Parents Squat on help

[twin2gymmie]

My DD (training Level 4) is all of a sudden having a mental block with her squat on. She won't jump to high bar. Last month, she was practicing it just fine, then stopped. Does anyone have any advice to get her over this obstacle? I am thinking maybe a private lesson???

 

[Gymmom0403]

Oh my. The stories I could tell about my daughters block on jumping to the high bar.
One thing is to give her space and time to work through it. Honestly we went through all stages of dealing with it and finally we just didn't talk about it at all. The coach tried to force her to do it and it just made the block worse.
We did see a sports psych it was so bad..almost led to her quitting gymnastics all together. She was a level 4 going to level 5 at the time (old version). Glad she made it through though. Took some scratches on bars at meets. Some super low scores on bars and lots of determination on her part. She is now training level 10.
Bars is still not her favorite and she has to work way harder than other girls but we are getting there .
Good luck.

 

[ladybird]

My dd had the same issue way back when and she had a quick 1/2 hour private that really helped. The coach put a resi on the other side of the high bar and when she jumped, she immediately got stopped by the resi. Not sure if she was scared of peeling off or what but it solved her problem!

Good Luck!

 

[LGnyc]

We've had the same thing with squat on and various other skills. The privates have always helped, bc she and the coach were able to stage the skill in a way that made her feel safe and not pressured. Like for giants, first it was fully spotted. Then CHS, he'd hold, and then let her do the giant, and he'd help her stop. Then he'd stand there while she did it herself and just be ready to catch her, then he stood at the top of the pit bar ladder, at the bottom, and finally just watch from a distance. Coaches can't do that while training 7 other girls so I really think it's worth it. Plus in a private I find they tend to be more understanding and less just "move it forward."

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Let it go..... don't try to help..... Don't talk about it..... And if she wants to.......... say, yes I know its frustrating, don't worry this is quite normal and it will come back.

This too shall pass.

 

[2gymkids]

Mine went through this when she was a new L4, and now again with a gym change. I just reassure her it will come back and she's just going through some transitions, other than that I don't really do much at this point. I did get her one private last fall when she was struggling but she was 5 days out from her first meet L4 and having a complete breakdown over the whole thing.
I will say, her coaches seem to be handling it just fine. She came home yesterday saying she was able to do it again, that her coach set up some sort of bungeed mat situation on the other side of the bar to make her feel more comfortable with the jump, and then demonstrated jumping, peeling off, and crashing into the mat to demonstrate how safe it was, lol. So, clearly they have it under control.