Parents Hard to watch...need some advice.

[KipNurse]

I have a 9 year old daughter level 4 (just finished states)....heading to level 5. Practices of course eased up and finally working on up skills. It has been about a month since really working on BHS Back tuck. My daughter has always been a pretty, powerful tumbler but maybe 3 months ago she fell out of tuck. It happens..but it scared her. She and coach had a standoff....coach has a philosophy of not spotting once she knows they have the skill. This caused tears and ever since the BT has been a real hit or miss. And truthfully, this is never worked on consistently...understandably so, as it is a next level skill. So, in my opinion I just feel the repetition isn't there, so she simply isn't comfortable. Well, now its as if back tumbling is scaring her in general. Coach won't spot. Still. Wants her to start over. Sounds fine I suppose but I can't help but feel like as a little one is learning a skill, spotting should be key until the skill is consistent and especially if it isn't something they work regularly. Her coach is really not a spotter. 95% of the time is off the side telling corrections (in all events). I just wonder if this coaching philosophy just doesn't quite work for my kiddo..this will be going into 3rd year with same coach. It is just hard to watch. Thanks in advance for any advice...I love reading the posts on here, you all are a good group.

 

[profmom]

This sounds like it could be a vestibular issue. If you search, you'll find a lot of discussion on that topic. If it is, the coach is absolutely right to back her up to the progressions she can do until she's comfortable with back tumbling again. What you can do is assure her that her vestibular system will mature and the block will ease in time.

(Remembering back, I can't really recall either of my kids getting much spotting when they were learning back tucks. Maybe just a few times for my son to get a sense of the height and rotation timing his coach wanted??)

 

[Jenny]

I'm with you. She isn't comfortable because she hasn't been training the skills regularly. She will have lost the feel for the move. I would take her back to drills or spot her till the feel comes back. Just making her 'do it' will not work . So the coach is right to take her back to preps (I presume that is what she is doing) but I think if she spotted her a few times it would also help.

Some kids gain and lose skills almost weekly. And that can be frustrating for coaches. But losing a skill or the feeling for a skill because you have been working on other things/ routines/ off ill/ holiday/ injury. etc. Different matter. Just needs a helping hand on the way back.

 

[my4buffaloes]

This is where I have found privates helpful. For whatever reason when they just aren't getting the reps, the time or the attention needed in practice a private can help them get over the hump. I hope she can figure it out soon.

 

[JennC4]

Agree with the privates. That has really helped my girls get over their fears before they become even bigger

 

[esor]

Have you spoken to the coach about spotting her? I would try that first, and then see if she will at least spot her in a private. If the coach won't spot in a private, then the private may not help. Nothing is wrong with your DD. This is so normal, and she just needs to back up again to progress. Sometimes coaching style also makes a difference.

If my DD is scared of a skill, and a coach yells at her for it, she just shuts down. I almost moved gyms over it, but it ended up working out with the coaches. It took a while for some of the coaches to figure out my DD works better with encouragement and lots of progressions, but now that they do, she very rarely gets mental blocks.

 

[lovegymnastics22]

Agree with @esor. My DD had a similar incident with a coach not spotting her on a skill when she was expecting it and it really set her back. I spoke to the coaches about it and they were willing to work with her to tell her when they were not going to spot her so she could be prepared, or let her ask for more spotting until she was ready. I think as a practical matter it hasn't resulted in them really having to do much more spotting, but it has really raised her confidence to know it was on her terms. Maybe if you talk to the coach they could do the same? Obviously if it turns out to be disruptive they can re-evaluate, but it seems with these little ones coaches should make some effort to be adaptive to their personalities.

 

[kandkfunk]

The flip side with spotting is that some girls learn to rely on it to the point that they won't do the skill without a spot, even after many months and years. I watched it happen to several girls in our gym. They clearly had the skill, but absolutely would not do it without a coach touching them, even if it was just a finger, or standing right next to them.

Just throwing that out there as something to think about and maybe a pattern your coach is trying to avoid.

It's really hard to see your child struggle. I hope she overcomes this soon. As a mom who watched her DD fall out of back tucks on two different occasions, it's very scary.

 

[gracyomalley]

Just for some perspective, my DD developed a "fear" or vestibular issue (I think it became both) of back tumbling while training L8 - fulls and BHS-/LO-SO on high beam....to the point that she "lost" her ROBHSBT even (never her standing BT). I say this because it can happen at any point. Difference between my kiddo and yours may be that your child was still "learning/mastering" the skills she is struggling with - so the muscle memory may not have been solid for her, leading to falling out of the skill.

Spotting a skill that a child is learning but needs spot to do with proper form can be very helpful - DS is getting spots on his back double as he moves it from pit/tramp to floor, for instance, and DD some spot with giants on high bar (lost those too) as there is no pit bar (and even that the coach said she gets for a week then she is to do them on her own - after months of strap bar and mental prep). But spotting a skill that is either mastered but not "happening" OR one that a kid is really not ready for may not be helpful - and my kids have had "spot everything" coaches and "spot almost nothing, drill it to pieces" coaches - both methods can work.

What doesn't work is "do it yourself and I won't help you or show you how"!!!

What has been super helpful for my kid is going back to basics. lots of ROBHSBHSBHSBHSBHSBHS - you get the picture - across the floor. Lots of standing BT - even on beam - to be comfortable with tight tuck. She's scared of pit tumbling - so for her right now its floor and tramp. She is absolutely not getting spotted - because its clear that she can do it, but needs to work it out for herself. She's also doing drills (not sure if your dd is ready for this kind, but I'm sure there are some) with snap down from a handstand on block to BT, BLO, Bfull, etc....initially she would only do the handstand, snap down to standing position then do her standing BT - but now she's doing all of the above...ITS TAKEN MONTHS!!!!

There is a big difference between true "back tumbling issues" (like my kiddo), and just not really having the skill dialed in yet. Sounds like your DD may be just in the "I thought I had it but actually I still need to master it" camp - I hope!! Either way, back tracking and breaking the skill down works - either to learn it for real - or to build up the confidence to do it again. My younger DS was a L6 this year and "lost" his ROBHSBHSBT for a time - got it back in time for meets...it happens!

Hang in there - unless you are one of the few lucky parents, there will be tons more times you have to breath deep, rant to friends and let your kid know that "this is no big deal, you'll do it again when you are ready...whenever that is"..

 

[SignHere]

And hopefully, you will get to a point where YOU have enough trust in the coaches and are ( bored) enough with the process, that you can truly leave it to your DD/DS and the coaches to work it out.

Now that DD has been in gymnastics for 7 years, I have come to the realization that watching her practice is akin to watching paint dry.

 

[balancedmom]

My DD had similar issue-- fell a few weeks ago doing ROBHSBT-- fell on head/neck and now does not want to go backwards. Her coach IS willing to spot her and she is doing a private a week until she feels comfortable. She is not yet there, but is progressing or getting her skills back slowly. Sometimes they need some extra assistance.