Expert: Pamela Enders - 6/15/2009

Question
My daughter has been a flyer in All Star cheerleading for 6 years (she just turned 11).  Her tumbling was progressing along with her other skills. Then one day she just stopped tumbling. She couldn't even throw a standing back handspring.  We let it go for a while thinking she was going through a growth spurt.  Well it has been 3 years and she is still having trouble doing standing tumbling. I watch my daughter struggle on the floor. She wants to tumble (and she tells me she does) but it looks like her body is not letting her.  There are days when she does running tumbling without a spot and people are shocked at her skills and then the next day and for weeks she can't tumble. She can do a punch front without any problem.  My daughter lives for cheerleading. She loves to perform, fly, dance, compete etc. but when it comes to tumbling she has no confidence. We have tried taking her to tumble coaches outside fot he gym but nothing seems to work. I hate seeing her come home from practice with tears in her eyes because she can't "connect" her tumbling. She says she wants to but can't when she is on the floor. Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.

Answer
Dear Stephanie,

It's so painful to see your child in such distress, isn't it?  

Not knowing your daughter, it's a bit of challenge for me to advise you about this.  There may be things you could do and things she could do to try to remedy this situation but I would need to have more information.  If you would be willing to answer some questions I'll try to respond more thoroughly.  You can also check out my blog which has some info on mental blocks and other tips related to the mental game of cheerleading.  The blog is www.confidentcheerleadingblog.com.

Here are my questions:

1. Did anything happen in your girl's life at the time when she just stopped tumbling?  Any added pressure or conflicts at school?  With friends? Any family stress?

2. Would you say your daughter is a perfectionist? Is she generally a happy kid?  

3. Did your girl observe other cheerleaders get injured or fall?

4. Are you comfortable with the training/coaching she has been getting?

5. Has your daughter had any other changes such as weight gain or loss, substantial gain in height?  Any medical problems?

6. Do you think your daughter would be open to and able to implement sport psychology techniques such as relaxation and visualization? (I fear she might be too young but some girls are very mature and sophisticated for their age!)

Sometimes kids experience stress or pressure outside of the athletic situation whch they carry into their sport so that's one thing I'm trying to figure out. The body does what the brain thinks so in sport psychology there is an attempt to figure out what the person is thinking (negative inner dialog) and to change that.  

Rather than me going on, please answer my questions and I'll take it from there.  If you'd prefer, you can call me at my office.  If you send me your email adddress I'll send you my number (I don't want to put it on this site.) My email is info@pamelaenders.com.

Warm regards,

Pamela