And because I'm friends with her coach, I hear from her coach every time the coach is unhappy with her! LOL

I just let both of them talk, use me as a sounding board, give hugs to one, share a bottle of wine with the other, and let them work through things. There have been a total of 2 instances in three years where my involvement has been necessary. I just can't expend the energy to get involved with fear issues, level issues, or coaching issues. That's what I pay the gym for. I think coach just wants me to be aware but not necessarily wants me to do anything about these situations.

I understand about protecting your baby though!
 
Beam is scary - end of. I've lost track of the amount of times beam has nearly become the deal breaker of dd's gymnastics. Basically every new skill brings a new stress - backward walkover, flicks, double flicks etc and every time I remind her that she was scared last time she learnt a new skill but she got it, apparently 'it's worse this time' (and she's probably right!). If there were awards on beam for leotard hoiking, hair fixing, feet shuffling, hand wiping, arms held frozen upright for the longest time possible, my girl would have won 'em all.

My point is that dd does get through it. Is she scared - yes. Does she like beam - no, but she does it and does it very well. And I'm sure your dd will too. It may take some a bit longer to work up the courage but it will come.

As others have said you can't do it for her. 7 is so young - too young for the deep and meaningfuls. At 7 I was just pleased if dd would listen to what the coaches were saying without doing a little dance, having a chat or becoming fixated with her fingernails, the ceiling, a big girl and so on.

There is no hurry - she's got time to learn to love beam - or at least tolerate it!
 
What Frase said x 10. All very well put. I can so relate to watching the endless checking finger nails, turning round to see if the beam is still in the same place behind her, and then checking again incase it moved, spotting something fascinating the other side of the gym and then having to turn around and check it still hasn't moved, lol.

My dd has never loved beam and she has to work at it, but she has managed to score really well on it recently and started coming around to the idea that she can make it work for her. But she is older and at seven she just hated it and wished it didn't exist.

It's hard and sometimes they are going to fall and sometimes that is going to hurt. You can't do anything about it. Beam is ridiculous if you think about it too much.
 
Beam is scary - end of. I've lost track of the amount of times beam has nearly become the deal breaker of dd's gymnastics. Basically every new skill brings a new stress - backward walkover, flicks, double flicks etc and every time I remind her that she was scared last time she learnt a new skill but she got it, apparently 'it's worse this time' (and she's probably right!). If there were awards on beam for leotard hoiking, hair fixing, feet shuffling, hand wiping, arms held frozen upright for the longest time possible, my girl would have won 'em all.

My point is that dd does get through it. Is she scared - yes. Does she like beam - no, but she does it and does it very well. And I'm sure your dd will too. It may take some a bit longer to work up the courage but it will come.

As others have said you can't do it for her. 7 is so young - too young for the deep and meaningfuls. At 7 I was just pleased if dd would listen to what the coaches were saying without doing a little dance, having a chat or becoming fixated with her fingernails, the ceiling, a big girl and so on.

There is no hurry - she's got time to learn to love beam - or at least tolerate it!

As I read your post i had to laugh a little (no disrespect intended, just agreeing with you) , you have just discribed near enough exactly what my dd did on the beam especially the leotard hoiking and hair fiddling

My dd is still young and I am very impressed that she even attempted a forward roll on the high beam, I think dd's coach sometimes forgets in the heat of the moment that dd is 2-4 years younger then her team mates.

For now all I say to dd is to listen to her coach and try and concentrate on what she needs to do.
 
or the letting everyone else cut in front of her in the queue for warm ups at a comp and then not having time to warm up the skill
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back