Parents Back Handspring Help!

[gymdaughter77]

My daughter is 8. We left a Turners program to join a USAG gym last May. When we left, she could do a d DRBHS, now she is having trouble connecting a single! I just don't know what to think. Does this happen often?

 

[Amanda]

I am sure there are many people who have more experience that can answer but my daughter had a brief similar period where she was doing double (and even triple) round off back handsprings and all of the sudden couldn't do a single one either. It was right before her first meet and I think it was all mental for her. She was pretty anxious in general. I searched old threads and it doesn't seem uncommon for them to have periods where they lose skills for awhile. I tried to stay calm and encouraging and told her it would come back! We ended going to a friend's house where they had a trampoline and she could just work on it without pressure and that did the trick for her. She was able to compete with it just fine. I'm sure some would advice against that but it was her idea and seemed worth a shot since she was such a mental wreck. I think in general the advice would be just to tell her it is no big deal and will come back with time.

 

[Committed]

Perhaps they've been working on her form and it's more difficult to do the correct way?

 

[Really]

Read this article about "losing skills" and mental blocks recently. Apparently it's common with gym switches and inconsistent training conditions. http://completeperformancecoaching.com/2017/01/01/mental-blocks/ Good luck to your DD!

 

[2gymkids]

Give it time. My DD just switched gyms due to a move, and she's freaking out because she's struggling with basic skills all of a sudden. I told her to just give it time and let her brain and body get used to the new gym (and all of the other changes in her life). I assume it's pretty normal.

 

[Lizandkatiemama]

Skills will come & go. Especially w/big events like a gym change, adding new skills & growing. They'll come back. Trying not to stress about it is important.

 

[CTMOM]

It happened to my 7 year old last fall (right before her first meet!). She was able to do ROBHS x 3 and suddenly couldn't do one. I took the wise advice of many here and never talked about it. The coaches did not made a big deal about it and she was soon back to flipping.

 

[CuriousCate]

Perhaps they've been working on her form and it's more difficult to do the correct way?

this is what happened to my DD with her triple BHS from a handstand on a panel mat. She used to be super comfortable doing triples until she moved to her new level and her floor coach told her that her fingers should be facing each other and now she can only do one off the mat and maybe a second with slightly bent arms. Her coach just tells her not to worry and that it will come back even better.

 

[John]

DD just switched gyms and sanctioning bodies. She had/has many big skills above her JO level. She now works on form and conditioning. I can already see a change in her body. Proper form is important and the big tricks will return when her new coaches feel she is ready to do them again. When practice is over ask her if she had fun if she learned anything new, and what she wants to eat.