Fear of failure is not uncommon in cheerleaders, as I mentioned in my previous posting.  Excessive concern about making mistakes and perceived pressure to be perfect are associated with fear of failure.  It can be a problem in that it may lead to sub-optimal performance, avoidance behavior and mental blocks. 

What contributes to this dilemma? 

Well first is the cheerleader’s basic temperament and personality style but then we need to consider the coach and the parents. A good coach wants his or her athletes to excel.  A good parent wants his or her child to succeed.  But how this is communicated can make all the difference between a cheerleader who has fun while learning and one who agonizes over every mishap. 

A sport environment is an evaluative environment.   The athlete is a learner who must be open to instruction and coaching.  Ideally a cheerleader has or develops what I call a championship mind-set which means being open to learning, eager for feedback, and maintaining a perspective that every set-back and mistake is a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow and improve. (This is a life skill, too!) 

Coaches and parents can nurture a championship mind-set or they can interfere with it. If the egos of the coach and/or parent are too closely intertwined with the success of the cheerleader, objectivity can suffer and emotions may run high. 

If a coach/parent gets unduly upset when an cheerleader makes a mistake, this communicates to the athlete that mistakes are not ok, that they are a problem and are to be avoided.  Patience and a sense of humor plus a championship mind-set on the part of the parents/coaches go a long way toward creating a healthy learning atmosphere. 

Let’s not forget that this sport of cheerleading is supposed to be fun! 

It is good to set high standards and strive for excellence in sport performance and it is imperative that coaches and parents never put down the cheerleader’s efforts, performance, and self worth when the results are imperfect. 

To an athlete, the reactions and words of a parent and/or coach carry enormous weight.  If coaches/parents pressure athletes (especially young beginners) to perform perfectly, to avoid mistakes, and to meet high (perhaps unrealistic) expectations, and if they criticize the athlete when he or she fails to meet those expectations, all this contributes to the athletes’ fear of failure. 

Fostering a good work ethic with clearly defined and realistically high expectations, encouraging healthy team relationships, nurturing a spirit of curiosity and openness to learning where mistakes are gifts and not demons are all ways to contribute to the development of a happy, healthy cheerleader.

As I mentioned in my last post on the perfectionistic cheerleader, those athletes who have more Perfectionistic Concerns also have more fear of failure.  This term is another one that is thrown around a lot and not surprisingly, it is more complicated that you might think! 

 Why should someone have a fear of failure?  Of course no one likes to fail but for some people, the fear of failing is excessive and it can lead to sub-par performances and mental blocks.  They associate failure with aversive consequences – not just feeling bad but with real or imagined negative consequences.  

And what are those consequences?  It seems there are 5: 

1. Fear of experiencing shame and embarrassment
2. Fear of devaluing one’s self-estimate (“I’m not as good as I thought.”)
3. Fear of having an uncertain future (“Will I be able to stay on the team?”)
4. Fear of important others (parents/coaches) losing interest
5. Fear of upsetting important others (parents/coaches) 

Fear of failure can lead to avoidance behavior.  The thinking is something like this: “If I don’t try, I can’t fail.”   The motivation is to avoid failure because of anticipatory shame (of failing). 

Sport psychology research shows that fear of experiencing shame and embarrassmentis central to understanding the relationship between perfectionism and fear of failure. In other words, shame is an emotion at the core of fear of failure and it involves a negative scrutiny of one’s self along with feelings of incompetence.  The experience is a painful one especially because the athlete feels that his or her entire self is a failure.   

But reader – do not despair!  I’ll be telling you what to do about this in my next posting! 

Have you signed up for my Confident Cheerleading Tips?  No? All you have to do is scroll up to the upper right side opt-in box, give me your name and email, and you will get my 10 annotated peak performance tips delivered to you via email. Go ahead…do it now!

I’ve heard many cheerleading coaches use the term “perfectionist” when describing a (usually anxious) cheerleader.  And just the other day a cheerleader wrote to me and said she was a perfectionist.  Before that, a cheer mom told me her daughter was a perfectionist. 

Ok, so what exactly is a perfectionist and is it really a problem?  Turns out this is a more complex dilemma than you would think! 

Now I admit that psychologists can be good at making things more complicated than they need to be but in this case, the research makes sense.  Please bear with me and read on… 

First, sport psychologists make the distinction between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns.  There is an important difference! 

Perfectionistic Concerns are preoccupations with making mistakes, parental expectations, parental criticism, and coach’s expectations and criticisms.  As might be expected, athletes who score high on this dimension have a high fear of failure. These athletes also tend to have problems with depression, anxiety and avoidance. 

Coaches and parents communicate the standards of what is acceptable in performance situations.  They provide feedback and evaluation to the athletes about their abilities and performances.  Because of this, their criticisms and expectations are a source of pressure and concern for athletes. 

 For the athlete who has Perfectionistic Concerns, the words and behaviors of parents and coaches are weighed heavily.  It’s important to note that these athletes might PERCEIVE criticisms and feedback as being harsher than it is objectively communicated. 

Perfectionistic Strivings relate to a desire to excel and are accompanied by high personal standards of success.  These athletes tend to be more self confident and have a positive approach to practice and goal-setting as long as they have some capacity to accept minor imperfections.  When they demand perfection in all things, they fare less well. 

Stay tuned for more on this topic…

By the way…it’s competition season!  Learn all about the Mental Game of Competitions here!  Don’t miss out!

I just came across this video of cheerleading stunts (below) on YouTube (where you can find anything!!) and thought I’d share it with you. It’s very impressive and anyone watching it would never ever doubt that cheerleading is indeed a sport!

The lovely young woman you see below is Maddie Gardner, Inside Cheerleading  (iC) Magazine’s December cover girl and winner of Nfinity’s Golden ticket contest!  (Nfinity inserted “golden tickets” into 20 of their shoe boxes and one person was selected to win an all expense paid trip to New York City!) 

As exciting as all this is, it’s clear Maddie has her priorities straight because she started a local fundraising effort called Hope for Haiti in the hope to provide aid to victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. 100% of all profit made from t-shirt sales at Cheersport (and beyond) will be given to World Vision, an organization that is directly involved withrelief efforts in Haiti.

The brightly clad woman below is Mary Chambliss of Birmingham, Alabama who attended Cheersport to support her son who is on a special needs team with Ace Cheer.

And the good looking fellow in the photo below is Todd Kopp, owner of CoreAthletics.  Todd’s daughter, Kelsie,  is a cheerleader and it was she who inspired him to get involved in the cheer industry.  Todd found his daughter perched on the arm of the couch, trying to do a heel stretch and, worried that she might fall, figured out a way to help her practice that was safe and effective.  This led to the development of the MaeFlyer (seen on either side in the rear of the picture). Kelsie’s balance and leg strength improved so much that she was sticking all her stunts!  More cheerleaders wanted the device and this led to the birth of CoreAthletics!

Todd is quite the innovator and inventer.  His other products include the DeFrogger, the Fast Bands (I have a pair!), the Stunt Strap, and the Full Up Machine.  In this picure, you see Todd helping a cheerleader in using the Full Up which helps cheerleaders to practice that skill in a safe way.

Inside Cheerleading Magazine hosted a special meet and greet session with Olympic Gold medalist Shawn Johnson on Saturday at Cheersport.  News spread quickly that Shawn was going to appear at the Inside Cheerleading (IC) booth and soon there was a long line of eager fans waiting to meet Shawn and get her autograph.

Big news is that Shawn is joining the writing staff at IC!  She will  have her own column called, “Shawn Says” beginning with the next issue! Don’t miss it – subscribe now!  (And you’ll be able to see my column, too – Minda Games!)

Here’s a glimpse of the long line of Shawn Johnson fans waiting to meet the Olympic champ!

Imagine about 850 cheerleading teams gathered in one place!  Add to that parents, extended family, friends, coaches, and vendors and you end up with a HUGE segment of humanity assembled in the Georgia World congress Center in Atlanta for Cheersport’s annual national competition.

This was too good to pass up so I made my way to Atlanta last week (February 5 – 7) to immerse myself in the world of cheerleading.

The Georgia World Congress Center is a mammoth structure which seems the size of a small city.  It has numerous levels and wings which made me wish I had a GPS to help me navigate its many nooks and crannies!

On Friday, February 5th, cheerleading teams arrived to assess the scene and to engage in practice sessions.  Many found the Cheer Mall to snap up some eye glitter or to try on Nfinity’s latest cheer shoe – the Phoenix.  Many experiemented with Core Athletics amazing products such as the Maeflyer, the stunt strap, or the Full Up machine.  The sense of excitement permeated the air as cheer teams anticipated the competitions to be held the next day, Saturday.

Friday night everyone headed over to the Georgia Dome for a special event – A Celebration of Hope and Cheer.  The evening was dedicated to the memory of cheerleader Hope Stout, who lost her battle with cancer in 2004, but whose legacy and spirit of giving remains strong through the March Forth with Hope Foundation. Cheersport staff led the audience in a cheer for HOPE in an attempt to break the world record for the largest group cheer (heretofore held by China).  The photo below shows the beginning of the program.

Helpng to kick off the weekend was Olympic Gold medalist Shawn Johnson who also was one of the judges in a So-You-Think-You-Can-Tumble contest.  Ms. Johnson was duly impressed with the professionalism and skill of the cheerleaders who participated in the event. Prior to the contest, a Special Needs Team performed for the big crowd who appreciated the team’s enthusiastic performance.  Ms. Johnson gave each team member a plaque to commemorate the event.

The evening ended with hundreds of cheerleaders performing the newly famous “Pants on the Ground” dance…(“pants on the ground…looking like a fool with your pants on the gorund.”) See the dancers below.

The grand finale was the explosion of confetti which showered on the crowd.

 

 

A cheerleading competition has much to offer.  There are, of course, the performances of the cheerleaders (most important!) but then there are the vendors and special guests, too.  Here are three images from the Rhode Island Convention Center from the weekend of January 30 – 31st.

The first photo is Norma Pimenta, author of the book – Smiling Eyes – A Cheerleading Coach’s Personal Victory. Norma’s book tells the tale of her recovery from a tragic accident and how being a cheer coach helped inspire her to move forward with grace and courage. You can get Norma’s book from Amazon or from her site

That handsome fellow below is James Kersey, Cheerleading Brand Manager for Nfinity shoes, showing off their newest cheerleading shoe, the Phoenix!

The T-shirt below was on display at a vendor’s booth.  As I was taking the picture, two cheerleaders walked past, noticed the shirt and said they had to get one for their mothers.  Yes, cheerleading can be expensive but loving parents are willing to make the invesment!

 Olympic Gold Medalist, Shawn Johnson, will appear at Cheersport this weekend.  (Cheersport  – the world’s largest cheerleading event is held annually at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. This year it will take place on February 5 – 7th.)

Shawn will help kick off the weekend’s fun on Friday night beginning at 8 pm by welcoming the crowd and encouraging the competitors.  (If anyone knows about competitng, it is Shawn!) After the welcome, Shawn will serve as a judge for the So You Think You Can Tumble Contest presented by Inside Cheerleading Magazine. The lucky winner will be given the trophy by Shawn herself!