gaining and losing skills--mental games

[Patrick McDonnell]

I started very late in life (47) and have been attending an adult gymnastics class for about two years. I must say that this sport is incredibly frustrating (and rewarding) in that I will be able to do a skill, e.g  back handspring, front tuck, back tuck, etc; and then I will just totally lose it due to a bad habit. For me, usually twisting one way or the other. Then, the more that I try and think about not twisting, and staying straight, the more I start twisting. For example, below is an example of a back handspring I was doing pretty well last year, started progressing to the floor, and then started twisting. Went back to the trampoline to straighten it out. Now, I can't even do it on the trampoline. I'm back to jumping backwards drilling on foam pads. The same happened with a back tuck, I got it down very well, then started working on Arabians, which incorporates a kind of twist, and now I am twisting like crazy on my formerly solid back tuck. I'm doing this half back tuck/half arabian abortion into a foam put. I will also twist on my front tucks, land them perfectly straight for a couple of months, and then start twisting again. . While I am so frustrated on these skills, I will start nailing perfect handstands or roundoffs because I am not thinking so much about them, and just do them.

 

How do you get pass these mental blocks?  Part of it is just fear, and wiping out at my age hurts more than it would if I were a kid; but if I am in this funk, I will screw it up with a spotter or harness. Once I get into these weird funks, I almost lose the skill entirely. Is there a good way to stay outside of your head. Think of something else. Any good advice. . like some of the tricks from "Inner Game of Tennis,"   Or, am I just a crusty old man, and accept my slide into decrepitude.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BYEOFxLauY

[Coach Sommer]

The unexpected gaining and losing of technical skills can always be traced to insufficient mastery of basics or flawed progressions.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Matthew Barrett]

You likely began training to many elements at a time and prematurely, not allowing you to truly ingrain basic acrobatic movement patterns.

 

When training for acrobatics, the majority of the training session should be spent performing successful attempts of routine skills.  For example, instead of just trying a twisting salto, perform a BHS with 1/2 twist to a hollow or 3/4 back salto to the stomach drop 1/2 to the feet.  Perform those movements routinely for a few weeks and showing mastery, and then you may, during your tumbling begin to add that movement pattern into your backwards saltos.  

 

Getting "confused" in the air, is normally a sign of improper awareness training at some point throughout the mastery of progressions.  If there was any progressions!

 

Try performing your back tuck on a trampoline with your arms straight out in front of you and your head neutral the entire time.  If you do this correctly, you will not twisting unless you turn with your hips. 

 

Get the basics back, ensure you have the movement ingrained in your body, then begin training new elements again.  

 

Have fun and be safe!

 

 

 

[Patrick McDonnell]

The unexpected gaining and losing of technical skills can always be traced to insufficient mastery of basics or flawed progressions.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks so much for the comment, Coach Sommer. Yes. It's hard to be patient and just work the fundamentals. Adult classes are tricky for coach and students, and its a co-ed class. We are all on very different levels and skills, with vastly different past experience and fitness levels--from former competitive Level 9 gymnasts as kids, to cross fitters looking to pick up some specific skill (usually a muscle up or handstand and then they disappear)  My coach is doing the best he can to herd this band of cats. We are also only training together twice a week. My constant, as an older student, is allowing my mental mindset to interfere with the muscle memory development that comes from doing the basics repetitively. 

 

I had a more experienced class mate (and coach) comment that my basic handstands have really improved during my most recent mental block on backward skills. Ironically, I think that my mind is so occupied with frustration over acrobatic skills, that I stop thinking so much in doing the basic static skills. I am also working as much as possible privately with the boys coach, who is saying the same thing. "let's get the basics down before we worry about other more advanced skills. " I am amazed at how difficult it was learning to do a basic swing on the rings, but it has helped me in almost all the other bar skills. I  sure wish I started earlier.

 

I'll grab your foundation series and start working more on basic stuff at home. And go back to working the basic progressions. 

[Katharina Huemer]

First of all I think it is great you started gymnastics! It is a great sport for everyone!

And about losing skills...it is pretty normal. Lots of kids at my gym have the same problem and I do as well.
I see this mostly in tumbling, not so much on bars, p-bars or vault. I mean, I sometimes make the Stalder to handstand, sometimes I am opening up too early, snapping the hips too early, compress too less or whatever...but simply because I haven't got enough reps on the real bar yet and sometimes I get the timing right and sometimes not...just a practice thing.

But for tumbling, and especially "complex" things like RO BH, it is a vestibular thing. I see a lot of kids dealing with that. I saw girls who did RO BH for years, they started learning twists already. And out of a sudden, they couldn't make the RO BH anymore. Sometimes it can happen because they have a growth spurt, but sometimes it just happens for no apparent reason.  A girl at my gym did RO BH Back Layout for a long time. Then she learned Full Twisting Layouts and they were beautiful. Suddenly, she couldn't do a stupid Layout anymore. She just twisted automatically!

In my opinion, the best thing for mental blocks is to get back to the basics.
In a BHS, you usually twist to one side when your head is not looking straight but either to the left or the right side. This is mostly due to fear or vestibular. Try lying on a large block, it should be about at you hip level. Lie on the block with your back. Reach your hands down until they touch the ground and let your feet follow. Like in a slo-mo back handspring. Try it a little faster and make sure to have your head straight. This will train your brain to let your head stay neutral.
When you do your back handspring, you should be looking at the ground or straight ahead as long as you can. In your video, you throw your head back even before you leave the "ground". It is not a big mistake on the tramp, you can still jump very far. Even if you do it like that on the floor it will look good to people who don't know how to do a proper back handspring. But if you ever want to add a tuck after the back handspring or do it after a round off, you really need to work on the head position.

Good Luck!