Expert: Pamela Enders - 3/21/2011

Question
Hi Pamela,My daughter that is 14 is having a mental block in tumbling,she seems to do this when she is having a big growing spurt.She has done very well at tumbling and no falls then when her bodychanges she becomes scared and stops with skills shes had for years!Please let me know if you have any answers for us Thank You! Donna

Answer
Dear Donna,

Growth spurt problems are very common.  The athlete feel different when she attempts a skill and so freezes.  Sometimes simply explaining this to the cheerleader can help. It's often a temporary problem. A good coach will help the athlete adjust her technique to accommodate the new body.  If you have faith in the coach, mention this to him or her and see if the coach can work with your daughter to make the necessary adjusments.

Also, you can check out my blog which has many articles on all areas of the mental game of cheerleading including mental blocks.http://www.confidentcheerleadingblog.com

If the problem persists, here is my Guide to Resolving Mental Blocks: (It's long and detailed so read carefully!  Good luck and let me know how it goes!)


Unlocking the Block: How to Resolve Mental Blocks in Tumbling

Pamela Enders, Ph.D.

(Proprietary material – please reference author when using this information.)

What follows is a template or outline of the major points in resolving a mental block using mental game techniques. It is written to the athlete but the information can be used by coaches and parents also.

1. When you tumble successfully there is a good communication between your brain and your body.  Every time you execute a skill, you are creating or strengthening what is called a neural pathway in your brain.  Over time, these pathways run deep and make it easier to do what you want to do.  

(Think of a snow-filled hillside…if you use a sled on the hill, you will create a path and it will be easier for the sled to go that route each time you go down the hill. It’s the same with our brains!)

If you have been a successful tumbler in the past, the neural pathways are there, you just need to find them again.  For some reason, the communication between your brain and body has gone a bit wacky!  (Not unusual, just frustrating!)  It might be that at this point, when you get ready to tumble, you are telling yourself something like, “I’m going to fall.”  Or, “I can’t do it.”

2. It’s possible to spook yourself into believing you cannot do something or that you cannot perform without a spotter.  Over time this can coalesce into a belief.  If this is the case, the first step is to identify and challenge the belief or the story you have created.

Step back and think about your thoughts.  In other words, what are you saying to yourself?  It may be you are saying things like: “I’ll never be able to tumble without a spotter,” or – “I’m just not good enough,” or “I’ll never be able to do a back handspring.” It’s important to learn how to “think about the thoughts” that drive behavior.

The brain is literal and so if you are thinking, “I can’t do this,” the brain hears this as an instruction and – you won’t be able to do it!  One solution is to send a different message to the brain such as, “I’m working very hard on improving my tumbling and soon I will be able to do it on my own.”  

This requires patience and effort but it does work.



So a first step in resolving the fear is cognitive; it’s to identify and change the negative thinking.  I must emphasize however that this is not just a matter of saying positive things to replace the negative.  You must believe what you are saying and so the negative beliefs, which are distortions, must be challenged.  (My blog has a number of articles on this.  See http://www.confidentcheerleadingblog.com .)

3. Next step is to relax.  Muscle tension results from negative thinking and muscle tension affects the way the body moves.  A quick way to begin to relax is to focus on the breathing.  So, try this:

Sit in a nice quiet place and exhale as slowly as possible, letting the breath out through your mouth and taking a breath in through your nose.  Focus on the out-breath and be sure to exhale very slowly, letting as much air out as possible.  It will then be easy to take in a nice slow in-breath.  Repeat this at least 5 times.

4. When thinking about your tumbling fear, rate your anxiety on a scale of 1 – 10, with “1” being no anxiety and “10” being horrendous anxiety.  Write this down and keep track of how the rating changes as you begin to resolve your block.  The goal is not necessarily to completely eliminate anxiety (a “1”) but to reduce it to a MANAGEABLE LEVEL. (Very important.)

5. Finally, incorporate this breathing technique with one of several special visualizations.

Inside-Out Visualization

1.   Find a nice quiet place and while sitting up, close your eyes.
2.   Exhale as slowly as you can 3 – 5 times.
3.   Say to yourself, “With each out-breath, I am relaxing more and more.”
4.   Once relaxed, see yourself, with your mind’s eye, in a safe place, a place you feel ultra comfortable, secure and happy.
5.   Really enjoy being in your special safe place as you continue to focus on your out-breath.
6.   Now, shift your focus and “see” yourself in your cheerleading practice spot, beginning to do a simple and basic tumbling skill – something you can do with ease.
7.   If you feel more than a little anxiety (a rating of more than “4”), stop visualizing this skill and return to your safe place.
8.   Stay in your safe place until you feel calm and secure (a rating of “4” or less).
9.   Now, once again, see yourself in your practice spot beginning to execute a basic tumbling skill.
10.   If your anxiety level is manageable (“4” or less) stay with this scene, focusing on your exhale to keep calm and focused.

11.   See yourself executing the skill with grace and ease and “feel” yourself enjoying it; enjoy your success.
12.   Now assign a power label or cue word for this successful execution. It can be anything.  For example, you could simply call it “success” or “good move.”
13.  Once you have your power label, visualize and feel the whole successful routine again only this time say your cue word to yourself.
14. Repeat over and over.  Each time you do this, you will be creating brain and muscle memory.  
15 If at any time your anxiety level increases too much (“5” or more), go back to your safe place and repeat the above steps
16. When you can “see” yourself doing a basic tumbling skill without too much anxiety, go on to a more difficult skill.
17.  Just like before, if too much anxiety pops up (“5” or more), go back to the previous level or go back to your favorite place to calm down.
18. Repeat this process, each time gradually visualizing yourself executing more difficult skills in a step-wise fashion, pairing the exhale and relaxation with “seeing” yourself doing the skills.
19. Be sure to use your power word or positive trigger with each step you take.
20. Repeat as necessary. Keep repeating this process until the anxiety associated with visualizing tumbling is manageable (“4 or less”).
21.   The anxiety may not disappear completely, the goal is MANAGEABLE ANXIETY.

If the problem is fear of tumbling without a spotter, the process is similar.  Here is the visualization for this situation:

Visualization – without a spotter

1.   Find a nice quiet place and while sitting up, close your eyes.
2.   Exhale as slowly as you can 3 – 4 times.
3.   Say to yourself, “With each out-breath, I am relaxing more and more.”
4.   Once relaxed, see yourself, with your mind’s eye, in a safe place, a place you feel ultra comfortable, secure and happy.
5.   Really enjoy being in your special safe place as you continue to focus on your out-breath.
6.   Now, shift your focus and “see” yourself in your cheerleading practice spot, beginning to do a back handspring (or any tumbling skill) with your coach or spotter.
7.   If you feel more than a little anxiety (more than “4”), stop visualizing this skill and return to your safe place.
8.   Stay in your safe place until you feel calm and secure (“4”or less).


9.   Now, once again, see yourself in your practice spot beginning to execute a BHS (or whatever) with your coach or spotter.
10.   If your anxiety level is manageable (“4” or less), stay with this scene, focusing on your exhale to keep calm and focused.
11.   See yourself executing the skill with grace and ease and “feel” yourself enjoying it; enjoy your success.
12.   Now assign a power label or cue word for this successful execution. It can be anything.  For example, you could simply call it “success” or “good move.”
13.  Once you have your power label, visualize and feel the whole successful routine again only this time say your cue word to yourself.
14. Repeat over and over.  Each time you do this, you will be creating brain and muscle memory.  
15. If at any time your anxiety level increases too much (“5” or more), go back to your safe place and repeat the above steps
16. When you can “see” yourself doing a BHS (or whatever you need a spotter for) with your coach spotting you, without too much anxiety, move the scene to doing it alone.
17.  Just like before, if too much anxiety pops up (“5” or more), go back to working with a spotter (in your mind’s eye) or go back to your favorite place to calm down.
18. Repeat this process, each time gradually visualizing yourself executing the  BHS alone, step by step, pairing the exhale and relaxation with “seeing” yourself doing it.
19. Be sure to use your power word or positive trigger with each step you take.
20. Repeat as necessary. Keep repeating this process until the anxiety associated with visualizing doing the BHS alone is manageable (“4” or less).
21. The anxiety may not disappear completely, the goal is MANAGEABLE ANXIETY.

This visualization accomplishes several things.  It helps you ease into the idea of tumbling while minimizing your anxiety and it also engraves the successful execution of the skill in your brain.  You will be training your brain to feel and think in the way you want.  You will also be learning how to control your thoughts and feelings rather than have them control you!







Sometimes it’s hard for you to “see” yourself executing a skill well.  No matter how hard you try, you still “see” yourself falling, or stalling, or executing it poorly.  If this is the case, try these other approaches.

Outside-In Visualization:

•   Choose a power-word or phrase that is associated with being calm, confident, strong, and focused.
•   Sit in a quiet place, eyes closed, and notice your breath.
•   Exhale slowly several times.
•   Use your out-breath to relax, to let go.
•   Scan your body with your mind’s eye, noticing any tension and releasing it with your out- breath.
•   Resume focus on your out-breath, letting go, relaxing.
•   Imagine you see a cheerleader you admire and respect (the ideal person) executing the skill you want to perform well.  
•   Notice with as much detail as possible how the person looks, moves, sounds.
•   Imagine what he or she is thinking and feeling...what it is like to be in that ideal state.
•   Now imagine you are having similar feelings and how you would feel like that person.
•   And then imagine you are becoming that other person and as you are able to experience these feelings, (ideal state), use your power word or phrase that you can associate with this ideal state.  
•   Practice this connection several times.
•   Later, at the time you want to execute the skill, say your power word to yourself to reconnect with this positive experience.

Interactive Observation

This is similar to the above visualization except instead of visualizing, you  are actually observing someone your respect or watching a video of an expert tumbler.

•   Choose a word or phrase that is associated with being calm, confident, strong, and focused.
•   Observe a video or a cheerleader in real life executing skills in an expert fashion.
•   Exhale slowly several times.
•   Use your out-breath to relax, to let go.
•   Notice with as much detail as possible how the person looks, moves, sounds.



•   Imagine what he or she is thinking and feeling...what it is like to be in that ideal state.
•   Now imagine you are having similar feelings and how you would feel like that person.
•   Once you are able to experience these feelings, (ideal state), use your cue word or phrase that you can associate with this ideal state.  
•   Practice this connection several times.  

6. Now, one last thing; when you next begin to do any tumbling, take a moment to focus, exhale slowly, say your power label to yourself and see yourself executing the skill successfully. Then go ahead!