Expert: James - 7/31/2008

Question
i have a 8 yr old daughter she does competitive cheer she almost has a standing tuck had a running bhs tuck and lost it.  
she's not scared of standing tumbling just running when the coach tells her to do ro bhs 2 she does perfect but when he says ro bhs tuck she can barely do bhs. what can i do to encourage her i've bribe her, which i stopped doing becuase i do not want to be that kind of cheer mom.  please help my daughter

Answer
Wow, this is difficult because of how young she is. With an older cheerleader you can rationalize that its simple fear that they have to get over. And if they want to be successful that is the only option. At 8 years old that could be difficult though. I definitely wouldn't bribe her. When she succeeds she needs to be proud of herself because she wanted to do it. Possibly friends of hers her own age at the gym who can do the passes could convince her there is nothing to be afraid of.