The mind of a gymnast

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Flipper came home from gym this week and announced that it is much easier to perform a bhs/back layout on beam than bhs/bhs. I asked how that is possible? Mom, on a back layout, you don't have to worry about your hands hitting the beam correctly!

Her brother later asked me if she has to tell herself that kind of stuff in order to psych herself into doing difficult tricks. Have you ever wondered what goes on in a gymnasts mind? Flipper has developed great rationalization skills!
 
Great thread Flippers Mom!!!! And YES--I often wonder what goes on in the mind of a gymnast--especially mine :p!!! Dani says that back tucks are easier than BHSs because "you don't have to put your hands down on the ground". She will easily throw RO Fulls into the pit with ease, put sits there and balks and balks if asked to do a ROBHS!!!

It also boggles my mind to try and understand what skills gymnasts consider "easy" as opposed to "OMG--that is so hard, I could never do that!!"

Gymnasts are definitely a breed among themselves!!!
 
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Haha, actually I'd agree with both of them.

Well, not with Flipper as I'm not even close to ever doing either a bhs bhs or a bhs - layout on beam. But I see the reasoning. Missing your hands is much scarier that missing your feet (or just being a bit off...) - i mean, if it's your feet you're not upside down and you can just jump off (in the case of beam) or prepare for your fall (on floor).
But then again, I used to be completely mental on bhs. It's been better since I took 3 years off competitive gym for uni but I'm still doing all my tumbling out of round offs only.

Everyone seems to have weird reasons to do or not do a skill though. I hate if its even a tiny bit dark in the gym. Some need the mats to be all square and aligned properly with the apparatus (especially on beam)... loads of things. It's funny.
 
Some need the mats to be all square and aligned properly with the apparatus (especially on beam)... loads of things. It's funny.

That is so me! I CANNOT vault unless the springboard is exactly straight :eek:
And MdGymMom I can see where Dani is coming from. In the back tuck if you don't get it right you put your hands out to break your fall...in the bhs or something else where you put your hands down first you can't put anything out to save yourself because your legs/feet aren't there in time! That's my view of that one anyway.

I always come up with things in my head for moves that I find scary. I used to have a HUGE fear of front tumbling and I got over it by telling myself that to think of how much easier it was to run forwards than backwards. Every single time before I did a forwards pass I would think to myself "If runnings easier forwards then so is tumbling!"
 
Haha, I learned a cartwheel layout on the high beam before I even got my bhs on the fat beam! I actually just got my bhs on beam a few weeks ago! :p
 
I actually feel the same way:D On beam, I'd prefer to do backtucks than a BHS on beam. The way I see it, I have one less part of my body to worry about getting on the beam, and less chance of crashing, and if I do, its not as hard:p If my foot slips, its not as hard a fall, and it doesnt really hurt. On BHS, its hard to control the fall.
 
I'm totally with Flipper on the preference and with all the girls on the reason.
Based on my (ancient) history as a gymnast, I think what a lot of non-gymnast parents don't get is that gymnasts don't fear falling OFF the beam that much - they're terrified of falling ON to it!!!! The beam is about as soft as concrete. And the edges are not rounded - they're square.
The most likely injury you'll cop missing a back layout (on beam) is smashed legs. Whereas if you miss a hand on a BHS you're risking a smashed head.
Ditto the BWO. Yes BWO is the physically easier skill. But most people would rather risk a broken butt doing a FWO than a broken head missing a BWO.
I don't think parents get it even if they're invited to get up on a beam. If you're nervous about falling from a height you're totally missing the point. I think parents should all have to get up and do a blind tuck jump and see what part of beam is the scary part. Imagine scraping your whole body down the side of the beam on your way down with no opportunity to lessen the impact. That's the fear.
 
In general I would prefer to do BHS salto rather than BHS BHS. My time with BHS BHS was very brief and tenuous. I was doing BWO BT in L8. I would also prefer to do two foot layout rather than layout stepouts. However I'm not saying I LIKE to do any of these things, because I've pretty much ruined my heel doing them.

I've never seen anyone come even close to hitting their head by missing their hands though (possible, but fairly unlikely, unless you're using incorrect hand placement of doom that no one teaches anymore). What happens is you keep going and scrape/bruise your legs/side. It's pretty impossible to miss your hands on a BWO as well. I have scoliosis (it's noticeable to the average eye - people would comment on it) and if I did BWOs for a decade without ever getting anywhere close to hitting my head or missing my hands, I have full confidence in the lack of head hitting and hand missing opportunities on this skill. Missing your hands on BHS, eh. Done that. A frequent experience actually, especially when the BHS came from another skill. You're still not going to hit your head, unless you were like, trying to stop yourself in the handstand. The momentum just doesn't work that way. I have seen girls miss the beam on back layout, roll back and hit their head on the beam posts. That's a bad one.
 
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Beetle would rather do the BHS BLO too.. but she is mentally struggling wiht BHS BHS, so HC will not let her work BHS BLO. I see his point too. I wish I knew what went through their heads. One of Beetle's teammates actually says she purposely DOESNT think of things before she does them. For instance before doing her BHS BHS or BHS BLO on beam she says Apple apple banana banana in her head then goes for it.
 
In general I would prefer to do BHS salto rather than BHS BHS. My time with BHS BHS was very brief and tenuous. I was doing BWO BT in L8. I would also prefer to do two foot layout rather than layout stepouts. However I'm not saying I LIKE to do any of these things, because I've pretty much ruined my heel doing them.

I've never seen anyone come even close to hitting their head by missing their hands though (possible, but fairly unlikely, unless you're using incorrect hand placement of doom that no one teaches anymore). What happens is you keep going and scrape/bruise your legs/side. It's pretty impossible to miss your hands on a BWO as well. I have scoliosis (it's noticeable to the average eye - people would comment on it) and if I did BWOs for a decade without ever getting anywhere close to hitting my head or missing my hands, I have full confidence in the lack of head hitting and hand missing opportunities on this skill. Missing your hands on BHS, eh. Done that. A frequent experience actually, especially when the BHS came from another skill. You're still not going to hit your head, unless you were like, trying to stop yourself in the handstand. The momentum just doesn't work that way. I have seen girls miss the beam on back layout, roll back and hit their head on the beam posts. That's a bad one.

See, I am the opposite. In backwalkovers one of my hands slipped a couple times which made me completely terrified of the skill, even though it was a freak thing and I was fine. I'm not scared of bhs (at least not as much), though, because I have never completely missed my hands.

Oh, and I am now learning back tucks, and I like them better because I don't have to worry about looking for my hands, I just set, flip, and I land on the beam. It doesn't make complete sense, but it helps me to not be as scared:eek:
 
Yeah, but then you land repeatedly on your big toe (perma-bruise) or slam your heel. It's all got drawbacks as far as I'm concerned. Beam is not my fav. Standing back tucks, not too bad. BT out of something else, worse.
 
That's me! I CANNOT do beam until it is straight and I won't go on the almost-floor-beam-but-a-little-higher-then-that beam until I put a squishy mat on the part that elevates it. I have no idea why. I also can't do anything on the foamy without a spot (not even a validez which I have had forever!), though I'll do it on floor with the coach on the other side of the floor! I won't do a front walkover on beam until one of my friends yell at me for it (not even the coach can make me, that's how stubborn I am about it :p)
 
Dani says that back tucks are easier than BHSs because "you don't have to put your hands down on the ground". She will easily throw RO Fulls into the pit with ease, put sits there and balks and balks if asked to do a ROBHS!!!

Flipper went through a difficult phase several years ago in which she lost the ability to tumble backwards for several months. Wouldn't even attempt a back handspring on floor, but she could still perform a beautiful back handspring on beam. That just doesn't make any sense to me!
 
Gymnasts mind is always a bit confusing. A non-gym will never understand our need to do a cartwheel, a roundoff or a handstand anytime/anywhere.
As I use to say: ' you see grass, I see floor; you see a rock, I see a vault :D"
 
its so true! last year i competed bhs bhs layout on beam and it was so scary, im now training bhs layout, and it is a million times less scary, its one less time you have to worry about being completly square and hands perfect on beam. Same with backtucks, you dont worry about placing hands, just set big and pull your shins around quickly and you've landed it perfect.
 
Hehe! I agree with alot of these. Bhs Bhs scares me so much and I have done that on the high beam for almost a year now. Layouts on beam are so much less scary because instead of having to get your hands and feet on the beam its only your hands, see one less thing to worry about. Also my teammates are amazed because I will do an aerial cartwheel on the high beam with a mat under it with no problem but if asked to do a fhs on the beam I have to be on a low, padded beam with mats. When my coach asked me why I was so scared of them, I replied "it's because I can't find the beam!" She thought that was really funny.
 

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