How do I get rid of this mental block I have with tumbling?

[torcheer]

I broke my hand about 4 months ago, and I have been released to tumble for 2 months now. But my tumbling hasn't been the same since before I broke my hand. I have just been getting worse, and it is frustrating. I am losing interest in tumbling; I used to love it, and now I dread tumbling days at practice. I'm just so scared, and I think about it way too much. I don't know how to just let everything go and just do it. Maybe I should start from square one, and relearn all of my tumbling skills? If you have any advice that will help me get interested in tumbling again without being so freaked out. Thank you.

[RPCmme]

When my squad members get that dreaded mental block, here are some things that we try...

-prep, sit/hurdle, stop
We prep our standing tumbling and our running tumbling with specific motions, clasp/clap, and cleaning series.  I make the squad member do our team's prep, then sit (for standing tumbling--that little sit before the go) or hurdle (for running tumbling), and STOP.  The squad member must do that 10 times before progressing.  Usually, the squad member gets tired of stopping and can't wait to add the tumbling move to the pass.

-counts
All of our tumbling is set to counts to help with squad synchronization.  Sometimes, just hearing the counts was enough.  Their head and body knew sit on 3, go on 4, and that helped them get over their fear.

-warm-up with a spot
If the struggling tumbler requested a spot, coaches would not allow it.  However, if the squad member asked for a spot for one or two warm-up passes, it was allowed.  This helps the squad members mentally that they'll have help on the first couple, and then it's up to them.

Hope this helps!

[cheerhelp19]

ok here's what worked for me to get my flip flop
my coach everytime i would take longer than 20 seconds to do one would slape his hand(not really hard but still) to my back.
so i didnt wan tto get slapped so i did it
but i'm not sure if it'll work for you but it's just a suggestion
oh anbd my coach refused to spot me and kept increasing hte number of flip flops i had to do  by myself.
but once i did it he returned to the original number!

[monrobbritt]

Hello, I have a 12 year old elete tumbler who has been mental for just about one year.  She was working on her full one day,  had a great tumbling day and the next day she was afraid to do a back handspring.  She has been working very hard to get it back but is having a lot of trouble with any tumbling that she has to go backward.  She has no trouble with any front tumbling. She feels very comfortable with her coach but she will only allow one coach to spot her.  She has not even tried to do any running tumbling she has just been working on standing bhs and standing tucks.  Her coach tells her every time she tumbles that she is just putting her hands on her that my daughter is doing it all herself but she had not done it without a spot for about a year.  Do you think maybe she needs a tumbling break or should we just continue on with what we are doing.  Its very difficult to watch, she gets upset and what use to be a lot of fun has turned into something different. Please help !!!

[cheerforever1]

Sometimes it helps to not necessarily take a break from tumbling all together, as that could just leave her even more afraid if she chooses to come back, but to take a break from the specific skill and work on new skills to take her mind off of backhandsprings and btucks. Maybe work on front tumbling, such as fronthandsprings, punchfronts, or even more elite front tumbling if she can already do those skills to build her tumbling confidence. It's easy to get stuck in a rut and become frustrated when focusing on one specific skill that won't work right..... take her mind off of the skill in question, have her learn new things, and eventually want to try the back tumbling again when she is not stressing so much about it. When she has the motivation without being pressured to back tumble, she wont over think it, she will just be having fun!