Parents Sad for DD

[needcoffee]

DD's coach asked to talk to me after practice today (always a little scary, felt like I was being called into the principles office..) to talk about the massive mental block she is having on bars. She flat out refuses to squat on/jump to the high bar, a very necessary part of the routine.

Bit of background, she had it consistently a couple of months ago, could easily do it 30 times in a row. Then her best friend fell doing it in a horrific way and snapped her arm. Think bone sticking out of skin. All the girls witnessed it, screaming, ambulance, the works...

So mental block, I get that. Time should fix it I think, problem is she needs to have it consistently again within the next 4-6 weeks or her coach won't badge test her = no comps this year. She understands this and is very sad but doesn't know how to get over it. she loves competing, it's what makes the hard work worth it to her (and she's a kid who will never place). I'm just so sad for her, I hope she can get there but not holding my breath. Bars has always been her weakest event and this has just set her back further.

Just venting here because non-gym parents IRL don't get it...

 

[COz]

Wow! Sounds like she needs some trauma counseling!
Poor thing. Poor Mum :-(

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Ughhhh... Is the coach standing in, or doing any drills and progressions to help her. My new 'jumpers' have yet to jump, I wont allow it, they must be able to jump with good shape from steady boxes and squat/pike on to stand up with control and stay standing on the bar before I will allow them to jump and catch. I will be under the bar ready to catch anyone who misses as I don't want a broken anything on my watch, or having to re-teach scared kids because someone got hurt. Can your DD just compete a lower level and take the pressure off?

There is no badge testing requirement anymore

 

[OzZee]

aww poor kid.

 

[needcoffee]

Really pineapple lump?? She said they were badge testing in May? What's in May then? Lol. She offered her to go down to level 3 (as 4's apparently still squat on/jump) but DD said no. I honestly don't blame her, she's worked so hard, especially on the floor routine. I think going back 2 levels would probably be the end of it for her.

I'm not sure what drills they are doing, but she refuses to even jump with 2 coaches standing either side spotting.

 

[needcoffee]

Forgot to say pineapple lump, meant to tell you a few weeks ago, you sound like a seriously AWESOME coach.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

There is no official badge testing. Your club may be holding one - so it is all about their standards. I think many clubs have jumped kids from three to five with the changes and I think it is a mistake. From five to six the difficulty on bars doubles and they will only have a few moths to prep. After level 5 they need to add a clear hip, long kip, baby giant and flyaway - those are big skills to learn in a small time frame when you are struggling through the level current skills. We considered moving a few kids who had strong tumbles and most other skills, but their kips were not consistent with straight arms and they would have struggled until they ended up repeating somewhere anyway.
I would be getting her to jump from boxes and slowly move them further from the bar, also building up mats so that they will catch and then land on feet may help.

 

[needcoffee]

Thank you I truly wouldn't mind her going down to 4, as it is much like the old 3, but the new 3 just seems like such a huge step backwards?

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

New three is like level two in most places. New four is level three vault and beam, level 3.5 floor and level four bars. It is possible that she may be overwhelmed by all the new skills and taking her back a step and only having the pesky squat on to worry about may help her get over the fear. Plus the added bonus of going into comps feeling good about herself and a sense that she can do well and succeed.

 

[COz]

4 is climb or cast to squat on and jump to HB.
In 3 you have to jump from a box to HB or can start from a kick-start on HB (whatever that means).

Perhaps she compete once at level 3 whilst getting her confidence back? It's not like she would be stuck there for a year or anything.

 

[COz]

Skills summary for the new levels
https://gymnasticsvictoria-public.s...ech Info/WAG/15EV_LevelsSkillPlacement_V1.pdf

 

[needcoffee]

Thank you

 

[my4buffaloes]

I think she needs to talk with someone. Watching that is traumatic and it is clearly affecting her. Not only does she need to work through what she witnessed, but also work very slowly through the skill again. Good luck!

 

[Judybird]

Poor girl. I hope you can find her someone to talk her through this. Not everyone experiences it but certain people are highly affected by witnessing trauma. For me personally, it's not the blood but the screams. I witnessed a kid getting injured in a parking lot when I was a freshman in college. The screams made me faint and I gave up any plans for a career in the medical field that very day. I still can hear the screams. Your DD might be one of those people that is hyper sensitive to others in pain. I view the coaches at my gym as being almost superhuman in their coaching abilities. But they aren't psychologists. Good luck getting DD some help.

 

[GymRatMama]

It there an option to scratch bars in competitions until she has all of her skills? There was a girl on my DD's team a few years ago who couldn't consistently do her mill circle, but was good in the other events. The first few meets she scratched in bars. By the middle of the season she got the skill and then competed everything. It would be a shame for your DD to lose a whole season over one skill that most likely will come back sooner rather than later.

 

[needcoffee]

It there an option to scratch bars in competitions until she has all of her skills? There was a girl on my DD's team a few years ago who couldn't consistently do her mill circle, but was good in the other events. The first few meets she scratched in bars. By the middle of the season she got the skill and then competed everything. It would be a shame for your DD to lose a whole season over one skill that most likely will come back sooner rather than later.

I did ask her coach that yesterday and she said no It would be a shame, as she has worked so hard at the other routines.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Skills summary for the new levels
https://gymnasticsvictoria-public.sharepoint.com/Documents/Technical Information/Gym Sport Tech Info/WAG/15EV_LevelsSkillPlacement_V1.pdf

Ok ignorant parent here, But it looks like on the above chart, no kip until L5

I was under the impression a kip was required for L4 and I could just be not reading correctly.

Help Please

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Australian levels vs USAG levels.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Australian levels vs USAG levels.

Thank you

 

[Gymbee06]

No help really but I feel your my dd didn't witness someone fall on the jump it was her!! It's taken about 8 months for her to get it back but she is now in the last few weeks doing it without mats and just decided that she wasn't scared anymore one day the coaches just had her attempt it where she was comfortable which for her was the coach standing in between the bars and 3 mats