All-Star Help With A Panicky Full

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Apr 14, 2017
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I have a girl on my team who got her full a few weeks ago, but she’s having trouble landing on two feet and always steps out. Which I could make work for us if it was polished enough to look purposeful, but it’s not. It’s a panicked, bent knee “GET ME DOWN RIGHT NOW” step out that doesn’t need to be there because she’s getting more than enough air to land properly.

I’m a little unclear on the solution for this. She’s strong enough to get around fully with time to spare and flexible enough to keep both legs straight. But she’s convinced she needs to step out half a second earlier with a REALLY bent knee if she’s going to make it, which is just begging for some kind of injury. Any insight as to how I can help her get over this block? I’ve recorded her to show her how solid she is, but in the moment she regresses. I’ve had her do lots of lemon squeezers and launch drills to up her strength (even though strength isn’t her problem) in the hopes that it’ll help her mentally feel more prepared. The only other thing I can think of is having her run it repeatedly for practice, but her form is so potentially injurious that I almost feel it’s not worth the risk.

Some background: this girl is all strength but has very little cheer experience. She’s the type of girl who walks into tryouts, sees a back tuck, asks, “Can I try that?” and nails it on the first try. She’s phenomenally strong and picks up things quickly, which is why it’s so perplexing to me that she can’t apply that focus to the tail end of her full. She already has the hard part down, so I’m not sure what the disconnect is. Please help. I feel like all my practical solutions are a waste of time and I’m not about to tell her “Just get over it” about her mental block since that’s just condescending and ignorant.

P.S. I know this is the all-star forum but we are in high school, hence no spring floor. I posted here because the HS forum is pretty slow right now over the summer compared to you guys.
 
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