Irritated and frustrated with gym and myself.

[Gillatard]

I hate this. Last year even though I didn't like my coaches and they were making gym not fun for me, gym was way better. Like last year I had all my level 6 and level 7 skills, working on my 8. Then I took a break from gym and ever since i've been loosing skill after skill and getting tons of little injuries. And my body just always hurts. I was so excited for this year since I was going to be an optional and last year I was ready for it. Now I don't even have most of my level 6 skills. My first level 7 meet every event was fine besides beam I freaked out before my flight skill and just started crying and didn't do it. I still haven't done it. And floor well my body always hurts so much that I can't even tumble. Like a couple weeks ago I jammed my back doing a front handspring front then like a couple practices after I just did a front handspring and did it again. The sad part about that is that my coach and mom don't even care, like they don't think it hurts or something. I haven't even tried to do a front handspring front since. I lost my cast away layout flyaway. This week at gym I bailed out of my round off back handspring ( I was just warming my tumbling up) and I hit my head and got a concussion. I haven't been to gym since that practice. I have to skip practice alot beacuase I have no time for homework. I just don't like this at all, I don't want to quit gymnastics. But I like physically can't even do it anymore. I hate it and I don't know what to do.

 

[gymnasticslvr21]

If I were you I would probably train with the level 4s, 5s, and 6s for a couple weeks till I was caught up again. Also I would not compete this season. Just work on catching up for next season! It totally makes sense that you lost some skills while you took a break. You will pick up everything quickly again!

 

[gymnasticslvr21]

One more thing...If you don't want to train with the level 4, 5, and 6s, get spots on things you lost and take it easy for a while. Also, if you really want to compete this season just skip a few meets till your ready again.

 

[gracefulone]

I think you have to take a step back and evaluate what's really going on. You might just be going through a rough patch that can be overcome with time and determination. You also might just be done. If you step back and find out that you really don't want to do gymnastics anymore, you have to let yourself be done. I learned that the hard way.

In May of 2008, I found out I was a great pole vaulter. This was validated just 3 weeks before YMCA nationals. I was a junior in high school, level 7. I'd hardly been to gym at all(at the beginning of the season, I made every practice, but as I started succeeding at track, gym took a backseat) during track season, and suddenly wasn't sure if I ever wanted to go back. But I competed at nationals, did well, and decided I could finish out my senior year. Summer was fun-learned a bunch of new skills and even was ready to compete level 8. Fall came with 6AP classes, no lunch break, running a charity branch, coaching, quartet practice, 5am private workouts with my pole vault coach, an internship with the Obama campaign, applying for college and scholarships (aka figuring out what on earth I want to do with my life)and of course gym. I was constantly exhausted and was having mental breakdowns about once a week. I started making excuses, not wanting to go to gym. The truth was I didn't love it anymore and it scared me. Gym had been my passion for so many years, and I was still in love with the idea of being in love with it. When once I had awoke in the morning excited to go to practice, the very thought now made me ache. Everything just hurt. It wasn't fun. What was really sad is that I was actually doing extremely well; placing first on beam and vault at early meets. But that wasn't enough for me, so I finally admitted to myself that I was done before the Christmas break. I came to watch my team compete at the home meet in mid January and cried a lot. It wasn't that I regretted quitting. I felt like I had abandoned them. They all looked up to me so much and the second they mentioned how much they missed me, we all lost it. I kept coaching until the summertime when I switched jobs to make more money for college. Not being a gymnast made it easier to focus on pole vault in the spring, too, and I am truly exciting about the upcoming track season.

People here at school ask me if I regret quitting. My answer is always no. I look back on my time in gymnastics favorably and I realize that it was the right thing to do at the time. They also ask me if I miss it. I say that it's complicated. I miss what it once was, but not what it became. The hardest thing in the world for me was admitting that I didn't want to do gymnastics anymore. I fought it so hard. I wanted to love it, but I couldn't force passion. If I would change anything about my chaotic senior year of high school, I would have quit after nationals. I discussed this with a mentor/teacher/track coach of mine, and she said simply 'Hindsight is always 20/20'.

I've always been a huge believer in fate, and I feel like someday, if it's meant to be, I will find my way back to the sport with a renewed passion. For now, though, I am content to have found the joys of running cross country and continuing my pole vaulting.

It's taken me a long time to get to where I am now, and it's been an emotional journey. I live my life with no regrets and I offer my story to you to help you think about your own life.


And for your consideration: YouTube - gymnastics training poem

YouTube - Do You Remember When?

My heart goes out to you as you struggle through this tough time.

 

[gracefulone]

I just realized how long that was. You should in no way feel obligated to read it in its entirety.

 

[Gillatard]

Thank you graceful one, and I did read it all haha. And I've seen those videos and I love them And I think I have come to the point where I just need to quit gym. But this season is short only 5 meets it's over in march so I think skipping any meets would be point less and we already practice with our 5's and 6's every day but monday so.. yeah. But thank you!

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

I feel for you in this tough time. Last spring, I quit figure skating which I'd been doing for 4 years. I was recently making a lot of progress - I'd almost got my first double jump, I'd passed a "barrier" test to compete at a higher level. But I just dreaded practicing. It wasn't fun and it was hard to prep for competitions at the same time gymnastics was. I didn't have a team, which meant less stressful goodbyes, but I did have to tell my newbie coach, who was just going back into skating after an injury herself, and I was one of her only 2 or 3 students. But now I have so much more energy to devote to gymnastics.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

I was just wondering how old you are. . . I just want to throw out an option for you that has worked for my daughter. She also was training for Level 7... she had a relatively successful Level 6 season. She was plagued by injuries, but still qualified to states and competed successfully there. She worked on Level 7 skills all through summer, but crashed on her back tumbling early on and then became fearful of her back tumbling. THEN... high school started in September. Trying to juggle a new school schedule PLUS the competitive training hours for Level 7 became too much for her and she just basically broke down (much as you described). I KNEW that she didnt' want to quit gymnastics, but something had to give.

We found another gym closeby that runs a very successful prep optional program. I knwo some people refer to it as a program for those "who either don't have the drive or talent to to the J.O. program". I really hate that because it makes it sound like this program is just a program for the girls who can't be successful otherwise! That is sooo wrong... at least at Katy's new gym. Most of these girls are middle/high school girls. some of them are VERY good... BUT they also wisely realize that they aren't getting a college scholarship and would like to focus more on academics or other things that WILL impress college admissions counselors.

Katy's "All Star" program runs from November to May. There are 5 meets during the season with a State meet on May 15 (she will be unable to go... my son is graduating from Virginia Tech - go Hokies!).

At any rate, she loves gymnastics again and is also on her high school team. She also has time to do her homework and her projects for her honors classes. Granted, she won't be able to accomplish those much higher level skills she once wanted to do, but hey, everything in life is a balance.

Once again I'm too long winded, but I just wanted you to check out your other options before you completely throw in the towel. Maybe after some time just reworking the skills you already knew, you'll be good to go again.

Good luck!

 

[Gillatard]

Yeah i'm almost 16 i'm a sophmore in highschool and I kinda screwed up my freshman year so gymnastics for sure comes last this year. But I wish so much that we had a gym that did prep optional somewhere around where I live. But I haven't heard of any. And I wish we had highschool gymnastics at our school or atleast at some school closs by but there aren't It's kinda irritating my coach wants to start a high school team for the school I go to but marysville is dumb so yeahh... If i'm going to quit then I quit but we do have adult classes ( which alot of our ex team girls do after quitting) which is an hour twice a week and you just go and kinda do wahtever you want but.. idk.

 

[NotAMom]

If pre-op isn't an option, you really are left with one choice if you were to stay in the sport. Like others have said, take a couple of steps (i.e. levels) back. Sure, that is not ideal and it hurts your pride but it's for the best under your situation. With some luck and determination, you might be able to get caught up so that you can compete with the optional again before you graduate.

Just so that you know you're not alone, we have a girl in our gym who was training TOPS and rose to L8 at a very young age. Due to family reasons, she had to quit for about 2 years. Recently, she made it back to the gym and had to restart with the L5 all summer. That was the right thing to do as she was in no way in the same shape as she was in before she left. After some hardwork over the summer, she started competing at L6 again earning some decent scores.

Best of luck to you!!!

 

[CoachTodd]

When you took the break from the gym, how much did you grow. You mentioned that you were 16. Girls especially use most of their nutrients for growing in more ways than just getting taller. Their center of gravity seems to shift up and down on a weekly basis. You need to keep this in mind when you are getting frustrated. Vault may be off simply due to the fact that your steps take up a different amount of space. Kips may be more difficult since suddenly you have hips and now your lower body has a little more mass than you were used to. It doesn't have to even be physically noticeable for it to make a difference.
Make sure you are eating the right foods for your body to be able to repair itself after each practice as well as use nutrients for growth. I've seen quite a few girls your age "lose" skills but when they either stop growing or get used to the fact that their body is constantly changing, they come back as strong as ever.

Good Luck.

 

[Gillatard]

CoachTodd, well I have gone through that before where I had a MAJOR growth spert and luckily the was my first year of team but I really haven't grown since about the 6th grade haha. And i'm not really sure if I grew when I took a break, I know a probably gained a little bit of weight because I went from going 21 hours a week to none. But it was only a month.

Tonight at gym I was thinking about everything and about how much I really really don't want to quit. And about how frustrating it is that my body is hurting so much that I can't do anything or get any better. I had a good beam day today though, I could actually work on my front handsprings which usually doesn't happen because my back is always hurting to much so I guess thats a plus.