WAG When Is It Time To Quit Gym??

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My dd is 11 years old and level 9. She's progressed quickly, but right now she is having trouble. Last season she had a block on her bhs bhs bb series. She is working towards getting it and has done it quite consistently lately. All of a sudden now, she has a fear of doing her giants and dismount. Both "blocks" are out of the blue with nothing happening to cause them. My dh and I had a long talk with her yesterday and she said she loved gym and did not want to quit, ever! But is she really ready to quit? We've always been supportive, but never pushy. Gym is something SHE loves. She is an emotional child, so when her coaches get upset with her (over the blocks) she shuts down. They don't want to work with her, the other day she got sent home because she wouldn't do it. Any advice? Do we push her to quit?

In my opinion she needs time to discover if it is time or not. She is very young. When the body enters the fight or flight response...there is nothing that one can do...it is automatic...

The "fight or flight response" is our body's primitive, automatic, inborn response that prepares the body to "fight" or "flee" from perceived attack, harm or threat to our survival.

Now read the definition in Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response

Notice this part...

also called the fight-or-flight-or-freeze response

The only way to do the skill again is to NOT enter the fight or flight response.

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OK...now...search this site for the term "vestibular". Read all the posts and threads about it...here is Wikipedia again...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system

Read this post...

http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/back-tumbling-fear-issues-help-please.31302/#post-139082

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Your child is 11...a time when many grow. When the body changes...the vestibular system gets thrown out of wack for a while. This causes one automatic system (vestibular system) of the body to trigger an automatic response (fight or flight or FREEZE)...the kid freezes...no skill happens. Stress makes all of this worse.

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This is all just my take on this...what do I know?

I know that we are now pulling more kids through this time at our club. We are not treating them as "broken"...we are treating them as "normal". We are going over all of this with them. We are telling them that they cannot control it and that is OK.

We are simply giving our gymnasts time and information. The human body is amazing.

Give them things that they are able to do to get the vestibular system back in line. Will they do it with a spot?...will they back tumble on 8" mats?...will they play add-a-trick on trampoline with no issues? No...then just ignore the whole issue and give them time. Try...try...try...but don't drive the gymnast crazy because you can't fix them...they are not "broken".

I'm rambling now...later.
 
By the way...my last "broken" gymnast...L8 almost L9. I sent her for almost $2000 of mind shrinking. I fixed her good...she is on the high school dance team now.

Not sure if it would have turned out any different...but I would not handle it in the same way if I had it to do over.
 
One other thing..."fight or flight or freeze" can be triggered by other things too...like hitting the rail on a flyaway. Hit the rail...swing up and no release...swing up and no release...swing up and no release...

Retrain the skill from the ground up...this will take time...not pressure.
 
Dunno will be proud of your Vestibular explanation JBS! We don't stay on CB for long without getting that lesson loud and clear.
 
My dd had a crash on a flyaway gone wrong recently, so this is all hitting home. She was apparently physically trembling when she had to get up and try again. Bars has been a hot mess since then. And all I could think about is, oh great here we go with the fears.
 
A sports psychologist might be something to look into. They have great insight on how to overcome obstacles (blocks). If she loves her sport do not push her to quit. She is a level 9 and that's amazing. Lots of sacrifice, sweat and tears but also a great deal of accomplishment, teamwork, commitment and friendships that may span her lifetime. She will come through this. Hang on:)
 
My dd is 11 years old and level 9. She's progressed quickly, but right now she is having trouble. Last season she had a block on her bhs bhs bb series. She is working towards getting it and has done it quite consistently lately. All of a sudden now, she has a fear of doing her giants and dismount. Both "blocks" are out of the blue with nothing happening to cause them. My dh and I had a long talk with her yesterday and she said she loved gym and did not want to quit, ever! But is she really ready to quit? We've always been supportive, but never pushy. Gym is something SHE loves. She is an emotional child, so when her coaches get upset with her (over the blocks) she shuts down. They don't want to work with her, the other day she got sent home because she wouldn't do it. Any advice? Do we push her to quit?
Oh my goodness- this is my son TO A TEE, coaches and my reaction! I just posted something similar a couple of days ago....what was the result? Is she still in gymnastics? Did she overcome her fear?
 
Not sure if this will help. It looks like GymMomK hasn't been on the site in over 4 months. Generally speaking once a thread is over 2 months old you shouldn't post a response since many members leave/aren't active anymore. I found this post on a different thread from GymMomK in Jan '16. I don't know her personally I just clicked around to see if the question was answered.

Long story short-
-dd was 10 yo level 9, developed a block on bhs bhs on beam.
-Went back to 8 the next year and new blocks surfaced, Giants, fulls, and flipping vault with continued bhs bhs block. Competed a tough 8 year. -Injured following the tough 8 season.
-moved gyms due to gym bit understanding blocks, thinking she was being obstinate, etc.
-new gym. injuries. Worked what she could, but took off the competition season due to injury.

Currently half way through level 9 season, 13 years old still with blocks
-new gym is more understanding, mostly, patient, lots of drills to help with blocks, but still not a lot of improvement.
-halfway through level 9 and giants are hit or miss and a mess.
-vault-sometimes she will flip it
-beam-beautiful, no blocks
-floor-gorgeous (becoming a much better dancer), except she won't do a full without a coach super close

I've done enough reading to know there is no time limit with blocks. As a parent who invests time and money into this sport, though, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on.

DD says she wants it. Says she's changing her way of thinking.

I guess my question/concern is, how long do I continue in gym? Generally, I'm not a quitter, but I also don't like continuing bring wasteful when there isn't much improving.
 
Not sure if this will help. It looks like GymMomK hasn't been on the site in over 4 months. Generally speaking once a thread is over 2 months old you shouldn't post a response since many members leave/aren't active anymore. I found this post on a different thread from GymMomK in Jan '16. I don't know her personally I just clicked around to see if the question was answered.
Oh- gotcha. Thanks so much. :)
 

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