Parents Really rough meet, but turning it into a learning experience!

[Mrs. Puma]

DD has never fallen or missed a big skill in competition, so this meet was devastating for her. She hasn't been scoring all that well (She's doing Xcel Gold until she can score out of 4/5, so scoring high is not HC's goal) but she's been getting dinged on form and wobbles, so in her mind this meet was terrible. She started on Beam, which though she is pretty good at, is her worst scenario because it's ends her on bars which is her toughest. Her BHS has been SO good in practice, soooo much better than the almost-fall-off-adventures of her first two meets, but she fell. And then fell on her BWO which is normally cake for her. She did hit her FT dismount for the first time, so that was good! Her floor was just ok, but she did hit ROBHSBLO for the first time. Not perfect, but after being rattled I'm thrilled she still went for it! She was devastated that she didn't win Vault for the first time this season, but we talked about how you can't bring disappointments for one event to the next. Then bars....the squat on is always her biggest concern, but she always nails it. Until last night but she did hit it on the second try, and nailed the flyway finally! So we are trying to celebrate the positives, even though she is being very, very hard on herself. My biggest disappointment is how she was so upset that she wasn't cheering on her teammates. She wasn't bawling or bratty, but still very withdrawn and stone faced. Not acceptable. My husband (Puma lol) and I tried to balance being gentle and supportive of her, but we certainly made it clear that no matter how upset you are, you need to be a good teammate. Especially since they (who are all much older) are incredibly kind to her. So there were a lot of tears in the car, but she's getting better already. I told her that this is a brutal sport and you have to very mentally tough. It's easy to do well when things are going your way, but true champions rise above the failures and become even better. It's actually probably fortunate that this happened so early in her "career". Back to the grind tomorrow! Thanks to all who asked and thanks for listening!

 

[auswi]

Great she ( with your help ) found some positives in the meet.

Next time encourage her to make some specific goals for each event, beforehand.

And remind her that each meet is only a moment in time.

Thanks for sharing how she went!

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Y

Great she ( with your help ) found some positives in the meet.

Next time encourage her to make some specific goals for each event, beforehand.

And remind her that each meet is only a moment in time.

Thanks for sharing how she went!

Yes, we always do specific goals for each event, not score goals. And that's why she was so upset. She missed two of them. but that's gymnastics! Thank you! I like the "moment in time" thing

 

[Scotsgirl]

Sorry to hear your dd had a not so good meet in her eyes , though she should be so proud of herself for what she has learned although this might not come easy just now , good on you and your husband for encouraging her to have good team spirit . My guess is your dd must of been so excited for this meet and things just didnt go the way she hoped , she will bounce back and will be more positive for the next meet Im sure. They will always have their fair share of knocks and this is what makes them stronger , I always tell my dd to do her own personal best rather than her focusing on winning a medal as your own personal best is always a win , lots of cuddles should do the trick and let her know that thousands of gymnasts go through this , hugs

 

[Gym proud]

So hard for us parents to watch that happen to them! Especial when she is the kids that always hits.
This doesn't make anything better but...
"We have to fall so we can learn how to get back up"
As she gets older and does more difficult Skills and routines falling is going to happen. She has to learn what to do when she falls at a meet- she has to learn to pull it together and move on!

We've had this lesson in our home a time (or 4 or 5!!!)

Now you move forward- we don't always teach our goals- we tweek them and try again!

Good for uo for teaching her such great life lessons.

 

[strawberries]

Not to be all hearts and flowers, but if her goals were big "make-or-miss" type things (like, "don't fall off beam for BHS," for instance) I wonder if choosing several additional, smaller, and more form-oriented goals would be encouraging. Something like keeping legs together on casts, tight shape on jump to high bar, a "degree goal" for cast height for split jumps on beam, or needle scale on floor, a goal of hitting the music on a few select poses on floor, body shape on post flight for vault. There is always some improvement from meet to meet, and I think a focus on the tiny things is a great habit, and one that often separates a great gymnast from the others.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Not to be all hearts and flowers, but if her goals were big "make-or-miss" type things (like, "don't fall off beam for BHS," for instance) I wonder if choosing several additional, smaller, and more form-oriented goals would be encouraging. Something like keeping legs together on casts, tight shape on jump to high bar, a "degree goal" for cast height for split jumps on beam, or needle scale on floor, a goal of hitting the music on a few select poses on floor, body shape on post flight for vault. There is always some improvement from meet to meet, and I think a focus on the tiny things is a great habit, and one that often separates a great gymnast from the others.

Thanks. That is a good idea. She has just ALWAYS hit the BHS on beam, so it was a tough pill to swallow to miss it...but yes, I like this idea