Quit your whining!

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nicci1999

Gymnast
I came to a realization tonight as I was driving home after practice, feeling less than satisfied with myself. I need to quite my whining. I have come damn far after only a few months of doing this, and there are so many people that are amazed by the fact that as an adult, I do gymnastics. That in and of itself is an accomplishment to be proud of, that I am doing something I love. I am putting too much pressure on myself between school and work, that I shouldn't be putting that pressure on myself with my gymnastics with getting all my skills yesterday. I have to learn that this stuff will take time, I'm not going to just walk in and get this stuff. Sure, I really want to get on team, and there are a few choice skills holding me back (Mainly bars, but we can't all be great at everything), but that team's season isnt even OVER yet. And as long as I keep working at what I am doing, I will get it, and the more frustrated I get with myself, the more chance I have at taking a HUGE step in the WRONG direction. So I just needed to rant to you guys, because I know you all know what it is like to just want to say, forget it, Im done. I am never going to get that one move. And for the couple of people who have to listen to me whine on a regular basis, I am truly sorry:cool:
 
Hey! You are not whining! Sure you get frustrated, we all do. If you can't handle frustration, gymnastics isn't the sport for you. The frustrating times are what makes it feel so great when things go well. A few times I have quit gymnastics or taken a break and the main reasons were I was frustrated with injuries or not having made progress, or even backwards progress losing tricks. But then I missed it and realized how fun it was even when it was frustrating. You have come SO far since you started, and you are putting in the time to get the conditioning and everything you need to learn skills faster. Gymnastics takes a long time to learn things, unless you are super young and super talented at the same time...I have done gymnastics for 15 years now! And actually I had more skills than I have now, when I was 17, but then again I have some other new things now that I didn't have then. I think I told you it took me 6 months to learn a pullover. I don't want to discourage you, I am trying to show that if you are comparing yourself to people who have been doing it way, way longer its gonna make you feel like ****.

Things like doing a skill with straighter legs, fewer wobbles (even if you fall on other turns), holding even one handstand longer than you have in awhile, getting a few more chinups in a row or your dips 1 inch lower...each time I spot you on a pullover for you to do it, I spot you less and less so you're in the right direction. If you can't enjoy the 'little things' gymnastics will seem so hard and frustrating it won't be worth it--and thats when people quit, and that is fine if you really don't want to continue. I think you want to, though :) There are times when you seem to make a lot of progress at once, too, but don't let that spoil you too much :) Cause it doesn't happen a lot for most people. I think it took me 2 years of classes before I was ready for a team of any sort, something like novice prep op. I just wanna give you some perspective. I think w/ the amt. of hours you are putting in, you might be able to beat my time on that, since I was only going 2 hrs. a week.
 
Thanks Gina. Yeah I just kind of needed to rant last night. I think all of the stress of the semester ending, and all that other happy stuff, what feels like a lack of skill progression is probably bothering me a lot more than it usually would. But at the same time, gymnastics is probably one of the best outlets I have found for myself in a long time. I just have to take a step back, enjoy what I have done thus far, and trudge ahead. If I build it, they will come. :D
 
nicci,
Look at the bright side. You have a gym that accepts you. You have the desire to progress. Whining is just venting frustration. I've been there and done that. Back when I decided to compete again as an adult, doing gymnastics at age 22 was unacceptable in my area. It still is. I had to basically train myself at the gym working on my acrobatics, dance moves, anything that didn't require a spotter because although I was paying the same fee as the kids, the coach ignored me. It took me 6 years before any coach would give me the time of day. Did I whine? YES! to my husband who was my only supporter. Here's where I can give encouragement to you. The long drives home from workout gave me time to think (and cry) and when I got home I would keep a journal of what I accomplished and what was giving me trouble. I would study my notes and figure out where I needed to increase strength, flexibility, etc. I would figure out exercises I needed to do more of at home to overcome the obstacles. For years I would be so sore after that dang 2 hour drive home that I could barely get out of the car! I cried buckets of tears but never gave up. You need not only patience, but determination, nicci. The first time I ever did a RO back handspring layout was at age 30. I learned a Giant and got it at age 33 and here's the sad part...my coach's wife who was my other coach never noticed I had my Giants until 2 years later! That hurt worse than an injury. Gymnastics is a frustrating sport, especially for an adult, at least in my case because I wasn't given the same consideration or encouragement as the kids got. If you need to cry to vent, then by all means, CRY! If you need to whine a bit, then WHINE. But NEVER, EVER, EVER give up! It will pay off in the end!! Trust me.
 
sorry you're frustrated nicci, but like the others said, we all go through that. and like i said when we watched that practice, the more pressure you put on yourself and the faster you try to go the less fun it's going to be and your chances of getting injured increase exponentially. and you don't want to get injured, because then you might not be able to do anything at all. gymnastics takes time, a LOT of time. honestly, even if you're young, three feet tall, and tiny it takes time. when i coached rec. classes, some kids would go 8 weeks and still not get any new skills. they would be improved, but a lot of them would still not have the pullover or the cartwheel or whatever they were working on. you've just started, and so like gina said, enjoy the little things, and have fun. if you put pressure on yourself you're going to make it un-fun. i have done that myself, and it's much more depressing to drive TO the gym and think, "i don't even want to go" than it is to be a little behind fellow gymnasts in your class. don't get discouraged! like cori told me one time... when you first came to adult class you were excited to just be IN the gym doing stuff!! don't lose sight of that because you're impatient to get better. littlelady has been a great inspiration, and shown us that it doesn't matter how old you are you can learn new tricks and improve and compete at ANY age, so you've got all the time in the world!! don't rush it and just enjoy the experience :) the skills will come!
 
Thanks for all the encouragement guys! I think I just needed to get my sights clear again, and realize that in the end, I am doing this to have fun. And incidentally, I had a good practice today. Stuck like, 10 cartwheels in a row on the beam, lost them after that, but I think I was just getting a little too cocky:D Did a couple of really sad handstands on beam, but didn't fall off, as I usually do. They were more like levers with little hops, but hey, gotta start somewhere. I think I am just so determined to get on team, that I am getting frustrated more than I should, and I do need to look at the little accomplishments, because the little accomplishments are what lead up to the big things, like my lever hops on beam and not falling off. Thanks again guys,sometimes I just need a little push in the right direction
 
Glad to hear your back on track Nicci. It sounds like your cartwheels on beam are better then mine. I'm actually a little scared of them. I'd rather do a backwalkover any day. Like everyone keeps commenting, it is the little things that matter. I think I see that more then ever now. I used to so focus on getting a new trick, that perfecting the former didn't seem to be much of an accomplishment but I definitely feel differently now. I think thats one advantage of being an adult. You can step back and see your accomplishments in respect to yourself alone rather than always comparing yourself to someone else. Well I think my coach has helped me see that too, I can't take all the credit. Sometimes you have to say to yourself "so what if that level 9 girl can do fronthandspring twisting front layout who works out at the gym 5 days a week, 4 hours a day, I can do ......... and I only get to work out a couple hours a week". My coach encourages me by telling me what I excell at. He reminds me that my handstands and kips are better then most of the girls on team, which helps when other things like giants seem impossible and I'm still struggling with my fulls (which when I think about, I wasn't able to do at all 4 months ago). To me the idea of sticking 10 cartwheels on beam in a row is a huge accomplishment you should be proud of. I am sure I would not be able to stick 10 cartwheels in a row. I'd be good if I stuck 2 in a row. I agree with everyone else. Although sometimes it can be discouraging when something seems so easy for someone else and seems almost impossible for you, in the end how much more satisfying it is when you finally get that skill. I don't remember how long it took me to get a pullover but I do remember it taking me years to get a kip consistently. I was so ready to tear my hair out but I didn't give up and now they're one of my best skills on bars. I still remember this new guy who came to our gym when I was younger who was about 20 and had never done gymnastics before. Within a few weeks he could do ro bhs on floor and kips and flyaways on bars (and he was 6'3"). It just made me feel so untalented in comparison, but very few people are quite like that. Oh, just as a side point, it was so funny to watch my short fairly small coach spotting the 6'3" big built guy on bhs :D.
 
I mean, most people do classes for like 2 years before they join a team of any sort, or even really think about joining one, so you are ahead of the game already!

Thanks for all the encouragement guys! I think I just needed to get my sights clear again, and realize that in the end, I am doing this to have fun. And incidentally, I had a good practice today. Stuck like, 10 cartwheels in a row on the beam, lost them after that, but I think I was just getting a little too cocky:D Did a couple of really sad handstands on beam, but didn't fall off, as I usually do. They were more like levers with little hops, but hey, gotta start somewhere. I think I am just so determined to get on team, that I am getting frustrated more than I should, and I do need to look at the little accomplishments, because the little accomplishments are what lead up to the big things, like my lever hops on beam and not falling off. Thanks again guys,sometimes I just need a little push in the right direction
 
Hang in there

Hi Nicci,

I'm way behind the rest of you - I started gymnastics training about 3 weeks ago with a class. It is very frustrating to me as everyone else in the class can do acceptable tumbling runs except me. I feel weird going into the gym as an adult, but I really enjoy class and it's a great break from the demands of the job. I did a front handspring the other night, landed on my feet (just like on TV!) and I can't tell you how incredibly good that made me feel. We'll all get better ever day.

Jerry
 
Congrats, Jer on that successful front handspring! Remember how great it felt to do it well? Keep that feeling in mind! Every time you make progress you'll feel it again. Enjoy your classes and keep us informed on how you're doing.
 
I quite my whining. And the past week of classes has been MUCH better. I am having fun again(wasn't for a couple of weeks there), and though I am not making huge progress right now, I am making little progresses. Like tonight, I did dips without the aid of anything below my feet, all ten of them, for the first time. They weren't very far, but I did them nonetheless. Its amazing what happens when you quite whining and go back to enjoying what you're doing:cool: Jerry, that is AWESOME about your front handspring! Keep up the good work!
 
nice job nicci! see, everything is better when you stop putting pressure on yourself, and just get out there and have fun. plus i think you tend to improve more when you're not always stressing about improving. it's like when you start thinking about something too much it starts falling apart and getting worse. you just gotta let it happen, and it will work itself out. :)
 

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