FEAR and PHOBIAS

[Stretchsportguy]

How do you handle fear? Both as a gymnast and as a coach concerning the gymnast? What can a parent do to help their child overcome fear? Fear can be an impediment to learning. At the same time fear is also a safety mechanism that helps humans recognize and avoid peril. But what if we choose to override fear? How can we do it? What if the gymnast is scared and insists on sabotaging his attempts to go for it? Sometimes it helps to recognize what the gymnast is afraid of. Asking the child may shed some light on the dilemma. For example, the gymnast may be afraid of missing the landing on a high beam going for a cartwheel. But what they are really picturing is falling to the floor and not knowing how they are going to get hurt. And they have no idea how to control what happens on the way down. The answer may be to spot the gymnast down from some simulated falls so they learn how to control the decent should they miss the beam. Other options may include giving the gymnast tips and cues to follow that reduce the chances of missing the beam. Perhaps if the gymnast is confident they will not miss then they will no longer fear attempting the skill. Yet, they may still fear missing the beam if by falling they believe they cannot control the outcome.

There is also the issue of phobias. What if you have a gymnast who fears she will miss the vaulting board and smash into the horse and refuses to run fast or never gets her steps down?

What are your methods and devices for overcoming fear and phobias? What experience do you have with this issue as a gymnast, coach, or parent?

 

[bogwoppit]

I'll let this thread stay for now, but if it goes anywhere that the last cartwheel thread went it will be locked.

I also suggest that you use the search feature here as there are many threads on the issue of fear.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Best way I've found to deal with fear is to break the skill down and go back to basics. Figure out exactly what part of the skill the gymnast is afraid of, and look for a way to isolate that part so she can focus on it.

 

[MdGymMom01]

I agree with Geoffrey and also Bog's advice on searching on fears within the CBs posts. There are numerous threads regarding this subject and a lot of good advice. Probably too much to rehash out here in another post.

 

[Aussie_coach]

It depends how deep the fear is. Most of the kids fears are not hard to overcome, but are simply a reaction to something knew that they aren't yet confident with, but fear can of course go much deeper and become a serious issue.

For my gymnasts I have a 5 step procedure for dealing with fear, they start at step 1 and if that doesn't work go onto step 2 and so on.

Step 1 - do a mental check, usually the fear is caused by negative thinking. At this step they need to recognizes if they are thinking things like "I'm going to fall" and replace it with other things to think, like for a back handspring - sit, push, arms, snap or something.

Step 2 - Visualization - they need to take a few minutes to picture the skill, and picture themselves doing the skill perfectly. Sometimes it helps them to watch another gymnast do the skill.

Step 3 - Ask for help, have a coach watch what is going on and see if they can work out what is going on, or give a spot.

Step 4 - back to basics - Break the skill down and go back to the last point they can get it. For example if they are afraid of a BHS on high beam can they do one on low beam, or if not on floor. Then work the steps up again.

Step 5 - Walk away. Sometimes it helps to walk away for 5 minutes. Often just for the day, it does not help to keep going and going on a skill that is just not working. It helps to go away and work on something they are succeeding with and come back to attack it fresh the next day. Pushing and pushing a skill beyond the point where it is having any positive effect can actually increase the fear problems.

If the 5 steps are unsuccessful then there are deeper issue's. Often if a gymnast is afraid it means they are not ready to do a skill. This can be frustrating for a coach, because they coach can see that they are physically ready, however, it is not enough to be physically ready, they must also be mentally ready. A gymnast may have all the physical preparation to do a skill but if they can't feel it they aren't ready to do it. So this means more physical preparation is needed.

Losing skills is a common part of learning. Like when a baby learns to walk, its rare for a baby to just get up and walk the first time they try. They may take a few steps and then stop and then take a few more, but its still a long time until they are confidently walking about the place. The same goes for a skill, a kid will get one and then lose it and then get it often as a part of the learning process. A coach should not be alarmed by this, and also should help the gymnast to understand this is a normal part of the learning process.

 

[Optionals United]

Thanks for that post aussie coach. Right now I am stuggling with going for my front handspring step-out on high beam with the porta pit under.That post really helped me, and i will try some of those steps next time we go to beam!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Any skill can be broken down to many steps. Often if the difficulty is going from one step to the next you can fit a step in between. For example if you can do the front handspring with the pit under the beam but not without then you create a step in between.

For example list all the steps leading up to doing a front handspring on the beam
1. Front handspring off trampoline or board.
2. Front handspring on floor
3. Front handspring on a line on the floor
4. FHS on a rollabeam or foam beam
5. FHS on low beam with mats stacked up to the height of beam and mat over the beam
6. FHS on low beam with mats stack to beam height
7. FHS on low beam with mat over beam
8. FHS on low beam
9. FHS on medium beam with mats stacked up
and so on.

When you get this list you can see where you are on the list, if you develop a fear at a certain point you go back to a skill earlier in the list where you can do the skill easily and work yourself up again.

If you are struggling to jump from a skill to the next add a drill in between, ad a mat over the beam, do it with a spot, stack mats up to where you feel comfortable.

Sometimes coaches get frustrated if you have to do all these things, but it is the key to a skill being learned properly. A skill that is learned confidently and properly is less likely to be lost or done poorly, and more likely to lead up well to the next skill.

 

[Optionals United]

Yeah it is just my coach is getting frustrated because I am sooo mentaly not ready for a lot of things. Also i have tried every seires she will let me bhs bhs, bwo bhs which are the only 2. Now everyone is ready to move on, but im stuck at the beginning of the seires stage.