WAG Gymnast or coach type more likely for mental block?

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gymdoc

Proud Parent
Seems to be "contagious" at our gym right now. So it made me wonder if there are certain types of gymnasts or certain coaching styles that seem to induce more mental blocks than others?
 
Only a small anecdote to share, but the only time my dd has had a "mental block" is when she was being asked to do skills she wasn't ready for. As a result, her innate protective instincts kicked in and she couldn't force herself to do it.

Has never been an issue again and she's a L9 now.
 
Seems to be "contagious" at our gym right now. So it made me wonder if there are certain types of gymnasts or certain coaching styles that seem to induce more mental blocks than others?

Depends on the situation. In 2012 right before the level change, I had a group of level 6s that all stopped vaulting. It started with one girl and it spread to the entire team. I think in one week, I had one girl do one vault at the time. This definitely wasn't an issue of doing skills they weren't ready for - as it was a FHS vault they have done for years at that point. None of the girls on the team ever injured themselves on that vault either. To this day, I don't know how it got to be such a bad issue but after spending a few weeks away from vault just working on runs and drills, it got a lot better and everyone vaulted again.
 
Well, it definitely can be contagious, that being said,,, handling it also has a big impact as well. I guess the question to the op should be, how it is being handled in the gym and at home? And more importantly, (drum roll) where is the pressure coming from? In other words is the group being pushed up fast? Is it a high stressed environment (hard coaching)? Do all the parents sit and watch the workouts? These are all factors in mental blocks and factors in healing them. Regardless of what causes it, (vestibular, stress, pressure, pain) the treatment is the same. Back away, take a break, slowly work back into it with zero timeline.
 
I also wonder the age and stage of the girls (interns of growth and body changes). Is there increased stress b/c of move ups coming for summer/level letters going out?
 
With competitive season ended for all but a few girls going to L10 nationals, many gyms are starting up training skills. I guess first I would want to know is it actually mental blocks right now that are contagious or is it it fears of working new skills? (Mental blocks being things kid is capable of doing, has done before but is now scared or can do consistently on low beam without any problems but can't do on high beam.) That is completely separate from the normal fear of trying new skills, but both I think can be exacerbated if they are being pushed too fast. In a healthy gym where gymnasts are paced at an appropriate level, this should be a fun time of year of working on new skills. However, that being said, in our state it is also spring standardized testing at school for past 2 weeks and everyone's stress level everywhere seems to be increased, which I think can easily bleed over into the gym.
 
Depends on the situation. In 2012 right before the level change, I had a group of level 6s that all stopped vaulting. It started with one girl and it spread to the entire team. I think in one week, I had one girl do one vault at the time. This definitely wasn't an issue of doing skills they weren't ready for - as it was a FHS vault they have done for years at that point. None of the girls on the team ever injured themselves on that vault either. To this day, I don't know how it got to be such a bad issue but after spending a few weeks away from vault just working on runs and drills, it got a lot better and everyone vaulted again.

When I was younger, something very similar to this happened on my team. I think it was less "contagious," and more a result of the age of everyone on the team. We were all around the same age and just going through growth spurts. I honestly think we all would have had the mental blocks, regardless of our teammates also having them. It seems like the timing just sometimes works out that way, especially if a lot of the team is around the same age. Just my two cents.
 
I think much like coachp and gymtigermom, a combination of things.

Also basic red light, green light. Thing we tend not to notice the green lights, only the red ones we get stuck at.

As the kids start working new skills as a group there are certain things that are more likely to cause fear. Skills are getting harder.

Kids whose never had feet/hands leave the beam now doing higher skills. Airborne on bars and beam, is scary. And the skills are harder to land at first. When you are not used to boggling a dismount or a flip and end up on the floor when and how you shouldn't, its scary and how that is handled is huge.

We have a few kids at different places. One a fear of squat on yet does flyaways. A couple with BWO on beam. A few working through BHS on beam.

I will say from observation the one who was/is blocked the most, has the parent who is at practice all the time and concerned with being able to fix it. It seemed to take the longest to get over.

Again just my observation with kids in general and with our group.

Kind like when kids are little and they fall and they look to Mom or Dad, unsure. The parent that rushes in, oh honey are you hurt has a crying toddler. The parent who goes oh you fell, well get on up and try again. Kid moves on. I do think there is some of that at play.

I know my kid was struggling with one of her skills. Finally I sat her down and said. Honey it just doesn't matter when you get it. I know you will, I don't care when. Its OK, take the deduction. A deduction is just that a deduction, not life or death. I truly did not care and she needed to get we would all survive, her, her parents, her coaches. And she had her first meet, took the deduction and realized it wasn't the end of the world. Her stress level went way down. 4 weeks later she is landing her skill. Its not solid But the season is over. She is not stressing, for the moment its good.

Until the next thing. Because there will always be a next thing.
 
IMO mental blocks are most common around age 10 - that seems to be the age where most girls realize the possible consequences of the things they've been doing fearlessly for years going terribly wrong. It could be that certain teams/groups have a large concentration of gymnasts that age - for example, an entire level 6 team that are all 10 years old, so it seems like there's a correlation, but I really think it's an age thing.
 
IMO mental blocks are most common around age 10 - that seems to be the age where most girls realize the possible consequences of the things they've been doing fearlessly for years going terribly wrong. It could be that certain teams/groups have a large concentration of gymnasts that age - for example, an entire level 6 team that are all 10 years old, so it seems like there's a correlation, but I really think it's an age thing.
Yep and its a typical age for heading to optionals and higher skills.

Our group mostly 9-10 and L6s
 
I think much like coachp and gymtigermom, a combination of things.

Also basic red light, green light. Thing we tend not to notice the green lights, only the red ones we get stuck at.

As the kids start working new skills as a group there are certain things that are more likely to cause fear. Skills are getting harder.

Kids whose never had feet/hands leave the beam now doing higher skills. Airborne on bars and beam, is scary. And the skills are harder to land at first. When you are not used to boggling a dismount or a flip and end up on the floor when and how you shouldn't, its scary and how that is handled is huge.

We have a few kids at different places. One a fear of squat on yet does flyaways. A couple with BWO on beam. A few working through BHS on beam.

I will say from observation the one who was/is blocked the most, has the parent who is at practice all the time and concerned with being able to fix it. It seemed to take the longest to get over.

Again just my observation with kids in general and with our group.

Kind like when kids are little and they fall and they look to Mom or Dad, unsure. The parent that rushes in, oh honey are you hurt has a crying toddler. The parent who goes oh you fell, well get on up and try again. Kid moves on. I do think there is some of that at play.

I know my kid was struggling with one of her skills. Finally I sat her down and said. Honey it just doesn't matter when you get it. I know you will, I don't care when. Its OK, take the deduction. A deduction is just that a deduction, not life or death. I truly did not care and she needed to get we would all survive, her, her parents, her coaches. And she had her first meet, took the deduction and realized it wasn't the end of the world. Her stress level went way down. 4 weeks later she is landing her skill. Its not solid But the season is over. She is not stressing, for the moment its good.

Until the next thing. Because there will always be a next thing.

I know this isn't answering the OP's question directly, but I have to comment and say this above post is so perfect and spot on. It could not be truer that the coaches and parents CANNOT get worried / be worried / show they are worried or upset about a gymmie's progress. Everyone back off, DON'T worry, know that it will all work itself out if it handled correctly. It doesn't matter how long it takes to gain the skill. If the gymmie understands that, and knows no one is putting on pressure, it will make everything so much better. (seriously, this means coaches too - in addition to parents!)

The bottom line that I have learned - yes, I have lots of experience in this area - is if my DD is happy going to practice - even if an event, like say bars or beam, is giving her fits - if that happiness is there in my DD regardless of the blocks or fear, all will eventually work itself out. It means she isn't getting pressure from others about her block or fear.

All that said, this time of year is VERY hard on my DD and others like her- she is a fearful type of gymnast who, as soon as the season is over, she knows she will be pushed outside her comfort zone and that doesn't make her happy. So I'd say this time of year is hard for some gymnasts on certain events.

ALSO - is there a difference between a block and a fear?? Or is it the same thing?
 
Block and fear are 2 different things. I was pretty sure of this when I first thought about it awhile back, and was reaffirmed by a brilliant post from coachp in an old thread...:D:D

Don't ask me to find the thread. I suck at this stuff, sorry.:confused:
 
Totally going to paraphrase, but fear is normal and expected as you start a new skill. But you still work the skill.

A block is when you have the skill and just stop, unable to do it.

Now the start of a block may be fear related. But it's not the same.

So my daughter is just slow to get skills and only wants to do them well, her issue recently was stress related, not a block.

Her friend with the squat on, was a block.

The girls with their BHS, they can do them and just won't/wouldn't go on the high beam

The girl with BWO, had a fall, has some fear, not a block, yet.
 
Thanks all, for the insight. YDD has a mental block on ROBH on floor and BHS on beam, but I know where it is coming from - our gym folded last summer, so we moved with some coaches and team mates to a new gym. It got bought out and YDD's beloved coach left in November. She had a great L5 season in the fall, then got moved up to L6, had to rush to get her floor and beam routines, did well at one meet, then blocked on her BHS on beam, which she'd had solid for months. New coach is a yeller, which YDD is not used to, so that made it worse, and the block travelled to floor. So lots of changes, new pressure, coaching style all play a role. Oh and she'll be 10 in June. Interestingly, I watch practice a lot LESS at this gym than I have before. She is not afraid to do new skills, and is working on her giants. The floor block is limiting her progression though and is the more frustrating part for her

What got me wondering was, the other 2 girls on our team who developed issues are from our old gym as well. One is 14 and one is 10. Then I talked to 2 more of our former teammates who are at 2 other gyms, and they have developed back tumbling blocks recently too. They are 11 and 10. So it made me wonder if it was our OLD gym's method that made them more susceptible to mental blocks. It was a "chuck it" kind of place, so not a lot of drills or attention to detail, so maybe they didn't get a strong foundation in the shaping and timing of the back tumbling when they were originally learning.
 
10/11 is usually a prime time for growth. Growth has the ability to throw off backward skills and bars for mine. Giants/CHS for example get totally screwed up when she grows even if only a tiny bit, she adjusts and it comes back. That being said I am sure the yelling coach is not helping at all .....
 
What got me wondering was, the other 2 girls on our team who developed issues are from our old gym as well. One is 14 and one is 10. Then I talked to 2 more of our former teammates who are at 2 other gyms, and they have developed back tumbling blocks recently too. They are 11 and 10. So it made me wonder if it was our OLD gym's method that made them more susceptible to mental blocks. It was a "chuck it" kind of place, so not a lot of drills or attention to detail, so maybe they didn't get a strong foundation in the shaping and timing of the back tumbling when they were originally learning.

Ding ding Ding!! This is probably a HUGE portion of the problem.
 
Thanks all, for the insight. YDD has a mental block on ROBH on floor and BHS on beam, but I know where it is coming from - our gym folded last summer, so we moved with some coaches and team mates to a new gym. It got bought out and YDD's beloved coach left in November. She had a great L5 season in the fall, then got moved up to L6, had to rush to get her floor and beam routines, did well at one meet, then blocked on her BHS on beam, which she'd had solid for months. New coach is a yeller, which YDD is not used to, so that made it worse, and the block travelled to floor. So lots of changes, new pressure, coaching style all play a role. Oh and she'll be 10 in June. Interestingly, I watch practice a lot LESS at this gym than I have before. She is not afraid to do new skills, and is working on her giants. The floor block is limiting her progression though and is the more frustrating part for her

What got me wondering was, the other 2 girls on our team who developed issues are from our old gym as well. One is 14 and one is 10. Then I talked to 2 more of our former teammates who are at 2 other gyms, and they have developed back tumbling blocks recently too. They are 11 and 10. So it made me wonder if it was our OLD gym's method that made them more susceptible to mental blocks. It was a "chuck it" kind of place, so not a lot of drills or attention to detail, so maybe they didn't get a strong foundation in the shaping and timing of the back tumbling when they were originally learning.
The old gym? No. And if the coach is yelling at kids who baulk , run out the door..... That is why her fear is spreading.
 
I just have to add that my DD is a kid who has fear, unlike her BFF who has no fear. Roughly the same age, but totally different approaches to getting skills, so I am very attune to the difference. I have to say how the coaches have handled it through the years has made the difference. Old gym was a chuck it gym, and she just was not moving forward at the higher levels very well. As a matter of fact, she started regressing on skills she had for a while because of this whole approach (IMHO). New gym, where we have been at for a year, has a different approach with progressions and it has made a ton of difference. Got all her skills back quickly and overcame her L8 fears and had a great year! Here is an example of what they are doing for L9:

DD is trying to get her flip-lay on beam for L9. She does it beautifully on the floor beam. Coaches realized she was scared to death to do it even spotted on high beam. So they created a plan with her. 50 flip lays on medium setting beam with "diaper" (may be called something different at your gyms, lol). She just finished that so now 50 flip lays on same beam with bath mat. Then 50 flip lays on low beam with no mat. Then 50 flip lays on medium beam, nothing on the beam. Then 50 flip lays on high beam with mats piled underneath it. Then they will start taking mats away. This will most likely take her well into/through summer as she averages 5 of them a day, but she is so excited about this plan and making good progress. I am sure there is some fear but she is making forward progress for sure.

Can't say enough about coaches that get the girls needs at an individual levels too, and know what they are doing!
 
We have had girls come from various chuck it gyms and not only do they have fear issues, some of them also have obstinate issues...they don't want to change. This would so irritate me. I get that change is hard, and the longer you do a skill one way, the harder it is to change. But still....
 
The old gym? No. And if the coach is yelling at kids who baulk , run out the door..... That is why her fear is spreading.

While I agree 100% that yelling at kids that balk makes the fear issues worse, I disagree that lack of proper technique plays no part in this... It is likely the perfect storm of improper technique leading to a minor fear issue, then an idiot coach yelling at the kid instead of taking them backward to fix the incorrect technique.
 

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