Brian Payne, who is an expert tumbling coach and the director of Super Duper Sportkids and owner of Acrojax Trampoline and Tumbling in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, wrote an article about mental blocks which appears in the most recent Cheer Biz News. 

Brian offers a number of tips on how to work with a blocked athlete.  (more…)

In my last post, I said that sometimes a cheer coach can unwittingly cause mental blocks.  This can be due to the pressure to win and/or the lack of experience on the part of the coach.

So how can you know if a coach is the right one?  Here are some things to look for. (more…)

The short answer is – yes!  The longer answer has to do with the pressure coaches feel to “win” plus the fact that some cheer coaches may be overstepping their reach. (more…)

Just as there are many reasons why a cheerleader may develop a mental block, there are many types of solutions. For today I’ll focus on just a few.   (more…)

I get lots of questions (often from parents) about mental blocks and although I tend to invite people to call me so we can talk directly about the block, some are reluctant to do so.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps they are shy or they prefer the anonymity of email. Still, there are some worried parents out there and so I thought I would devote the next few blog posts on this topic. (more…)

Cheerleading mental blocks come in all shapes and sizes. There are many reasons why a block develops and many ways to resolve it.  Here is a story about one way to fix a block.  (more…)

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.

It’s not unusual for cheerleaders to experience fear when attempting to tumble or execute a stunt.  I frequently get questions from cheerleaders who ask me how to “get over” fear of some kind. What follows is my response to a cheerleader who wrote saying she gets scared everytime she gets ready to throw something like a cartwheel or a forward roll.  She said that she takes a step to do it and then steps back and repeats that over and over.  Since this cheerleader’s problem is fairly typical, I thought I would share my response to her with all of you.

Here is my response:

Dear X,

Do you know why you get scared?  Did you ever fall or injure yourself in any way?  Or are you afraid that might happen?  Since you didn’t mention an injury or a fall, I will assume you are afraid something might happen and that is what’s spooking you.  

Many cheerleaders have fears and many learn how to overcome them.  You can, too!  Ready?  Okay…if you’re really ready to work on your mental block, read on.

First – you must calm down and view this situation like a scientist would – objectively.  Your anxiety is leading you to catastrophize and think the worst which only feeds the anxiety and makes it worse.

So, right now, as you are reading this, slow down your breathing by exhaling slowly – as slowly as possible three times.  Ready?  Go ahead and do it…take your time. Now do it again!  (I told you this required patience.)  With each out-breath, tell yourself that you are relaxing more and more.

Whenever you feel worried or anxious, slow down your breathing by doing this. When we are anxious we don’t think clearly and right now you need to think clearly, right?

Okay. Now that you are calmer, let’s look at this situation as objectively as possible. What are the facts?  It sounds like you are somewhat new to tumbling and often when we try something new, it can be a bit scary.  Your body hasn’t yet gotten comfortable with tumbling.

You may not remember since it was a long time ago but when you were little and just beginning to walk, that seemed hard, too!  You first had to learn how to balance your head, then how to sit up, then how to stand up, then how to balance your body when you would stand up, then how to take that first step, then how to take the second step and so forth. ]

Now you don’t think twice about walking, do you?  It’s the same with tumbling! Eventually, over time, as you practice more and more, tumbling will become almost second nature to you!

Be kind to yourself as you learn something new!

Now, you may want to try this technique which may help you to reduce your fear.  The goal is to reduce your fear to a manageable level.  And I assume you will work with your private coach on this.  He or she can tell you when you are ready to move to the next level.  Safety is important!

1. Find a nice quiet place and while sitting up, close your eyes.
2. Exhale as slowly as you can 3 – 4 times through your mouth, then inhale through your nose.
3. Say to yourself, “With each out-breath, I am relaxing more and more.”
4. Once relaxed, see yourself, with your mind’s eye, in a safe place, a place you feel ultra comfortable, secure and happy.
5. Really enjoy being in your special safe place as you continue to focus on your out-breath.
6. Now, shift your focus and see yourself in your cheerleading practice spot, beginning to do throw your cartwheel or forward roll.
7. See yourself executing the move with grace and ease and “feel” yourself enjoying it; enjoy your success.
8. Now assign a power label or cue word for this successful execution. It can be anything.  For example, you could simply call it “success” or “good move.”
9. Once you have your power label, visualize and feel the whole successful routine again only this time say your cue word to yourself.
10. Repeat over and over.  Each time you do this, you will be creating brain and muscle memory.   
11. If you feel any anxiety during this phase, stop visualizing the cartwheel or forward roll and return to your favorite safe place.
12. Stay in your safe place until you feel relaxed.
13. Once relaxed, return to visualizing throwing your cartwheel and repeat your cue word to yourself again.
14. Keep repeating this process until the anxiety associated with visualizing the cartwheel or forward roll is manageable.
15. Do not expect the anxiety to disappear completely, the goal is MANAGEABLE ANXIETY.
16. Once you can, in your mind’s eye, execute the cartwheel, repeat over and over using your power label.

 This visualization accomplishes several things.  It helps you ease into the idea of doing your tumbling while minimizing your anxiety and it also engraves the successful execution of the move in your brain.  You will be training your brain to feel and think in the way you want.  You will also be learning how to control your thoughts and feelings rather than have them control you! 

Now, one last thing; when you next begin to do your tumbling, take a moment to focus, exhale slowly, say your power label to yourself and see yourself executing the move successfully. Then go ahead! 

I know this has been a long response but I wanted to be thorough.  Change takes time and effort.  If you want, show this to your coach so he or she knows how serious you are about doing well. 

Good luck with this.  I’m so glad you wrote to me about this.  Please keep me posted.

And to all of you who read this, please let me know your thoughts and feel free to write with your questions.