Regressing Instead Of Progressing

[EliteAthleticsCoachG]

I have a couple cheerleaders on my all star team that are starting to regress instead of progress in one portion of their cheerleading. They are all great cheerleaders and have great skills and were showing them beautifully and now all of a sudden they don't want to do certain things. I asked why and they said they can't when meanwhile I have seen them do it before with flying colors! A gym rule is that you can't say "I can't" it is either "I am unable to" or "I need help".. we have never been too hard on this girl so I don't know why this is happening..

Any suggestions on how we can make her start progressing again?

 

[Official OWECheer]

I have a couple cheerleaders on my all star team that are starting to regress instead of progress in one portion of their cheerleading. They are all great cheerleaders and have great skills and were showing them beautifully and now all of a sudden they don't want to do certain things. I asked why and they said they can't when meanwhile I have seen them do it before with flying colors! A gym rule is that you can't say "I can't" it is either "I am unable to" or "I need help".. we have never been too hard on this girl so I don't know why this is happening..

Any suggestions on how we can make her start progressing again?

Is this due to mental blocks or a lack of confidence?

 

[Pebbles49]

I was wondering if this girl may have had a serious growth spurt recently...I noticed with my daughter in a short period, she grew like 4-5 inches and the things she enjoyed, like running tumbling, she hates with a passion and I think the extra lengths in her lower torso area makes it harder to tumble, which at one time came easily to her, but she find it harder to do and possibly her techniques must be relearned, I guess...So, she refuses to do it at all...Standing tumbling she will do, so I really do not understand the regressing either...

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

I agree w/ the poster who said it could be a growth spurt. It's a big reason for regressing skills and abilities. How old are these kids?

 

[Official OWECheer]

Widening of the hips during puberty can also make it more difficult to tumble. Males are built like spinning tops (broader shoulders, narrower hips), whereas girls are built differently.

 

[Twinklilstarsmom]

I am dealing with this now. CP has had major growth and it has thrown her body off. Thankfully it's coming back slowly but it takes a lot of patience, and effort. The only thing you can do is support them through this awkward time.

 

[megsmom]

Beginning of season CP was working two to tucks & perfecting running tucks. In the span of 3 weeks, she got strep (which wasn't diagnosed for 4 weeks because no sore throat), a concussion at school, was embarrassed by a coach during tumbling for being sick and grew 2 inches. Guess who is barely throwing her standing back handspring now? So frustrating, but I have to believe the coaches know how to help her through it.

 

[sweetpeamarie_]

Similar thing happened to one of our flyers since now starting high school, she went through a crazy growth spurt. It took a toll on her flying


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[MzLyn23]

I have some of the same concerns but not with tumbling since CP was not much of a tumbler... She was in rec previously for 4 years (I coached) and we did all level skills but her tumbling was delayed thanks to a 2 year mental block lol... anyway now on an All Star team, she's on level 2 (by miracle) and finally throwing a BHS. However since her stunting is now level 2, I'm worried she might have regressed a bit when she was previously capable of level 3/4 stunts... I mean I haven't seen her pull her needle in a full extension in almost a year so don't even know if she can still do it.... she hasn't done a full up 360 either and that was the last skill she was learning while I was coaching (and was pretty good at it)... She was even working on a kick single... so now she's torn about doing all star again because she misses her rec friends and the difficulty in stunting (which is her fave part) etc. I put her in some extra tumbling classes (last night was first day) and she enjoyed it because it was more one on one and they even started working with her on her tuck. (maybe there's potential there idk)... I told her that she needs to finish the season and if she keeps working on tumbling maybe she can tryout and (cross fingers) make a level 3 team, maybe even a level 4 (I know some teams have 1 or 2 girls on level 4 for example that don't have a layout but do have the flying skills... I'm hopeful that her seeing that this is still very much different from rec and that she has to prove herself to get the spot she wants that then she will work for it... its frustrating to see your cp doing stunts that she did 3-4 years ago when she first started but it is what it is.... Im hoping things will get better...

 

[INeverStopCheering]

This sounds kind of harsh, but sometimes a little shake-up can be enough of a kick in the pants to get kids doing what they're supposed to do. Barring any other issues, I find kids who have just gotten complacent or lazy with their skills (suddenly using poor technique or just not doing it) usually get their act together real quick if they're switched out of their spot and moved further back. It also puts a little fear in the other kids that if they start to slack off, their spot is up for grabs. That's something we really emphasize, that the routine is never "set" and your spot is never "yours." If you aren't pulling your weight and the girl behind you is, then she deserves that front spot

 

[Coach Sara]

I read through the posts and I agree that growth spurts can change a cheerleaders's tumbling and lead to lack of confidence to be able to do it. I'm not clear on if this is a mental block or not, but even when it's not a true "mental block," work on mental skills can be helpful (in part so that it doesn't turn into a mental block!). Sometimes you need to go backwards to go forwards (so doing earlier progressions, spotting, etc.) and perhaps adding in some mental choreography (examples are reminders of how to execute, such as "sit, jump!" or counts, or process-based cues like "power," or "smooth"). Mental choreography helps to keep a mind tight and not distracted by other thoughts such as worries or concerns. Feel free to message me if you think it's a mental block and we can chat further.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

^^^^True. At times a trip back to basics is necessary.

Ex: If my HS kids are suddenly having a hard time with tucks, we will take it back to BHS and drill from there until I see improvement.

That helps rule out if it's an "I just don't feel like it" vs. a technique issue or a legitimate "I can't."

 

[thetank]

Also sometimes regression could be due to something outside the gym... I've seen athletes regress at cheer due to personal issues at home, or at school... The stress could get to them and form a mental block in cheer. Especially if an athlete is being bullied. That could knock down their confidence for everything they do in their life, including cheerleading.

 

[Coach Sara]

Also sometimes regression could be due to something outside the gym... I've seen athletes regress at cheer due to personal issues at home, or at school... The stress could get to them and form a mental block in cheer. Especially if an athlete is being bullied. That could knock down their confidence for everything they do in their life, including cheerleading.

Very true. Mental blocks can start when a cheerleader is feeling pressure. And pressure can come from different places. At times it's the cheerleader herself, but possibly from coaches or parents, or as you said, life outside of cheer. Reducing pressure, from any of the sources may help with making progress with the block.

 

[mclark]

Hello all, I'm new on here but wanted to give you some things that have worked for me as a tumble coach. If I have an athlete that can do beautiful tucks but shows up with a mental block, then I try to move completely away from doing tucks. Yes, we will work basics and do tuck drills first to see if going backwards a little helps get the block out of the way. I also check with parents to see if something else is going on outside of the gym but if all her technique is great in the RO-BHS but she just won't throw the tuck afterwards anymore, then I start having them work on next level skills like layouts or skills they may not have yet, such as front tucks or aerials. We start drilling those and the athlete gets excited about learning new skills instead of blocking on not being able to tuck anymore. We may take a private or two working on something completely new and then we try the tuck again. For all my athletes, this has worked for me.