My poor baby!

[Laura_A]

My heart is so sad for my little girl. She's 11 and started taking gymnastics 8 weeks ago. She's very lean, flexible and strong and her coach said she's a natural. Unfortunately, she has a crippling fear of heights. She can tumble and bend all day long, but the second she gets up on the beam, or the taller of the uneven bars and she freezes. She was so upset after her session today...in tears, frustrated and defeated. She knows in her mind that her coach isn't going to let her fall and that even if she did, she'll fall on the mat and be fine, but when it comes to jumping from the low bar to the high bar, or to just walking on the beam, she just can't make herself do it. She's very hard on herself very impatient and wants to see progress right now. I told her everything I knew to encourage her. She's determined so she doesn't want to give up but I don't know how else to help her.

Sigh...I guess this is when parenting really gets hard, huh? Thanks for letting me vent.

[NatalieKW]

Poor thing. That has to be so frustrating for her.

[alinalove]

i heard that eft (emotional freedom techniques) is making a lot of impact on fear of heights. maybe there is someone around you practicing?

[lorigaud]

Awww... that must be so hard for both of you. (((HUGS))) I wish I knew what to suggest.

[Laura_A]

Originally Posted by woofpurrpurr

i heard that eft (emotional freedom techniques) is making a lot of impact on fear of heights. maybe there is someone around you practicing?

Thanks, Alina! I'll check into that.

Her coach did say that she'd be really good at cheerleading...dance, music & all the tumbling without the heights (unless she decided to be a flyer lol). She (her coach) is also the owner of Kinetic Cheer...a competitive squad run out of the same gym. We're going to check out a practice tonight and see what she thinks. My guess is, because cheer is SO much more expensive and they practice 4.5 hours a week instead of 2 hours a week...that's the one she'll want to do. lol

[mariewilcox]

My first thought was she should do cheer but I wasn't sure how she felt about that - LOL. Sounds like it would be a perfect fit as long as she stayed away from being a flyer.

[lovely1m]

Poor thing. I understand where she is coming from. I really enjoyed high jump and was pretty good at it, but our first meet, I realized I couldn't compete in it. I shake when I am nervous, shaking and the high jump don't go hand in hand. I hope she figures out a way to get past it.

[joelsgirl]

: ( It is hard to watch them struggle, but the struggles are where character is developed, so I say keep encouraging her to work at it.

[alinalove]

Originally Posted by Laura_A

Thanks, Alina! I'll check into that.

Her coach did say that she'd be really good at cheerleading...dance, music & all the tumbling without the heights (unless she decided to be a flyer lol). She (her coach) is also the owner of Kinetic Cheer...a competitive squad run out of the same gym. We're going to check out a practice tonight and see what she thinks. My guess is, because cheer is SO much more expensive and they practice 4.5 hours a week instead of 2 hours a week...that's the one she'll want to do. lol

lol, yes, we girls can be like that :-D
keep my fingers crossed that you will find a way that she can make herself happy.