All-Star Need Words Of Wisdom From Those Who Have Been There -

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After reading the post and understanding that she is not completing the flipping rotation in the half I wouldn't want her doing fulls on floor yet. She needs to get her layout higher and understand the flip before twist approach. If she under rotates the flip and twist doing a full she is leaving herself open to injuries... Layout halls until she understands the process and knows where she is at.
 
My CP is motivated by music so I always make her listen to the song Unstoppable by Rascal Flatts. LOL The lyrics are..........."You find your faith has been lost and shaken, you take back what's been taken, get on your knee's and dig down deep, you can do what you think is impossible."


We also watch this a lot!!!

 
We also like Michael Jordan and there are some great video's on youtube that are essentially his old Nike commercial's but they are very good.

 
After I've had more time to think about it here are a few things I learned along the way. I'm hoping some of these things will help your CP:
When learning to twist, the twist should happen in the second half of the flip. If the body is on a clock, you start with your feet at 6 and your head at 12. Drive the toes up (counterclockwise) until they're at 12. Between 12 and 10 is the place to twist. Somewhere in that region is when she should see the floor. Each time she does a layout she can say "turn" or clap her hands when she sees the floor. That audio cue helps train the body to twist later (later twists are safer since if you bail you're already past the landing on head/neck point).
Pump up music before and during tumbling helps a ton!! I also had a calm down playlist for in the car home because I came out of tumbling frustrated quite often. I would be mad and transfer that negative energy onto my family when I got home. That wasn't fair and was really immature of me so when I was upset I listened to my calm down music and after the hour ride home I was usually a somewhat pleasant person again :)
I kept a little tumbling journal in my bag with my shoes and cheer stuff. I always wrote my goal for that day in it on the way to practice. In the car ride home I would write about if I achieved the goal, what was good/bad, the key points my coaches stressed, etc. Reading about the things to remember from the previous lesson before the next one got me mentally prepared to tumble.
Don't think about it as a "full." In cheerleading it seems like a full is the must have skill and that adds more pressure. It's just a layout with a twist.
Have a few keywords to remember. Thinking about one or two specific words gets the mind off of thinking about the fact you're throwing a full. For me what worked was "long" (I needed to stretch my tumbling longer to give more power) and "shoulders" (block trough shoulders to get into the air, shoulders up fast, initiate twist through shoulders, shoulders up on landing). Long, hard, hands, toes, fast, etc there are a million things to think about in a full but pick two of them that the coaches stress most and think about them each time. I took privates with a gymnastics coach and he made me say those keywords out loud at times and while it seemed silly it did help to get my mind off it.
Some days are just not good tumbling days and that's ok. Take a break and work on something else. One bad day does not equal a bad life.
Yet again this was a lot longer than I intended!! Whoops!! Good luck to you and your CP!
 
ashscott41 Even though this was not intended for my cp, I am sharing this with her later. Fantastic advice and thank you!

Anytime!! I was hoping you (and anyone else with a CP twisting) would see it! I cheered before boards like this were popular so if sharing a few little tips I learned can make it easier for others I'm more than happy to share!
 
Thank you to everyone who is posting on here. Sometimes, I just dig myself in this hole feeling like I'm the only person in the world who tumbling doesn't click for. I really needed this motivation. Thank you.
 
After reading the post and understanding that she is not completing the flipping rotation in the half I wouldn't want her doing fulls on floor yet. She needs to get her layout higher and understand the flip before twist approach. If she under rotates the flip and twist doing a full she is leaving herself open to injuries... Layout halls until she understands the process and knows where she is at.

I don't know the details of each part of the full but know that she is completing them perfectly according to her coach and other coaches who have seen her video.
 
CheerBank I understand her fear on the tumbl trak! I usually throw a half on the tumbl trak, but my coaches tell me I could definitely go all the way around if I just kept pulling, but I stop pulling after half, because one time I tried to keep pulling and... well I ran into a wall... long story don't ask :) Does she do it landing off the tumbl trak or does she do it landing on the tumbl trak?

mommy2mygirls
She probably just needs time and needs to be comfortable with it... It's frustrating but just make sure you're encouraging her! Stopping the privates might discourage her, so if you can keep doing them, you should try to!
 
This is one of those "Mom" lessons. Sometimes, to save yourself, you have to stop caring.
Also, every time she throws that beautiful full on trak, her muscles are learning that memory. You might ask the head coach to "ban" her from trak, too. I've seen kids be banned from trak because it's their crutch, and it ends up working out.
 
I had a mental block on layouts for a few months and just last week my coach said something to me (try an open tuck) and suddenly I got it, mentally and physically. To me mental blocks seem like something where you have to find something that clicks. I also think the reason I got over it is because I was NEVER pressured into doing it. It will eventually come, the mind just needs to find something that works! Good Luck to your daughter!
 
Of all the mental blocks I have heard about (and experienced with my CP), the best advice I have heard is to take away pressure, not add to it.

The best approach I have seen and read about is to let your child know that you support them no matter what, you know they are capable of doing this, but it won't happen until they decide to happen. Their coach, their teammates, and their own mind will provide plenty of push. ashscott41 is a good example.

You can try showing your CP the website http://fortheloveoftumbling.com/ It has great advice and videos for her to read and watch on her own to help boost her confidence or give different mental approaches.

Feel free to vent on the parent section of the boards to get plenty of advice or support. Good luck!

As bad as it sounds, I refused to throw a full on the floor for over 2 years... (i know)...
and people eventually just stopped bothering me (sucked knowing people had kind of 'given up on me', but there was no more pressure from coaches telling me to 'just throw it'), however i was still working on it on to mats, pits etc at my own pace, eventually getting really comfortable with them!!!
although this was an extreme case and it has taken 2 years, I landed it on the floor tonight :D There is hope! goodluck :D
 
As bad as it sounds, I refused to throw a full on the floor for over 2 years... (i know)...
and people eventually just stopped bothering me (sucked knowing people had kind of 'given up on me', but there was no more pressure from coaches telling me to 'just throw it'), however i was still working on it on to mats, pits etc at my own pace, eventually getting really comfortable with them!!!
although this was an extreme case and it has taken 2 years, I landed it on the floor tonight :D There is hope! goodluck :D

CONGRATULATIONS! 2 years does not sound bad at all and I am sure no one "gave up on you," they probably finally decided to give you your space.

Way to stick with it and not give up. I can't wait to hear about your next skill
 
My CP has high anxiety levels so we deal with this ALL the time. She takes forever to move a skill to the floor no matter how many coaches tell her she's ready (often 3-6 months). She gets frustrated and angry with herself, but she can't help it. Here's how I deal with it. Hopefully you can take something useful out of it!

I leave her alone (except for praising & encouraging her) for a while to work through her own fears & reservations. Once I notice her frustrations taking over I step in. I make several points in our talks:
- she doesn't HAVE to do it - it's all up to her & whether she wants it bad enough (it's ok not to want it)
- she may fall, but the mat is padded & she'll get up & try it again
- I can't promise she will never get hurt, but there are risks in every sport - again, how much does she want to do it
- her coaches know when it's safe to throw a skill on the floor and they wouldn't have been telling her for the past 3+ months that she's ready if they didn't believe it
- if she wants to progress to the next level she has to do it BUT it's ok if she never gets there.
- she is incredibly talented w/o the skill. Most girls her age can't do half of what she can
- I love her whether she can do the skill or not <3

She went through this with her tuck this summer. She refused to take it to the floor from June to Oct. One night I wiped away her tears & gave her the above talk. She walked back into the gym & landed it perfectly on the first try. 2 months later she was doing her layout on the floor. I know we'll encounter it again (especially the full).

I hope some of this may be useful and she can break through her mental block to trust the coaches and herself. Good luck!
 
This is one of those "Mom" lessons. Sometimes, to save yourself, you have to stop caring.
Also, every time she throws that beautiful full on trak, her muscles are learning that memory. You might ask the head coach to "ban" her from trak, too. I've seen kids be banned from trak because it's their crutch, and it ends up working out.
lol me. BowsnBling
 
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