Wanna scream !!

[Libby's gym mom]

Just need to vent really , my dd is 7 (squad) all of a sudden she will not jump from the lower to catch the higher parallel bar !! She's been able to do this for months , she's had no fall or injury just gets stubborn when she squats on !! Feel like screaming at her as coach and myself know she does it and does it very well . Anyone else feel like you just wanna shake em grrrrr

 

[catou]

Normal. At 7, the high bar is pretty far. Sometimes the fear comes without evident reason. Other times, they see a teammate fall. A good solution might be to come back to the drills leading to the squat on jump and catch. But just giver her time. She'll get it back.

 

[billise]

Nah, never felt like I wanted to shake my 7 year old for struggling with a skill, even those that she has done over and over again. That's a big jump for such a little girl and no matter how many times she's done it in the past she may just go through periods where she feels less confident for one reason or another. I encourage you to let it go and just let her and her coach work it out. She'll get over it and then it'll be on to another skill she has regressed on

 

[Mumof2gymnasts]

I got really frustrated that my dd stopped doing back walkover on the high beam, luckally I've leant from having a rant at my eldest about her flicks that its best to keep quiet! My little one is 6 and it took a few weeks for her to talk to me and tell me why she wouldn't do it anymore. She's now fine and has started to do them again on high beam. My dd1 does tumbling and I've seen many at her club who have been there for years get a block and go from flicking down the track to not flicking at all for no reason. Most eventually get it back.

 

[Libby's gym mom]

I know she will get it back it's happened before with beam . It's just frustrating .

And I wouldn't actually shake her !! Lol just a figure of speech . My dd is my world xx

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

No shaking, but after TWO YEARS of watching my DD (then age 7-9) not jump to high bar, I feel your pain! I actually did threaten to pull her off the team, after trying everything (stacked mats, holding her standing up to show her she could touch the HB, etc.... done by coaches, not me).

 

[lovemygymnast]

My DD did this too. She competed jumping to high bar all last season but recently started pretending to not get her squat on when she took her turn. She did it for a couple practices. Her coach had her stack 2 landing mats under the high bar and the coach stood between the low & high bar, to spot if necessary but mainly to help her feel secure. She stood a couple of practices, now she doesn't and she's gone to one landing mat. I'm not sure what started it, but this fixed it. It's frustrating to know they've done it over & over with no problem and suddenly out of no where, develop a fear. I attribute hers to being so little.

 

[1canadiangymmom]

I feel your pain, the jump to high bar, the BHS on beam, now the flyaway. All have been competed beautifully, then mysteriously disappeared, eventually to return again. Well except for the flyaway, she is about 3/4 of the way there now . I have found, best solution is to vent to another gym mom (we all seem to get it) and pay absolutely zero attention to it with DD. Best of luck !!!

 

[Libby's gym mom]

We had a long chat with her coach after training tonight as now she's not even squatting on , on the bars which have the pit underneath . She won't even talk to her coach now and tonight she broke down in tears . He's asked her if she still wants to be a gymnast ( no reply ) but said giving up now would be very silly just over this one fear . He also told her that on Saturday when she turns up for training she needs to do the bar before I leave and if she dosnt I will be taking her home .
Me n dd have had a long chat and the only reason we can get to is she saw a girl fall and hurt herself and one other is she prefers her old coach, who is her current coaches daughter and very very strict ! This coach stands no messing and I think this might be the problem as her current coach is more laid back ? I understand coaches frustration totally and I've just have her a massive cuddle and confidence boost as she keeps running herself down . Just hope this is the rock bottom now and we can climb back. I intend not to make this a biggy and when she talks about gym will only focus on her positives where there are many and only this one negative .
I'm really sorry to go on but just totally upset for her and really could cry

 

[1canadiangymmom]

I am sorry that it has not gotten better but worse. I have truly been there. For mine, the tough and hard approach from her coach made things worse, but I know it does work for some. keep your head up, it will get better, whether it be with the tough love from coach, or dialing it back you never know. I will keep you in my thoughts today.

 

[marie83]

Do you know what number your dd is catching on? I have a group of gymnasts who only gained confidence on this skill when I moved the bars in so close they could catch without jumping. We have gymnova bars and the smallest catches on 18 now. We started on 14 a month ago. The tallest now catches confidently on 24 (fig settings) she is same age as your dd but very tall.
To me it sounds as if the coach is making too big a deal out of it, but I guess he/she knows your dd and what works for her. At 7 she doesn't 'need' her catch until this time next year even if she goes down the compulsory route it's high bar only.

Hope it gets better and she doesn't stress too much over it. I think you have the right idea to not talk to her about it unless she brings it up and praise her up for the positive stuff!

 

[Libby's gym mom]

Hopefully this long chat has helped x
Thx all
Who would be a gym mom !! Lol

 

[Libby's gym mom]

She's had them right in , extra mats , support the whole hog !! Coach said she dosnt need it till next year , he's just worried that while she's spending extra time on this skill she's missing out on other skills . To be honest because she's got an extra 12 months on the other girls their expectation of her is higher and they really do want the best out of her . Personally I think there's too much focus being put on the problem but I'm not a coach and not there at practice x

 

[MILgymFAM]

He also told her that on Saturday when she turns up for training she needs to do the bar before I leave and if she dosnt I will be taking her home .

I'm really sorry to go on but just totally upset for her and really could cry

I would personally be more appalled at the coach threatening to make dd leave the gym over a fear OR a skill than dd losing a skill. I am assuming you pay good money for her to train, and kicking her out just seems unprofessional to me, and sends the message that the coach has given up on her.

 

[gymbeam]

yeah, i agree with PP.

 

[marie83]

Coach said she dosnt need it till next year , he's just worried that while she's spending extra time on this skill she's missing out on other skills .

Ok, if it were me then, I'd be tempted to leave the catch for a little while. Just ignore it, move on, to whatever else she needs. A break from a skill that they aren't getting is sometimes the best thing. Work on other skills, do some specific drills for catching the bar and go back to it in a month or 2 and she'll probably be fine (maybe a little nervous at first) but she will probably have grown and it'll seem so much easier and she will wonder why she ever had a problem!

Not sure if that is something you feel you can suggest without coming across as a cgm! (Which I don't think you are by the way!)

I'm not saying I wouldn't have got frustrated in the first place and shouted and possibly made threats too, but when that doesn't work, try a different tack.

See how Saturday goes. Keeping fingers crossed that she catches so she doesn't get sent home.

I totally get the thing about the coaches wanting to push her too. I have a gymnast in a similar position. She is probably physically the best in the group but mentally you can tell she is still 7!

 

[3 little monkeys]

A friend's daughter suffers from fears and to be honest they are best ignored! Move onto the next thing and let her work through it herself. My friend's daughter will be doing comp 3 next year and has struggled with fears throughout but has always had the skill when needed (although often reverts back once the comp is done lol!!)

 

[2G1B]

My dd developed problems with the squat on after getting hurt on it. Months went by and she couldn't do it. They worked on her kips; but we weren't sure if she would have those by start of season (tomorrow), so the plan was that she would scratch bars at least at the first meet. Then she got her kips. They told her that she would just omit the squat on at the first meet, then worry about it. But something happened last night and the coach had a big talk with her, telling her it WAS a fear (dd had insisted it wasn't) and that she can totally do the skill. She then went and did it.

So for us, they kind if ignored it then finally pushed her. I suspect the coach pointed out that likely dd didn't want to give up the points for a skill she is totally capable of doing. My dd does work well under pressure though.

 

[Ex member]

Hoping all goes well for your dd today, will be thinking of you both.

 

[Libby's gym mom]

Hoping all goes well for your dd today, will be thinking of you both.

Thx will let you know xxx