Expert: Pamela Enders - 7/13/2010

Question
i made the 8th grade cheer team and im a flyer. I love it except the only problem is that i am afraid of hights. So sometimes i am very hesitant on trying new things. How can i conquer my fear and be more open and excited to try different stunts?

Answer
Dear Raven,

Thanks for writing!  Congratulations for making the cheer team!

Fear such as you describe is really quite common in cheerleading.  It’s most likely to pop up with flyers and tumbling.  Why?  Well, you are actually asking your body to do things that most people don’t normally do!  In other words, our bodies are not naturally designed to fly in the air or tumble backwards!  This doesn’t mean it can’t be done of course – just that your fear reaction is a built-in reaction.

So how do you get over it?  First it’s important that you trust your coach and your team-mates (especially those who hold and catch you!).  At this point it may be that you are all learning together so there are bound to be some nervous Nellies who aren’t as focused as they should be. As they get more experienced and confident you will “feel” it which will help your confidence, too.

If your coach is a good one, he or she will move you slowly through the learning and training process. You should COMPLETELY master a skill before you move to a next level.  Do not allow anyone to rush you or push you.  You need to feel confident in your mastery of a skill before you move on.

The solid foundation of mastery of basic skills will help you with confidence as you learn more and more.  You have every right to speak up if something doesn’t feel right to you.

While it’s natural to be embarrassed by mistakes, did you know that most great athletes aren’t afraid of mistakes?  They welcome them.  Why?  Because they view mistakes as great opportunities to learn something new and to improve.  If you can get to that point, it will be helpful to you.  

Here’s another idea:  When you are afraid, your body gets tense which makes it harder to perform.  To help you relax, try this:

•   Find a nice quiet spot and sit up and close your eyes.
•   Now exhale as slowly as you can 5 times.
•   Say to yourself, “With each out-breath I am relaxing more and more.”
•   Exhale at least 5 more times – slowly.
•   When you feel relaxed, choose a power word such as “success” or “confident” or whatever you like and repeat that word to yourself over and over as you continue to breathe slowly.
•   Later, at practice, secretly say your power word to yourself to reconnect with the nice calm feeling you had before.


Another thing you can do is watch videos of expert flyers.  When you do this, notice every detail and imagine what it must feel like to perform the way the expert is performing. Then imagine how the flyer must feel as she performs.  Now imagine how you might feel if you were that flyer.
Finally, imagine that you are becoming that flyer!

I hope these tips were helpful!  Remember – your fear is natural and can be overcome with practice and patience.  

You can check out tons of articles on how to get over fear and other stuff on my blog – http://www.confidentcheerleadingblog.com


Good luck to you!

Dr. Pam
The Mental Game of Cheerleading
http://www.confidentcheerleadingblog.com