tumbling mental block

[iluvcheer]

I had this exact problem! I hated tumbling on the tumbletrak for back handsprings cuz it hurt my wrists soo bad. I would stay off it, i hurt my wrists bad on tumbletrak. But eventually the day will come and you will be ready to do it on floor. Trustme, it will happen even though it seems like it never will. When you go on the floor, block everything out, don't think about everything that could go wrong, and go 100x harder than u normally do. Like jump harder, lock out more and push more. Hope u get it on floor soon

 

[stuntjumptumble]

omg i have same problem! i am too scared to do a back handsrping even though i "have" it

 

[Mr.Kevin]

First - tumble trak. Iluvcheer said that it hurts her wrists, which I am sorry to hear because it is used a lot in gymnastics to preserve joints and reduce the occurence of tendenitis that develops when working on hard surfaces (floor, beam, vault). The other thing that we coaches love about about tumble trak is that it makes great skills look greater and weaknesses more obvious. It is a good training tool that I use every day. It WILL cause more mental blocks for athletes who do not use it regularly because it does FEEL different.
Second - Mental blocks. Mental blocks are manifestations of fears. If you feel fear, you may develop a mental block. There are a thousand techniques that will help you get past a mental block, but they all boil down to reducing anxiety to a manageable level. To get over a mental block - as Aw.Work basically said - do what YOU need to do to get comfortable.

 

[srt418]

1. When you're not at practice picture yourself doing it perfectly and without fear on the tumble track with no one spotting you. Picture this at practice too, but definitely do it when you're not at practice. You'll be surprised because you'll probably picture yourself with fear and with a spot at first, it takes practice to picture yourself doing it the way you should.
2. At practice, warm up really good and thorough.
3. Limit yourself. Tell yourself that you won't get spotted more than once (or however many you need to be spotted on). Then promise yourself that you won't leave until you throw it by yourself on the tumble track just once. Then the next practice, promise yourself that you'll do it twice before you leave. And so on. . .
4. Try to find a way to relax yourself. If you get too frustrated, sometimes there is no point in trying to keep throwing it because it leads to more frustration, sometimes tears, and then it can lead to injury. When you get to this point, work on a fun and new skill. Once you're relaxed again, work on your bhs again.

These steps have worked for me. I am a tumbling coach that is still mental from time to time. To me, step #1 is the best one for me and it's the easiest! I get amazed every time I try to picture myself and I see myself doing it all wrong! It's like I'm expecting myself to fail. Believing in yourself is the best tool you can use to get over this. The second best tool: persistence.

 

[Amy Robertson]

i have one with layouts i dont them really well with my coach spoting me but i cant do it by my self

 

[Jillosh]

I have a mental block and it blowss I dislocated my knee cap doing jumps to tuck and was out for 6 weeks and came back and thought nothing of it, just any old injury, then I dislocated it a couple months later doing the same skill and had to get surgery and 6 months physical therapy, the whole deal. It was such a hard time coming back from that and not being able to compete all year (cause I hurt it in October). I've been back for two years now and just started doing standing backs again. Every time I went to do one I'd picture myself getting hurt and I just couldn't do it. My college team almost won nationals last year and with hard work will hopefully win this year and I get so scared that if I do them again I'll get hurt and wont be able to be apart of that! I've done a few by myself in the past couple weeks and I hope if I take it easy and only do a few a night I'll be able to compete it and win a national championship. Wish me luck!

 

[Cheeremcee]

My best advice is 1) change your attitude.... Quit telling yourself you CAN'T and start telling yourself you CAN!! 2) set goals and reward or celebrate when u achieve them but start telling yourself I CAN and I bet you will see improvement!

 

[coach.elle]

When I was really little. I used to have this problem... But with speaking. I could talk, but wouldn't because I was afraid. I knew nothing bad would happen but everytime I would go to speak my words wouldn't come out. I still struggle with it from time to time. What helps is to think about he first syllable... In your case the first motion (arm swing).
Varsity.com had an article about it called tumblephobia that had some pretty useful tips!
Try videotaping yourself doing it with a spot So you can watch it over and over again to give yourself confidence. That worked for a few girls on my team.
Another idea is to throw it on a cheese mat at the top, and then slowly work your way down to the floor. Hope this helps!

 

[Katie]

just be comfortable with yourself, think about it whats the worst that could happen, if you lock your arms worst that could happen is landing on your knees,

 

[soF!ERCE24]

this happens to me sometimes...just have confidence in yourself. it helps me to watch old videos of my routines and i watch myself throwing old passes...so it helps me to tell myself i can do it.

 

[PhillyCheerMom]

Debbie Love has really good advice on her website www.fortheloveoftumbling.com but you really just have to get comfortable with it again. is there a reason you dont throw it anymore like an injury or something?

Thank you for this link. I think it may help.

 

[FAB5NJSE]

ugh i have one with fulls, like i can throw everything by myself, but as soon as they tell me to full i freeze up and i need a spot. on the rare occasions i throw it by myself, i usually land it perfectly, im just a freak i guess lol

 

[brittx3]

mental blocks are the worst im just getting voer my second one, i had my first one after a bad fall out of my tuck and i wouldnt tumble for the longest time i finally got everything back and started freaking out over nothing a couple weeks ago. dont let it get the ebst of you ebcause it will really hurt you i should be on so much more advanced skills but ebcause of my mental blocks i can never move on

 

[morganalexis]

i remember my friend had/has a tumbling block. she cant do backhandsprings so she started working on backwalkovers to get over her "fear" of going backwards. and when we had tye hill come to our gym he had has say jellybean(or whatever word you want) over and over again a bunch of times, so it clears your mind. then you just..go.

 

[lmlrsd]

Just Know that after you've done it once, that block will melt away