stressed from gym

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Has anyone gotten so stressed out at the gym and you just wanted to quit. Thats what it has been like for me for the last couple of weeks. I really don't want to quit because i can't imagine my life without gymnastics.... and i still love it..... it's just that i have been having a lot of mental blocks on things i have done a thousand times (literally a thousand times) I just hate going to gym stressed out thinking about my mental blocks and coming home from gym stressed out and always being stressed out because i can't stop thinking about it. So i was just wondering if anything like that ever happened to you.:eek: :D :( :mad: :p ;) :confused: :rolleyes: :cool: :eek:
 
YES!!! and omg the best advice i can give you is to not give up!!!! for like a half a year i struggled with fulls and i would balk and it got to the point where i wouldn't even do a round off bhs. it was RIDICULOUS. and i've had soooo many mental blocks on beam. After you get past these blocks you look back on it and be like what in the world was i afraid of!?? i actually look back and laugh because i was seriously so close to quitting and i'm glad i didn't because now i have so many opportunities like scholarships and everything.

so seriously stick with it. and if your coach will let you maybe you could stop those skillls your having mental blocks on for a while and then try them again in a couple of months. it worked for me.
 
Oh sorry I forgot to say but like for the longest time last year in level 7 I couldn't vault. I was supposed to do a front handspring full but I like couldn't even do a front handspring. I did these weird pikey things. My steps were so messed up I guess because I grew and we only have like 58.5 feet to run from. But like I dreaded EVERY vault practice and my coach like screamed at me every practice. Then at meets where I had a long run I could vault like fine. Well it still wasn't great haha but at least I could do a front handspring. But I finally got it back I don't know how and my coach like kinda knows that I can't run from 58.5 so thats why I vault a lot at open gym with a longer run. But I finally got through it. You just have to not give up.
 
Don't worry, every gymnast will go through stages of wanting to quit and being frustrated, but being frustrated is not a good reason to quit. You will know when you are ready to move on from gymnastics because it will be for positive reasons not negative ones, you will feel content with the desicion and be ready for something new. Until you feel that way then you dont really want to quit, you're just frustrated.

There are lots of things you can do to help these situations. Why not try keeping a training diary. Write in it (or type in it, keep it on the compuetr) every night after training. Write about how you felt the training went, the things that you were frustrated and unhappy with, the things you want to improve on, things you did well, funny things your coach or team mates said, your goals, things you are excitied about and enjoying and so on. Some days you may only want to write a line or two and other days you may want to write heaps. This can really help, writing down your problems just helps you come to terms with them and work out just what is going on, it is also a chance to write about all the wonderful things that happened.

When you come home from gym frustrated sit down and think about the things you did well. You never get through a whole training and not do something well. You will probabaly be pleasently surprised. Design a plan of action for the things that upset you. Look back on what you have achieved in the last year and see how far you have come.

When you are at the gym and you have mental blocks slow down and try the five step procedure.

Step 1 - Head check, are you concentrating on what you should be doing? Are you thinking about getting the skill right or are you thinking "oh no I'm going to stuff it up?". Is your mind fully on the job? Refocus your self and have a few more tries.

Step 2 - If step one fails try visualisation. Close your eyes and picture yourself doing the skill perfectly. Try to imagine your body doing the skill and what it should feel like. Imagine yourself correcting what your coach is telling you to correct and then have a few more tries.

Step 3 - If steps 1 and 2 fail. Go back to basics. Go back to the drills you learned to do the skill in the first place. It may seem like a step backards but it is not. Even if you have been doing the skills for years gop back to the basic drills and it will help to remind your body what it should be doing. Then try again.

Step 4 - Seek help, of course your coach is there to help you all the time. But it can help to seek help from someone different. A different coach, an experienced gymnast or even a fellow team mate who may have had a similar problem with a similar skill. Sometimes it helps to get a new set of eyes to look at your skill, they may be able to find the words to get you where you want to be,

Step 5 - Walk away, and try again next time. Some days it just isnt working and the best thing you can do is just move onto something totally different.
 
Thank you so much for the advice... i will try it....

(it's possible to get out of this head thing right? because i have had it since last May)
 
Yes it is possible to get out of it. I have known people who have experienced it longer than you and have been able to overcome it. One key is to just relax and enjoy gym. Remember that you are there to have fun and you are there for you and no one else. Once you start allowing yourself to have fun again you will no doubt begin to progress aswell.
 

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