The Institute of Sports Performance
Creating Breakthroughs with Athletic Performance and Sports Injury Recovery
With gymnastics and cheer seasons up and running I thought it timely to re-publish this article on understanding mental blocks to tumbling and backward skills.
Stress + More Stress = No Tumbling
When an athlete cant do backward skills or tumble it is not because they don’t want to. It is because their brain won’t let them.
Help I Can’t Tumble! Working Through the Mental Blocks to Tumbling
“i’ll give you a popsicle if you do it on the beam” - coach
To integrate training of the mind and mastery of the athletes emotions, the athlete, coaches and parents must understand that it is a process. Receiving, applying, and integrating concepts, tools and skills takes time. This is not a one session fix.
Overthinking in sports occurs when a team or player stops trusting their training and talent. Usually in response to stress and pressure. #Longhorns
Please take time to read and share this article on learning styles. I explain how coaches sometimes empower and sometimes short circuit their athletes ability to learn...
A timely and informative podcast interview on my work in the sport of gymnastics, gymnastics culture, parenting gymnasts, and much more. Please take the time to listen and share.
My daughter is a freshman in HS and wants to quit Varsity Cheer next Fall. She says “It creates so much stress, anxiety, and unnecessary worry “. She had a scary experience when throwing her tuck at practice one day, and now has a mental block . In addition to her cheer stresses she has all the other pressure of being a teen.
I’d like to find out how I can help her work this through.
Hi, Thanks for writing. We get inquiries about mental blocks in cheer all the time. Bad falls and injures are the first place we look. If you are local you can get her in to see me or my associate. Contact me through email. That is the best way to reach me. Also, read the responses I have made below as I answer similar inquiries.