WAG Where does fear come from?

[Deleted member 17723]

I've wondered this for a long time. Why do some fears develop randomly? Why are some bad to start and gradually get worse, while others start off bad and get worse?

My back handsprings got me thinking. I usually have fairly nice backhandsprings, but I have recently developed a fear. I fell and balked on tumbl trak a few times but I'm doubting that scared me this much. I barely connect them and wouldn't even go for a standing back handspring with my coach spotting me on floor today.
I know this sounds insane but could a teammate ranting to me constantly about her fears be playing into this? By no means am I blaming her but I'm just curious.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I am sorry you are having a rough spot. But fear is not rational or logical. It is emotional. It doesn't always get "reason".

Clearly your logical self knows you can do a BHS. You have. But your emotional side is having issues with that. That is where fear comes from.

Stay your course, keep at it, step back a bit if you have to and go forward. You can do it.

And try not to let your friend into your head, I know easier said then done, but you know you can do it.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

First off, there is nothing wrong with you. Fear is a natural emotion and most fears are based on the pain that may occur if you don't succeed. This could be physical or mental pain, fear of hurting yourself, fear of hurting others, fear of embarrassing yourself, fear of letting people down, fear of losing someone etc.... Fear has many avenues and when accompanied with anxiety becomes a real issue. I tell everyone and now I am passing this on to you,,,, treat fear like an injury,,, a sprain,,,. Step one, immobilize splint/cast, step two rest, step three rehab/physical therapy, step 4 recovery. Often people get frustrated and skip straight to 3 and 4,,, but without splinting and rest you will just end up with a worse injury that may spread..... are you hearing this? So how long would you rest a sprain? Month? And then how long would you go to physical therapy (basics)? Month? In other words, back off and take some time away from the skill, entirely then slowly work your way back in over a long duration. Oh and don't be afraid of having fear or not going, just accept it and work through it slow...... Of course the trigger could be vestibular, but it really doesn't matter because the treatment is the exact same thing and the fear you are feeling isn't imaginary....
Lastly, can fear spread? of course you see that every day in life,,, for those who believe it... So keep your head up have a strong mind and a little patience with yourself. oh and tell your team mate to zip it....

 

[Deleted member 18037]

^^^^^ Love this and am filing this away for use over and over I expect................. In many areas.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

I'm sorry you are experiencing this, unfortunately it seems to be something every gymmie goes through at some point. But the good news is that once you overcome the fear you will feel great, it really is an emotional roller coaster at times.

 

[l.c.o]

It differs from person to person. A dozen girls could experience fear with their back handsprings and each have a different reason. My DD experienced beam and bars fear right as she both started middle school and grew 1.5" in one week and had multiple falls.

As fear is a (natural) emotion, it is by its nature not logical.

My DD recently went through fear of her back handspring (and other flight skills) on beam after a series of falls where she hurt herself (they were relatively minor injuries). She kept trying to rush it back - she could do it one day, but not the next. DD was getting very frustrated. Coaches finally said enough, had her take a break, and over the course of ~6 weeks, DD slowly worked back up to doing it on high beam again. Is she "fixed"? No. Having the skill back is still quite new and it still takes her a couple of minutes to "go" for her first one. And all of those other skills she lost are still a ways away (low beam and pit beam). My point is that coachp sure seems right on when he said to treat like an injury.

I bought my DD Doc Ali's fear workbook. It helped her tremendously when she realized the book kept referencing the same skills (beam flight, flyaways) that she was experiencing fear with. It made her realize that if the fear is popular enough to be what is repeatedly mentioned in the book, then she must not be the only one going through it.

Accept the fear and that it's happening. Know it's ok and natural. Then go from there.

 

[Deleted member 17723]

First off, there is nothing wrong with you. Fear is a natural emotion and most fears are based on the pain that may occur if you don't succeed. This could be physical or mental pain, fear of hurting yourself, fear of hurting others, fear of embarrassing yourself, fear of letting people down, fear of losing someone etc.... Fear has many avenues and when accompanied with anxiety becomes a real issue. I tell everyone and now I am passing this on to you,,,, treat fear like an injury,,, a sprain,,,. Step one, immobilize splint/cast, step two rest, step three rehab/physical therapy, step 4 recovery. Often people get frustrated and skip straight to 3 and 4,,, but without splinting and rest you will just end up with a worse injury that may spread..... are you hearing this? So how long would you rest a sprain? Month? And then how long would you go to physical therapy (basics)? Month? In other words, back off and take some time away from the skill, entirely then slowly work your way back in over a long duration. Oh and don't be afraid of having fear or not going, just accept it and work through it slow...... Of course the trigger could be vestibular, but it really doesn't matter because the treatment is the exact same thing and the fear you are feeling isn't imaginary....
Lastly, can fear spread? of course you see that every day in life,,, for those who believe it... So keep your head up have a strong mind and a little patience with yourself. oh and tell your team mate to zip it....

I like this idea! And what is even better is I know in real life what it is like to rush an injury I thought it might be vestibular - or maybe that I grew about an inch in the past month?
I would love to block my teammates out however I am the older one in my level; therefore my coaches look to my to support each and every teammate. This gymnast is 9 and one of my best gym friends, not sure how she would handle it if I asked her to stop talking about it

 

[Gymettemom]

Where can I get this book?
Is Fear Workbook the title?

 

[Gymettemom]

It differs from person to person. A dozen girls could experience fear with their back handsprings and each have a different reason. My DD experienced beam and bars fear right as she both started middle school and grew 1.5" in one week and had multiple falls.

As fear is a (natural) emotion, it is by its nature not logical.

My DD recently went through fear of her back handspring (and other flight skills) on beam after a series of falls where she hurt herself (they were relatively minor injuries). She kept trying to rush it back - she could do it one day, but not the next. DD was getting very frustrated. Coaches finally said enough, had her take a break, and over the course of ~6 weeks, DD slowly worked back up to doing it on high beam again. Is she "fixed"? No. Having the skill back is still quite new and it still takes her a couple of minutes to "go" for her first one. And all of those other skills she lost are still a ways away (low beam and pit beam). My point is that coachp sure seems right on when he said to treat like an injury.

I bought my DD Doc Ali's fear workbook. It helped her tremendously when she realized the book kept referencing the same skills (beam flight, flyaways) that she was experiencing fear with. It made her realize that if the fear is popular enough to be what is repeatedly mentioned in the book, then she must not be the only one going through it.

Accept the fear and that it's happening. Know it's ok and natural. Then go from there.

Sorry. Ignore my previous post.
This book!
Where can I get the book referenced in this response?

 

[l.c.o]

Sorry. Ignore my previous post.
This book!
Where can I get the book referenced in this response?

Here you go!

http://www.headgames.ws/104/fear-–-tame-the-beast.html

 

[Gymettemom]

Here you go!

http://www.headgames.ws/104/fear-–-tame-the-beast.html

Thank you!

 

[Damon Anderson]

I love this conversation. No doubt most, if not all of us have been in this exact spot. Fear does have its uses, and mostly it keeps us from getting hurt, or worse. Typically among gymnasts, fear is replaced with confidence. Fear can take over if confidence is lost (do to a mishap for example). Coaching and repitition help with confidence, but ultimately, you'll probably work your way through it.

 

[duyetanh]

First off, there is nothing wrong with you. Fear is a natural emotion and most fears are based on the pain that may occur if you don't succeed. This could be physical or mental pain, fear of hurting yourself, fear of hurting others, fear of embarrassing yourself, fear of letting people down, fear of losing someone etc.... Fear has many avenues and when accompanied with anxiety becomes a real issue. I tell everyone and now I am passing this on to you,,,, treat fear like an injury,,, a sprain,,,. Step one, immobilize splint/cast, step two rest, step three rehab/physical therapy, step 4 recovery. Often people get frustrated and skip straight to 3 and 4,,, but without splinting and rest you will just end up with a worse injury that may spread..... are you hearing this? So how long would you rest a sprain? Month? And then how long would you go to physical therapy (basics)? Month? In other words, back off and take some time away from the skill, entirely then slowly work your way back in over a long duration. Oh and don't be afraid of having fear or not going, just accept it and work through it slow...... Of course the trigger could be vestibular, but it really doesn't matter because the treatment is the exact same thing and the fear you are feeling isn't imaginary....
Lastly, can fear spread? of course you see that every day in life,,, for those who believe it... So keep your head up have a strong mind and a little patience with yourself. oh and tell your team mate to zip it....

What a post! Loved it, thx

 

[Kcanflip]

I love this conversation. No doubt most, if not all of us have been in this exact spot. Fear does have its uses, and mostly it keeps us from getting hurt, or worse. Typically among gymnasts, fear is replaced with confidence. Fear can take over if confidence is lost (do to a mishap for example). Coaching and repitition help with confidence, but ultimately, you'll probably work your way through it.

THIS is so true. My kiddo had a back tuck fall and her confidence left the building. Confidence is starting to come back now but it's been slow. You can see just by looking around any gym who is confident and who is not. Body language says so much!

 

[Deleted member 17723]

Forgot to mention this. I have bad anxiety, and the fear on floor has transferred to my confidence decreasing on beam, bars and vault as well. The meet last weekend was a small qualifier, and floor was open before I went to beam (first event). My coach pulled me and asked if I wanted to try my backhandsprings then a few times; since we had to wait for the other girls to finish.I said sure and we tried. I fell on my butt twice and the third time was slow but better. However the lack of confidence contributed to my fall on beam - I was more focused on floor than my beam routine. I still got an 8.8 so I wasn't that upset but it is very frustrating having a skill one minute and not the next...

 

[Natasha]

First off, there is nothing wrong with you. Fear is a natural emotion and most fears are based on the pain that may occur if you don't succeed. This could be physical or mental pain, fear of hurting yourself, fear of hurting others, fear of embarrassing yourself, fear of letting people down, fear of losing someone etc.... Fear has many avenues and when accompanied with anxiety becomes a real issue. I tell everyone and now I am passing this on to you,,,, treat fear like an injury,,, a sprain,,,. Step one, immobilize splint/cast, step two rest, step three rehab/physical therapy, step 4 recovery. Often people get frustrated and skip straight to 3 and 4,,, but without splinting and rest you will just end up with a worse injury that may spread..... are you hearing this? So how long would you rest a sprain? Month? And then how long would you go to physical therapy (basics)? Month? In other words, back off and take some time away from the skill, entirely then slowly work your way back in over a long duration. Oh and don't be afraid of having fear or not going, just accept it and work through it slow...... Of course the trigger could be vestibular, but it really doesn't matter because the treatment is the exact same thing and the fear you are feeling isn't imaginary....
Lastly, can fear spread? of course you see that every day in life,,, for those who believe it... So keep your head up have a strong mind and a little patience with yourself. oh and tell your team mate to zip it....

Where is the LOVE button?
Coachp this is an excellent analogy! I wish all coaches (and parents) understood this! Thanfully my dd now has a coach that takes this approach and she is making progress in her "physical therapy stage" while she is continuing to grow more confident with this one particular skill.

 

[munchkin3]

As my 15 yo has explained it to me a zillion times.
GYMNASTICS goes against every common sense thought in your body and brain.
Every time a gymnasts must attain a new skill, they are fighting the inside voice of 'don't do this, you will hurt yourself'.
They must be constantly re-training their brain to basically 'trick' it to do whatever the skill is.....that is why coaches like to try and get them while they are young, before this logic really kicks in. Hence another reason they say very smart kids are riddled with fears and blocks....they think too much.

All kids get blocks. Its how you deal with it that matters, like coachp said.

I wonder what this constant adrenaline rush and 're-programming' does to their brain in the long run.....

 

[duyetanh]

Fear is truly the four letter 'f' word...

 

[Deleted member 17723]

Well since I pulled through and did my back handsprings on Sunday at the meet during competition..... some coaches now think I'm faking the fear? Is faking fear even a thing? One coach was very annoyed that I still wasn't going - it was clear in her body language and voice. Another coach told my that it is okay and she will spot me, just to trust her. The third coach said something along the lines of "Well clearly you were fine in the meet so just go, I'm not worried if you don't though.."
I'm not sure which is more frusterating - the fear itself or the lack of people believing me.

 

[Deleted member 17723]

Not only do my coaches think I am faking the fear... 2 teammates do too...