Expert: Kelly Fitzpatrick - 10/16/2006

Question
alrite, ive been tumbling for a really long time  now. and for some reason i still get random mental blocks and my coach is becoming stricter about them now! i had my layout on the floor. and my coach told me to try my full on the floor and i had only been working on it for a little while. and my friend broke her arm doing it so i was a little nervous. but that didnt stop me. so i went for my tumbling pass and after my roundoff backhanspring i pulled for a full but just freaked out and stopped. and you know what that means. i fell. i couldnt do it agian. my block is gettting so bad to the point where im scared to throw a standing backhandspring. but everyone tells me dont worry its muscle memory once you go for it then your gonna be ok ! and stuff like that.. also they tell me to picture myself and i can.. but after the death of my father ive been getting worse and worse blocks. and i dont know if that has anything to do with it! but i really need helppp.

Answer
Hi Jessica!

Mental tumbling blocks are very common in cheerleading. Whoever told you about muscle memory is completely right. Your body knows how to do the skills, now you just have to get your mind to cooperate! One good drill I always recommend to cheerleaders with mental blocks is the running drill. This helps to keep you from thinking to deeply into your skill and becoming fearful to throw it. To complete this drill you start running in place. Then as soon a your coach says "GO" you immediately stop running in place and throw your standing or running tumbling.

I'm very sorry to hear about the death of your father. I'm not sure if this is having an effect on your mental blocks, but it very well could be. Maybe you should take some time off of tumbling for a little while to get over your loss. Then when you are ready, start tumbling again.

I hope this helps!

Kelly