Parents How to discuss injuries with your gymnast

[TippysMom]

Hi Everyone. I am new to ChalkBucket and new to the world of gymnastics. I have a dd who just turned 5 in her first year on pre team. I frequently watch her practice and recently our gym has had a few girls who suffered major injuries in practice. On one occasion, she noticed that a child was injured and on another occasion she had no clue (even though the Paramedics responded). I am wondering how to talk to her about gymnastics injuries, or if I should. She has a tendency to keep things inside and I don't want her to develop fears based on the experiences of other gymnasts. However, I also don't want to scare her by bringing up a topic that she is oblivious to. I would love to hear from other parents or coaches on how you talk to your gymnasts about injuries.

 

[Committed]

Mine got to experience them first hand

I wouldn't bring anything up about other people. She should make sure that she is using equipment properly to avoid getting injured, needlessly.

 

[Sasha]

My DD has noticed girls in casts, slings, boots etc (hard not to notice), and has raised the topic.

She is a little older (7.5, started at 6.5)I have simply explained that people get injuries for lots of reasons, including any sport. And I gave a not-so-scary example of colliding in soccer and getting a bruise or something. I tell her the most important thing to stay safe is staying in control and using proper form, and that it is so great that she is in gymnastics, because you learn so much about how to control everything your body is doing (or something like that).

She seemed satisfied with that.

I don't claim that's the 'right' thing to say for me or anyone else - just what came to mind and seemed to satisfy my DD in that moment

 

[GymMom67]

My DD is older than yours.....she is 10. But she can have pretty serious anxiety issues sometimes. We witnessed a very scary thing happen at the meet our gym hosted. My DD and I were both sitting at the floor judge's table, so our backs were to the bars, which were right behind us. All of a sudden, the entire audience gasped really loud. I turned around and a girl had taken a very bad fall on the bars. They ended up calling and ambulance and she was taken out on a stretcher with a very bad arm break. Thankfully, neither of us saw the fall happen, but it was upsetting for sure. I haven't really brought it up to her since then, though, because I don't want her to dwell on what "could" happen. I answered any questions she had at the time, but only talked about it if she brought it up.

 

[raenndrops]

We have had one really scary injury at our gym... a girl was doing her RO BHS BT on floor (old L6) ... a skill she had been doing for MONTHS and MONTHS... well, she went up for the tuck and changed her mind or forgot what she was doing... came down on her head. Some of the older girls chose to leave the actual gym for a while, some of the younger ones were oblivious, and there were some who were curious. We had to keep them back. Dad was called and COACH had to CONVINCE him that the ambulance should be called!!!!! The EMTs came and she left on a stretcher. She didn't break anything (Thank God), but she did have a concussion and some back problems. She gracefully retired 3 months later.
We do talk about injuries and being safe in the gym. Coach has all these rules, and whenever there is an injury (even a minor one), there is a discussion about how to avoid injury or minimize the risks.
With a 5 year old, I wouldn't say too much unless she brings it up.

 

[Faith]

recently our gym has had a few girls who suffered major injuries in practice. On one occasion, she noticed that a child was injured and on another occasion she had no clue (even though the Paramedics responded).

Might be just me, but if I heard a gym had major injuries happen to "a few" girls in a short space of time, it would ring alarm bells. If drills and progressions are used correctly, along with pits and safety mats, and kids are conditioned properly major injuries should be few and far between.

Your dd is 5. I'd have a good hard look at the gym, and try to decide whether this is a freak run, or it's an issue. If you're new to gymnastics, it might be worth visiting other local gyms and see how they practice. Not advocating a switch or anything, just saying being informed is no bad thing I always look to see how many kids are training with supports/braces etc.

In our old gym there were no major injuries while dd was on team. There was a broken arm just before she started, but otherwise it's only been ankle turns and general bumps and bruises. Nothing paramedic worthy anyway.

 

[Flossyduck]

^^^^^^^^^^
I have to say, that was the first thing that ran through my head as well. It took me right back to our first gym. I had nothing to compare it to, but there did seem to be quite a few serious injuries and plenty of smaller ones in a relatively short space of time. I came on here for advice and we moved pretty quickly.

You wouldn't believe the difference at our current gym. Everything is broken down into drills and built up slowly and conditioned for, as Faith said. Coaches are attentive and there is much more attention to basic safety principals. My dd's first session, she came out and said she loved how safe it felt. And she was doing trickier stuff. Injuries are rare, despite the fact that it's a big gym and there are girls working at a much higher level. I've seen the paramedics called maybe twice in a year and a half and neither were major injuries. Yes they get the sprains, the hyper-extensions and the beam bites and bruises, and accidents do happen, but it's very rare to see someone in a cast.

Depending on the level of the girls concerned and how well the super-vision seems generally, I was want to look carefully at why therer are a lot of injuries.

Other than that - I'd say don't make a big deal of it. If you dd brings it up you can talk to her about the fact that it happens and can happen falling off a bike or a swing or tipping backwards off a chair. She's only five and I personally feel that oblivious is good at five. You don't want to scare her unnecessarily.

 

[Flossyduck]

"super-vision" is of course that amazing skill that coaches must have and supervision is what I actually meant to say!

 

[Becauseisaid]

I always look to see how many kids are training with supports/braces etc.

This can be a bit misleading. 1 girl in our gym wears an ankle brace. Now all the girls feel they need one. It's become a fashion statement. Though I totally agree with the sentiment.

My DD was 4 and in her first gymnastics class when she managed to break her arm a week before Christmas. (She was walking down a ramp in class, slipped, and put her arm out to catch herself) This prompted several talks at home as well as in the gym regarding SAFE gymnastics. (This was 5 years ago and the coaches still use my DD as the example with the younger kids on how to fall properly. )

We (parents and coaching staff) don't really talk about injuries so much as we focus on building up strength and learning proper technique so you don't get injured. The focus is on the strength and technique rather than the possibility of injury. Rarely does anyone get hurt in the gym.

 

[Committed]

I wouldn't look at the amount of injuries either.
DD has hurt herself at gym twice (different gyms). Once she was being spotted, and it was a random accident; she smacked her ankle on the springboard - the bone chipped.
2nd time was on a run to the vault. No spotting necessary, obviously. I wouldn't even consider this a gymnastics injury, except she happened to be at the gym when it happened.

 

[TippysMom]

Thank you all for your responses. I think I will wait for her to approach the topic with me. I have to say that it never even occurred to me to be worried about that amount of injuries occurring in the gym. Each time, I considered them as freak occurrences that happen in the sport of gymnastics, as they could occur in any sport. I am not concerned yet but I will pay closer attention to how these "accidents" occur in the future. This was very good advice in my book.

 

[Kiwi]

Sometimes they get hurt outside the gym. We had a girl break her foot falling off a swing at home. While healing she still came to gym to condition and so would have looked injured to onlookers but it was completely unrelated to gymnastics.

 

[OzZee]

I wouldn't look at the amount of injuries either.

2nd time was on a run to the vault. No spotting necessary, obviously. I wouldn't even consider this a gymnastics injury, except she happened to be at the gym when it happened.

LOL my dd did a great ankle roll walking down the stairs at gym during warm up last term - I had people come up to me after asking if it was broken so it must have been spectacular.
But whilst in the gym not really a gymnastics injury if my kid can't walk down stairs, lol.

re braces etc as well as where the injury happened you'd need to know what sort of injury it is, if something growth related then that's also not really gymnastics related.

but I would still be looking further into a club that had lots of injuries, it may be a load of falling out of trees or it could be unsafe gymnastics coaching/supervision.

 

[gwenmom]

In DD case we had to discuss this discussion when she was about 5. We were at a meet cheering her teammates when one of the older girls peeled off the bars pretty horrifically. We explained that injuries can happen anywhere and in any sport and she was good with that.