Of course, every gymnast would like all of her practices to go well so she feels like she’s gaining progress and that each day is building upon the last.
The reality is, though, we all have off days sometimes. You may have been able to do a skill successfully yesterday, but for some reason, it just doesn’t go well today. You feel the same. What happened? More importantly, how do you deal with it?
- Understand that it happens. The sooner that you accept that everyday will not be the same in the gym, the sooner that you’ll be able to deal with it.
- Once you understand the above point, then you will be able to start problem solving. What is it that you’re doing wrong? Are you on auto-pilot? Are you over-thinking? Are you forgetting the lead-up skills? Ask your coach to help you identify the problem.
- Working through a problem presents an opportunity for you to learn valuable lessons about your gymnastics, your mental attitude, your confidence, and your problem-solving skills. But you can’t get to this point without taking a deep breath, accepting the problem, and trying to change something to work through it.
Tears and frustration will not help you through this process. In fact, part of this experience is learning how to push the frustration aside so you are able to get to the problem-solving stage.
Remember that these days are not lost, if you choose not to lose them. Gymnastics sometimes is taking two steps forward and one step back. If you choose to break through the frustration point, then you will be able to learn a very valuable life lesson of solving problems. Talk to your coach. She can help.
For a gymnastics book series that helps gymnasts learn valuable life skills, go here!
Gym Rats 
Great step by step advice that is practical. Having had those off days I can truly say the outlined method works. I have a common saying for those days, Remember who you are, and what you have done.
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