My 10 yr old is only in her 2nd year of cheer. No previous gymnastic or dance experience. When she started her last season, she could barely do a cartwheel. Her tumbling coach actually had to spend her first 3 lessons teaching her how to do a proper front roll. And then things started happening very quickly. By the end of her first season (level 1), she had front/back walkovers, all handspring skills including combos, and even managed to teach herself both standing and running tuck! We were shocked, but thrilled that we seemed to finally find her 'thing'. And then it happened, a complete fluke on a trampoline where someone distracted her and she bailed on a handspring and landed on her neck. I am sure she thought she had broken her neck for a second, although she was perfectly fine. She was pretty shaken up by it, and went into a complete back tumbling mental block the next day. We are now entering month 4 of her still struggling just to throw a standing handspring. Forget running tumbling....she won't even attempt it. Although we know the fall was the trigger, I think that learning too fast put her at a much higher risk of blocking. Anyone else have a fast learner who struggled with blocks? I just think her mind may not have been as ready to do this stuff as her body was, and the very first time she had a fall, it freaked. I have seen other girls break bones tumbling, and not block when they return.
