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[dawgshow]

Oh I take full responsibility for my part in CP's mental issues. Doesn't make her 2 year ordeal any less real, though.


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[crazzyeyesassypants]

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji1419]
Thank you so much Coach for the wonderful tips..


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[Keep_Believing]

I have a friend whose CP was was a gorgeous tumbler until she tore her ACL. Now at 16, she has her first mental block. Her Mom supports her if she wants to work through the mental block or just focus on her academics, just wants her CP happy.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

Oh I take full responsibility for my part in CP's mental issues. Doesn't make her 2 year ordeal any less real, though.


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If people were actually literate and could read, they would have understood My original statement was that mental blocks were nonexistent in my world. Which is a true statement. Ive never coached a kid into one, and I don't intend to change anything and start tomorrow. I've never said that kids don't develop problems. However, I stand firm that they are 100% preventable.

We just had some bad thunderstorms in our town. The main office at the school had people lined up out the door to sign their kids out of school because of the "bad weather." As coaches, we are fighting uphill battles trying to train kids to be mentally tough while their parents lose their freakin minds over a little rainfall.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

I have a friend whose CP was was a gorgeous tumbler until she tore her ACL. Now at 16, she has her first mental block. Her Mom supports her if she wants to work through the mental block or just focus on her academics, just wants her CP happy.

Injuries are different. That's not a mental block, that's part of coming back from a legitimate injury. Professional athletes go through rehab assignments to get their groove back.

 

[TheDivineCheerYaYaSecret]

Injuries are different. That's not a mental block, that's part of coming back from a legitimate injury. Professional athletes go through rehab assignments to get their groove back.

Yes and their "groove" is a mental element.

 

[Cheer Dad]

Injuries are different. That's not a mental block, that's part of coming back from a legitimate injury. Professional athletes go through rehab assignments to get their groove back.

I do think I understand your take on mental blocks but how do you address a tumbling issue once a body is physically able to do it but mentally they just can't make themselves?

I have watched kids psyche themselves out on backwards tumbling after someone got in their way while tumbling causing a collision.


For what it is worth, Debbie Love acknowledges mental blocks. What is it you know that she doesn't?

Help! I’m A Cheer Parent! - For the Love of Tumbling

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

^^^^Nothing to add to this conversation except to tag @tumbleyoda - this thread needs him!

 

[tojofasho]

I tend to lurk more than post, but this conversation about mental blocks has me feeling like I should put in my two cents. My sophomore year of college I was warming up a whip layout and I had a severe talus fracture as a result of doing it incorrectly. Years later, once my body had healed and everything was back in place for me to resume cheering my senior year, I found I was unable to do whips or layouts anymore. Tucks? No problem. Fulls? You got it. Trick passes? No big deal! But if I had to pick between a full and a layout, I'd pick the full every time after that injury.

Mental blocks are very very real, and very scary. There was absolutely no outside pressure from anyone on me, and it was entirely self-inflicted. It was just me in my own head, freaking out because I was afraid of getting hurt again. And the thing is, that's very easily a mindset anyone can have, even if they haven't injured themselves on a specific skill. Just the idea of getting injured can be enough to stop someone, even when they know they have that particular skill.

Bottom line is that I went 15 years of gymnastics/cheer without a mental block, and then one day I got one. I still have it to this day. Mental blocks make no sense and are frustrating to both coaches and cheerleaders, but they exist and they suck. There's my two cents; I now end my ramble and resume lurking.

 

[Coach Sara]

If you haven't had to experience or work with an athlete with a mental block, you're lucky. They are real, they can come and go for no obvious reason and they can stick around for a VERY long time. There is no point, in my opinion, to argue with what each person has experienced but it's clear that many of us have been involved with those who have dealt with mental blocks. As always, if you have questions or need support, feel free to message me.

 

[purplecheer]

Mental blocks are real. I could do a backbend until one day. I don't know what happened but I would never do it unless someone was standing there. They could spot with their little pinky and it would be fine. Then they stepped away and I just couldn't do it. Luckily I am over it now but they do happen.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

Mental blocks are garbage.

I've coached in the role of assistant, choreographer, volunteer, and now head coach off and on for the past 17 years and I've NEVER, not one time, EVER, had a kid develop a mental block. If you coach a program with kids who have mental blocks, or are the parent of a child with a mental block, one of two things is guaranteed to be true: They've either been trained to be mentally weak, or they have come up through their skills without proper progressions and have been rushed to improve faster than they should have been.

Train your kids to be mentally tough ATHLETES, instead of cheer divas, and use proper progressions as they develop their skills, and mental blocks will be nonexistent in your world too.

I agree with some of this, but usually the mental blocks are because of something that happened.... I also agree mentally tough athletes will tend to push through, but they also need to re-learn the skill.

The mental block girl is very very very immature on my team. VERY!!!!! Not mentally tough, AT ALL. So one time it "hurt" and she stopped. Trying to work on it with her, but entitlement to her is the biggest issue... not work ethic. Now I ignore her cries for attention and try to reinforce hard work is noticed. Now with that being said, her tumbling instructor is trying to teach her from the beginning and he is in contact with me and she REFUSES to do drills besides handstand snapdowns apparently.... so I am letting him deal with that for now as it is on her time and her money.

The only other mental blocks I have seen are girls who have had some kind of major life issue, example, mother very sick with cancer. She had a lot to push through and I don't think it was a mental block more then stress in other areas!!!

 

[Official OWECheer]

Mental blocks are garbage.

I've coached in the role of assistant, choreographer, volunteer, and now head coach off and on for the past 17 years and I've NEVER, not one time, EVER, had a kid develop a mental block. If you coach a program with kids who have mental blocks, or are the parent of a child with a mental block, one of two things is guaranteed to be true: They've either been trained to be mentally weak, or they have come up through their skills without proper progressions and have been rushed to improve faster than they should have been.

Train your kids to be mentally tough ATHLETES, instead of cheer divas, and use proper progressions as they develop their skills, and mental blocks will be nonexistent in your world too.

I disagree. While blocks can be caused by this, there are TONS of mentally tough athletes who have developed them, and it's not because they suddenly developed mental weakness.

 

[driverto6]

I disagree. While blocks can be caused by this, there are TONS of mentally tough athletes who have developed them, and it's not because they suddenly developed mental weakness.

So agree with this. My CP is very tough, but she tumbled off the mat one time and hit a fire extinguisher that was mounted on the wall. It wasn't a serious injury, but the mental aspect of it spooked her for the longest time...she could not tumble across a mat at all...had to go corner to corner so she had plenty of room and no chance of going off the mat. She worked through it...but her coaches had to have some patience and understanding that something in her brain was trying to 'protect her' from a serious injury!

 

[Official OWECheer]

So agree with this. My CP is very tough, but she tumbled off the mat one time and hit a fire extinguisher that was mounted on the wall. It wasn't a serious injury, but the mental aspect of it spooked her for the longest time...she could not tumble across a mat at all...had to go corner to corner so she had plenty of room and no chance of going off the mat. She worked through it...but her coaches had to have some patience and understanding that something in her brain was trying to 'protect her' from a serious injury!

Yup! The brain is like a computer with the capacity to be traumatized. It freezes when confused/traumatized, hence why an injury or improper progression freezes you up.