WAG Have you ever lost a skill? What to do then???

[sportymom]

Younger DD is really strong (she can do 10 leg lifts) and she got her kip in 2 months. She was pretty close from
the beginning on. Then she got it on Thursday practice and did it several times. On Friday she could do it with straight arms and good cast.

Then on Monday after weekend, she couldn't do it anymore for the whole week! She was really desperate. We have been on holidays now for 2 weeks and she will go back to practice tomorrow.

How likely is it that she will get her kip back by end of August?

She is really sad and nervous and anxious about tomorrow and she can't understand why she can't do it anymore, because she had it perfectly!

Anyone had this before?

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 14190]

LOL! completely normal. Don't even give it a second thought and tell your DD she is fine.

 

[Natasha]

Happens all the time. Especially with the kip. Because it is a skill that involves so much timing, many girls will have it inconsistently at first and be able to do it some days and not other days. Her coaches should be able to reassure her that it is completely normal.
And then one day…before you know it the kip won't even be a thought, it will be like a pullover…and then she will move on to the next bar skill that will come and go (often giants).

 

[htimcj]

It is totally normal! And it won't be the last time it happens When my DD looses a new skill I always tell her that if she has done it once, she can do it again. It will come back. It is frustrating as all get out though!

 

[Flipomaniak]

Take it from a level 3rd year level 10 who's lost almost everything (and gotten it back). Skills just do that sometimes, especially a kip! Extremely common and expected.

 

[Rainn14322]

I tell my DD that skills aren't lost. She knows how to do them just sometimes she doesn't get them when at practice. I feel that saying a skill was lost is a negative connotation and when kids, especially the younger ones, hear "lost" it's more permanent to them and causes unneeded stress with needing to find or learn how to do it again.

 

[raenndrops]

I tell my DD that skills aren't lost. She knows how to do them just sometimes she doesn't get them when at practice. I feel that saying a skill was lost is a negative connotation and when kids, especially the younger ones, hear "lost" it's more permanent to them and causes unneeded stress with needing to find or learn how to do it again.

My OG had a ROBHSBT that took a 2 year VACATION. Since then, it has made some reappearances this past season, but not as often as she would have liked. Her flyaway went on vacation about the same time as the back tuck... it has been slower, but she has started working drills to coax it back from vacation.

 

[CAGymmie]

I definately get how your daughter is feeling. I got my kip last winter after working since June on it. It was very off and on for a while. Come competition season, I would make maybe one every few weeks, then not make any in warm-up at meets, and yet I didn't fall on my keep in a single competition routine. Then this summer, I lost it again. I made less than five kips in all four weeks of summer workout. When I came back from a three week vacation, I made five in a row!

That was super rambly, but my point is kips are annoying and hard to get consistent. If anyone finds the magic potion for kips, please send me the recipe.

 

[mumoftwogymnasts]

Ah the disappearing skill - yes has happened to both of my two, kip in particular has tended to come and go at seemingly random times. Has happened with other skills too, Dd walked into gym on her very first day at rec and could do a pullover first time she attempted it - nine months later it just suddenly vanished! Squat on, clear hip, bhs on beam all have come and gone.

It will come back, don't make a big deal of it.

 

[Sari]

Totally normal, especially when it comes to the kip!

When I was younger, I lost my FHS every six months or so (I think it was growth spurts). Really annoying, but it always came back! So no worries!

 

[Aussie_coach]

This is very, very common. In fact so common that I would say it happens more often than it doesn't for kids learning a kip. It is a tricky skill for the level it is taught at. Completely normal for a child to get it and then lose it again and then once they get it back, even have it for quite a while and once again lose it.

The first thing is to reassure the child. She will get it back, if she has done it before then she has the ability to do it. Kids usually get over mental blocks but generally when they don't it is because of major fear issues. This skill is not scary so I have never seen a gymnast fail to get it back.

It does not sound like a strength issue but most likely a technique issue, probably to do with timing. Under the coaches watchful eye it should not be too hard to get back.

Going back to doing them with a little spot can help as it reminds the gymnast how the skill feels, which often twigs the part of their brain that knows how to do it.

Also thinking back to how she learned her kip in the first place, which drills did she do? which ones did she find really helped her " get" the skill. Have her go back and do those drills again. What works for each gymnast is different but these drills already have a proven track record of working for her.