All-Star Need Advice From Tumble Coaches Please

[BBinNCsMom]

My CP 11 has been struggling with mental blocks off and on for over a year.

Background-- She had level three skills at one point (working level 4) and hurt her knees about a year and a half ago and that started her set back. She worked her way back to her level 3 skills (wears her knee braces so it doesn't hurt --she has pateller tendonitis) and then just suddenly stopped throwing them altogether even with a spot in december. Over the past six months, I've watch her level two skills slowly diminish as well. She won't connect her round off back handspring. She is flat terrified. Crazy thing is her technique has improved so much over the past year! Her tumbling is beautiful when she actually throws it.

I've been SM and pushed and I've pulled back and let her lead (I'm pretty much there now. I know that me pushing doesn't help anything) --> This is me not pushing for about six months and she continues to back slide.

Last night my husband took her to tryout practice and he was shocked. He hadn't seen her like this. (He's not much for the cheer world). We sat her down together because he said it didn't look like she was enjoying it anymore. She assures us that she is. I asked her what did she want to do now to try to improve and she states that she wants to do privates. -- We haven't done these consistently due to cost but I'm willing to put for the $$ if she really wants to do it. Hubby is on board too.

My question is... How many privates a week when it's mental -- Not physical skills that need to be obtained? I was thinking 2 a week. She already has one tumble class and when they decide what team she will be on, practice will be once a week through August. Is that too much? Also, should the private be with the same instructor? Our cheer gym is a good drive for us. It would probably be easier to do privates at the gymnastic gym where she takes tumble, but not sure if the cheer tumble coaches would be better for her to work with since part of it is mental/performance anxiety--I think.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Hmack]

I am not a tumbling coach, but I was in a similar position. I had and do still have patellar tendonitis among other things in my knees. My tumbling block was with learning fulls. I had moved to a new gym, also far from me (about an hour in perfect weather with no traffic). In the new gym, technique is the 100% main focus. So I went back and corrected all of my tech level 2-4. When it came time to learn fulls, I could throw a perfect layout but my body would refuse go upside down if I wanted to full, I just kind of rebounded (weird i know). The main thing that helped me is time. I had one private a week with the same coach. Two would have been better for me but everyone is different. My team practiced 4 days a week so I would just do my privates before one of my practices. I think doing on them the same day every week at the same times also helps get over blocks because it is consistent. Consistency helped me a lot with blocks because it was one less thing to think about. Same day, Same coach, Same gym, etc. If you are worried about too many days in the gym, try to schedule multiple things on the same day. However, some people also get overwhelmed with that. Also, if anything lighter than knee braces work (KT tape helped me) that might help because they are another thing to get distracted with during passes. Sorry this post is all over the place but I really hope that it helps!

 

[BBinNCsMom]

Thanks! What is KT tape?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Michael White]

Thanks! What is KT tape?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's a stretchy tape that when applied correctly, can take the edge off by limiting mobility.

I'm a tumbling instructor, and this happens all the time. A majority of the time IMO (I know nothing about your CP) the athlete doesn't have the drive they once had. I know it's almost reached the point of no return when an athlete won't even throw it with a spot. They begin to make excuses like "I don't want a spot." But then they won't throw it. It's at that point where I have a heart to heart with them about skill progression. If you don't want to do something because you're scared, and you won't let a spotter help you, maybe it's time to rethink your situation, because you aren't going to magically improve.

If your CP is 100% doing a team this year, explain that since she used to have level 3 skills, but now only has level 1 skills, she shouldn't be surprised to make a level 1 team. There's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes getting comfortable with the skills you have helps with mental blocks, she may have been pushed too fast to throw new skills. If being on a level 1 team isn't what she wants, it's either going to push her to get her level 3 skills back, or it won't.

 

[purplecheer]

@Coach Sara
@tumbleyoda

 

[tumbleyoda]

@BBinNCsMom - to go directly to your question, I would only do one private lesson a week. It should focus more on getting confidence back overall as opposed to simply doing skills. To give you an example in a normal BHS private lesson the athlete does between 50-80 BHS with the average being 65 in 30 minutes. This includes stretching, warmups, drills and a water break. A mental block or rehab private (which it sounds like you are dealing with a bit of both) may only do up to 30 BHS but the drills are more intensive as is my communication with the student. They stay on no piece of equipment longer than 5 minutes so that they cant get too comfortable with one surface. I spend way more time working on the connections between skills than the actual skills themselves. Creativity in drills is key here.

The big thing for me in these type of private lessons is working with the athlete to discover what the true trigger of the block is - not necessarily what they think it is or what another coach or parent has told them it is. Once that is figured out it is a relatively easy path to developing a workable plan to get skills back. Some lessons we talk more. Others we get way more work done than I projected. I always give both the athlete and parent feedback on the lesson and what we will do the next time.

You want to make sure that whichever coach your athlete is working with understands mental blocks and is not of the "stop being scared and throw it" school of thought. While that may work for a few, it rarely works across the board. That should be one tool available, not the totally of the tools the instructor uses. Sometimes a different voice helps as well. The athlete knows that they are letting their coach and team down, and this sometimes affects them as well. Or like a child will do to a parent, they will get "deaf" to what the coach is saying because they have heard the same thing over and over and over again. This is where a different perspective and fresh set of eyes helps.

 

[Crazy Cheer Mom]

I'm having the same issue. My daughter cheered L2 last season and was working on her bh as part of being on the team (1 of 4 who didn't tumble) then she got a mental block and stopped going. Now she has 2wks to get it to be considered for the 2 l2 teams we may have this season. Otherwise she's level 1. Is this even possible in 2wks,or is it the dedication to getting it that the coach wants?my daughter had the plan to get her tumbling back before she was told this but...idk

 

[dawgshow]

I'm having the same issue. My daughter cheered L2 last season and was working on her bh as part of being on the team (1 of 4 who didn't tumble) then she got a mental block and stopped going. Now she has 2wks to get it to be considered for the 2 l2 teams we may have this season. Otherwise she's level 1. Is this even possible in 2wks,or is it the dedication to getting it that the coach wants?my daughter had the plan to get her tumbling back before she was told this but...idk

Going back to L1 was the best thing that ever happened for my CP. she had last year to regain her confidence, be one of the strongest on the team, and not stress about her tumbling. A year later she's started L4 tumbling. My point? Let your CP know that there's no rush to get that tumbling because it's not the end of her cheer life. Putting pressure on her (or self added pressure) could cause so much stress that it will kill the joy, though.

 

[Crazy Cheer Mom]

I'm sure it would be great for her but I don't think I can swallow a 4K cheer bill for a L1 team

 

[Boughetto]

I'm sure it would be great for her but I don't think I can swallow a 4K cheer bill for a L1 team

Oh wow what gym is charging 4K for level 1?

 

[Crazy Cheer Mom]

1600 tuition 1200 comp fees 400uniform 500 choreo music....plus practice wear, stunt camp, bow, competition tee shirts, etc...my ball park was spot on for Senior 1

 

[Alexx]

I'm not sure why the gym would charge different prices for different levels until they were practicing for different amounts of time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Crazy Cheer Mom]

Level 1-5 yth-Sr are all the same price. Only level 5 has an extra practice day. I guess because they will all go to the same comps. Mini l and tiny 1 are less but they practice 1x wk and don't travel

 

[Alexx]

So they're the same price, but you can't see paying close to what you had for a lower level? Why should it matter what level your daughter is on as long as she's getting the same level of instruction that she was on level 2.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Crazy Cheer Mom]

Maybe the issue is me. I just cannot get my head around level 1. Honestly I think she needs a *filler* bc she had a very small amount of lv1 girls who are no where close to 2 so my daughter is getting bumped to fill a spot only bc she don't have the bh. Otherwise she told her she would be contender for 4.2...so how can I get my head around my daughter being good enough for level 4 stunting if she had a bh, but then she might be put on a level 1 team. Is it me?