Please Help!!!!
Im 15 and i have never had problems with being scred or losing skill.now i just started to and its really anoying,all in 3 months i lost my handspring on beam and my flyaway ( which is really stupid ) im starting to get the handsprong back but t im not having any luck w/ the flyaway....please help!!!!


thanx Berlin

This sounds like something that happened to me several years ago. I'm a baton twirler and I had been doing toss front walkovers for about a year when suddenly I became scared and lost ability. It was very frustrating. Finally, I decided to just start throwing the walkovers hard, without the baton in the air, for practice. The next step was to throw the baton out a little bit and then I would go. Finally, I started to get the ability back. Taking it in steps and not scaring yourself is probably going to be the best way to get your ability back. I think that the reason for this happening, for me anyway, was practicing too much. Try not to overdo it and take it slow. Eventually you will get your ability back. Good luck!

Don't worry it is very common for gymnasts to gain skills and then lose them. Some even lose skills that they have been doing easily for years. It can be something quite small that causes you to loose it. Maybe a change in your height, weight loss, weight gain, another skill you have been working on is affecting your technique, loss of strength, loss of flexibility, seeing someone get hurt doing that skill or a similar skill, getting hurt yourself. Or sometimes it is just completely unexplainable.

First of all don't stress. Almost always when a gymnast has a skill and then looses it, they will get it back. The only ones that don't are the ones who give up on it. If you were able to do it before you have the physical ability to get it back and you will.

Try visualisation. Close your eyes and picture yourself doing the skill perfectly. Do it often and then just before you attempt the skill picture it perfectly in your mind again.

Try not to think about the skill too much, just let your body take over, it has done the skill before, it knows what to do. It will only change it's technique when you are over thinking.

Go back to basics and do basic drills for the skill. The same drills you did when you were learning the drill.

Do lots with a spot to build your confidence back up and remind your body how to do it.

Make your desire to do the skill stronger than your fear. Think about all the good reasons why you need the skill. Like needing it to move up a level or win at competition. Think of what will happen if you don't get the skill. ie maybe have to stay down a level while your team mates move up. Give yourself so much motivation to do it that fear does not come into it.

does your gym have harnesses/belts I am not sure what you call them but like belts that have ropes attached to them which someone can pull, like what you use when rock climbing, for extra support when learning a new skill. Because when I lost my backhandspring on the beam after falling, I missed the beam once when not really paying full attention to my rutine, and then I was terrified but my coach had my using the harness and helping me and then one day he didnt really assist my backhandspring and he told me I did it. It was still scary to do but I knew I could do it and it was a great confidence boost to get over my mental block.

we do have belts but not on beam,but thanx for the help everyone that really helps alot,i have never lost a skill before so it really worried me when i lost my handspring.esspecially since i think its the easiest skill on beam.