Find the Positivity in Your Situation How do you handle long layoffs during the gymnastics season? When you face the inability to train or compete, do you become anxious and feel like you are falling behind other gymnasts? The COVID-19 pandemic has been a disruptive force in the training of all gymnasts, but the coronavirus is not the only cause … Boost Confidence>>
Let Go of Unnecessary Expectations How many times have you thought, “I have to win,” “I have to nail my routine to score well,” or “I have to perform mistake-free routines in practice this week if I am going to perform well in my meet this weekend”? What feelings emerge when you hear these “have to” thoughts in your mind? Chances are you … Boost Confidence>>
Getting Back on Track After Disappointment Have you ever trained so intensely for one meet, only to be disappointed by your performance? Disappointment is something all gymnasts will experience at one point in their career. It’s impossible to score a personal best in every routine at every meet, even though you train hard to achieve top scores. Handling disappointment will … Boost Confidence>>
Be Ready to Come off the Bench and Compete “What is the ‘Next Gymnast Up’ mentality?” Many responses from our surveys asked questions about different types of mentalities. One question, in particular revolved around stepping up after a teammate gets injured. “When something unexpected happens in a gymnastics meet, I tend to get overwhelmed and freak out. If one of … Boost Confidence>>
The Mental Skills of Top Gymnasts Why do some gymnasts who put so much effort into improving their scores often receive lowers scores than past performances? What are they focusing on during their performances? You would think working harder, refining routines, working longer in the gym, strengthening skills, developing more powerful dismounts and sticking landings would produce better scores. Yet, … Boost Confidence>>
Regaining Composure after a Mistake Would you believe it if you were told that you could experience the major frustration of a fall and the joy of a personal best routine all within the same meet? Many gymnasts would never believe that around the corner of failure lies success. Too often, gymnasts have difficulty rebounding after mistakes, a fall, stepping … Boost Confidence>>