Parents Please send some beam fairies....

[nettyinpa]

to Pennsylvania! Olivia is all but freaking out about her BWO on beam. At practice Saturday she was fine until she got up on the high beam to do her BWO. She gets teary eyed and you can just see the fear in her face. It breaks my heart to see her like that. Her coach is so good about it, trying to get her to calm down and to relax, getting her to laugh. I'm worried about her for this weekend is her first level 6 meet. I know she'll get the BWO eventually without any problems. I just don't know what to say anymore. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

I don't have any advice but I can send the beam fairy (I will need to borrow her next weekend for States then you can have her back !) and I can pray !!

 

[bogwoppit]

Sending our beam fairy, we don't need her until xmas. That bwo is such a challenge I really hope that she is able to relax about it, glad her coach is letting her be in control. Will she be able to compete beam without it?

 

[gymmom14]

OK, fellow PAer here who can totally relate. We just went/are going through this. It was the backhandspring on the beam. My dd was absolutely shaking like a leaf and crying while standing on the beam paralyzed. She had done her bhs before but then stopped. She was so afraid. It lasted about 3-4 long weeks. This past Saturday was her mock meet. She had been making progress for the last two weeks to the point the coach has to stand there,but not touch her (but only on the lower beams). At the mock meet, she volunteered to go 1st on beam(on the high beam)! Coach stood off to the side of the mat and she did it. (I did not see it) but she said she got an 8.7 (no connection of the 2 bwo= -.5) No hesitation on the bhs and she said she stuck it. I was so impressed.

I think what helped her get past it is we borrowed an extra wide padded beam from a friend and she did hundreds of them here at home. Then she would still be afraid at the gym and little by little it is passing.

I had her watch videos about fear on youtube and read articles I printed. She figured out she was afraid to missing her hands and landing on her head. From there I think just time and repetition helped her.

It is so hard to watch them go through this. My dd is always happy, smiling and fun loving so this was tough. I wish you luck! if you have any questions, please let me know.

 

[Megley]

Sending beam fairies Netty! I hope she is able to overcome this at the meet. Perhaps going back down to the floor beam and taking it up from there would help? I know this works for my dd when she is having trouble with her bwo or bhs on beam.

Meg

 

[melmonette]

Lots of BWO fairies coming her way... I still want them all over Emily too and although she has it now... The mental block was so great I am afraid she will lose it anyday too. I hope she nails it at her meet this weekend.

 

[gymjourneymom]

Good luck to your DD! You know I do nothing BUT post about fear issues, so I totally know how you feel. It's so hard to watch them struggle with fear. Just be supportive & tell her she's a great gymnast, but that you love her whether she does a BWO or not. No pressure or timetables. You have to be her stress relief valve, so to speak. So she feels safe & no pressure from you. Other than that she needs a supportive coach & self confidence. The more of them she does, the more it will be 2nd nature & not so much of an issue. Sending good luck, fairies & hugs your way!

 

[MdGymMom01]

I am sending the beam fairy up your way from Md!!! It looks like there will be lots of fairy activity on the East coast since Dani has a meet this weekend as well (Sunday).

I too know what you mean about the fear issues. Dani struggles with back tumbling issues. Sometimes there is really nothing you can do or say to make them feel better about it. I have just grown to accept that this is something that Dani needs to work out. I support her 100% with positive words, encouragement and hugs when she needs them but that is all I can really do. It can be very frustrating but she knows that I love and support her no matter what happens with her gymnastics.

Sometimes it helps to let them know that everyone gets nervous about something with their gymnastics and this is the first meet for all the girls so everyone is feeling nervous, not just you. It kind of puts it in perspective for them knowing that they are not alone in feeling like that.

Good luck to Olivia and I will be thinking of you guys!

 

[Blackie6]

Nettyinpa,

Sending you truckloads of beam fairies from NJ! So exciting to be doing L6! I'm sure she will find the courage to get it done at the meet. My DD has no problem now doing BWO on beam in practice, but I'm sure once you sit a judge in front of her and she has to do it for a score it will be a whole other issue, LOL

Sounds like she has a patient coach too! Good Luck!

 

[mariposa]

Sending her the beam fairy and a huge hug (for you, too, so hard to not be able to help them except to be supportive and give hugs when they are sad). Abby got home from gym in tears last week because she couldn't do it by herself on the medium beam. She was so mad at herself and it just broke my heart. That is such a huge skill mentally and I think anyone who even tries it on ANY kind of beam is amazing. Glad her coach is patient with her. I am sure she will overcome her issues with it, hopefully soon. Sending her the confidence fairy, too, because if she can do it on any beam, she can do it on the high beam, she just has to believe it.

 

[flippersmom]

Good luck to Olivia. I hope she is able to pull it off for the meet. Hopefully she will build her confidence this week at practice.

Let us all know how it goes!

 

[Granny Smith]

~*~*~*~* Sending beam fairies~*~*~*~*

I hope she gets over this hurdle. We have a little one at our gym who is also having a problem with the BWO. She can do it, but will only do it if the coach is right there.

Hopefully time will cure all fears....

 

[cathiann]

Sending the beam fairy now!!

 

[nettyinpa]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. She usually starts every beam rotation, after the usual warm-up skills, on the low beam, doing the BWO. She does eventually progress to the high beam but it takes a while. I think another thing that upsets her is she's like the only one that doesn't really have it and while the rest of the team is moving on to working on routines, she's still on the low beam, trying to get that BWO. It's hard for her.

Another good thing about the coach is that she'll see when she's had enough and she's too frustrated and she'll move her on to other things. It will come in time but some fairies won't hurt! Thanks again and I'll definitely keep you all posted.

 

[pixie flips]

Good luck Olivia! I just know you'll nail that darn BWO!! Let us know how it goes. Lots of fairies heading your way!!

 

[JessMom]

sending all the beam fairies your way!

jess had the same problem. Not sure if this helps . . but what they did was . . .

They had her do a few on the crank beam . . . as low as it goes (which is really low) then they had her crank it higher . . . do a few . . . crank it higher . . do a few . . until it was actually at Olympic height . . which is damn high . . . it got her over the height thing . . .

Good Luck!

 

[Midget's Dad]

Happy to send them and some luck and good thoughts as well.

 

[nettyinpa]

sending all the beam fairies your way!

jess had the same problem. Not sure if this helps . . but what they did was . . .

They had her do a few on the crank beam . . . as low as it goes (which is really low) then they had her crank it higher . . . do a few . . . crank it higher . . do a few . . until it was actually at Olympic height . . which is damn high . . . it got her over the height thing . . .

Good Luck!

That's kind of what they do with her at every practice. She starts on the floor, moves to the very low beam, then on to the low beam, and the moves her way up to the high beams. She's fine on the low-med. ones, she just gets teary eyed on the high ones. She's affraid of falling on her head. She'll just have to work through that fear, which I'm sure she'll do. As I said, I just hate to see her get so worked up and she hates to see her teammates moving on while she's still on the lower beams. Thanks for your wishes!

 

[Swiftli]

Not sure if this will work for fear but it helps build my daughter's confidence some. She is also an 8yr old Lvl 6 and the youngest on the team. She sees the other girls getting their skills before her and puts too much pressure on herself and it works in a negative way.

I remind her that she is only 8 and to compare where she is now to say where another team member was when they were 8 and that she is ahead of the game so to speak and that she should relax and stop pressuring herself to keep up. I remind her she is great at what she does and that things don't happen over night for her. I always go back to the "did you know how to ride a bike the first time you rode it?--no--So don't expect to know a skill the first time you try it" speach

I know all gymnasts get skills at different points so it isn't really fair to compare her to other gymnasts but at her young age she doesn't really understand that yet. She only sees all the others have it and she is still working on it.

I know Olivia will get this.......


p.s. we are in a different session than ur gym at the Chesapeake...maybe we'll get a chance at the KBI to compare notes...

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Those darn fears/mental blocks!!!! I'll be sending all the beam fairies I can catch down here and send them your way! HUGS to both of you! Let us know how the meet goes!