Expert: Kelly Fitzpatrick - 9/13/2006

Question
Hey hows it going well i read the QNA thing about fears but none of it worked i mean i am so desperae that i am about to call a hipnosis to hipnotise me to tumble i did it once and a month later i tumbled but then i got the fear again
and i have been on and off of the fear for 4 years i was about in 3th grade when i got the fear and i didn't even do any thing to get it i just wouldn't jump back and iu was working on my full which really made me mad
lol
and so no i am in 7th grade and i still don't tumble
i am so frustrated that it is taking this long but then i think that i will get it sooner or later
and i really want it so so so bad i have perfect form and tumbling was my life so back to the question do u have any ideas on what i can do pther than the ones you gave lily because i have tried all of those and well as u can see it didn't work if u don't that's ok
i was just wondering
so yeah if u have any ideas at all i really need them asap and i am willing to try anything other than tumble
lol
get the joke
ahha
any ways so yeah if u do just like e-mail me asap ok
lyl
thanks for reading this long pointless letter
lol
lyl
~ASHLEY~

Answer
Hi Ashley!
Sorry it has taken me so long to get back with you. I have been out teaching a cheerleading competition routine camp.

It's been a little while since you've written this, so hopefully you've already broken the mental block that you had over yourself!! Just in case you havent, Here are some things that might help you.

If you have already read my previous responses in thie area of mental tumbling blocks then you should already know my favorite technique, the running approach. Running before tumbling takes your mind off the fear. That usually helps excluding the most extreme cases.

If that doesn't work, then something that helped me get over my fear of running tumbling when i was younger was to conquer a non-tumbling related fear first. I'm very afraid of heights, so I had this crazy idea when I was younger that conquering my fear of heights would somehow give me the confidence to conquer my fear of higher level skilled running tumbling. So I went bungee jumping when i was about 15. Well, my crazy idea worked. Simply overcoming one fear gave me the confidence I needed to overcome alot of fears. Now I am not saying at all that you need to go bungee jumping to conquer your fears! This is just an example. Other, non dangerous fears that you could conquer to boost your confidence are, talking to a boy you like if you are shy, or any other fear you may have.

The most important thing to remember before tumbling is that your body already knows how to do the skill, you just have to overcome your mind and do it!

Good luck,
Kelly