FEAR AND SPORTS

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A young lady once walked up to me and told me about her passion for gymnastics. She had earlier dreamt to be an Olympian but he dreams came crumbling. After much talk with her I realized she had one factor hindering her and that was FEAR.

In most sports we often find out that fear is a major limiting factor. It creeps into o our mind and mess with our heads telling us things that are not real. As a gymnast, I had a share of this. It took me 6 months to get be back handspring because I had many voices on my head.
DEALING WITH FEAR
This is probably one of the hardest parts of sports, in gymnastics you are
expected to tumble on a 4 inch beam and you just wonder if you could possibly miss a leg and your head comes smashing all over the beam.
Am about to share an advice I gave the young lady that meet me. Luckily for her, she is now at a competitive level and she is enjoying her sports.
Warm up: before you try out something new, you must warm up and straighten your muscles, this will boost your courage.

Start with the simpler skills: for example, if you want to try out a back hand spring, don’t just go into the skill. Learn a bridge, back kick over, back walkover, straight jumps, and build your shoulders before trying out a back hand spring. And also include these skills into your warm ups.


Use a spotter: the best bet to eliminate fear is to be spotted. If you are not able to get a spotter. You can look for equipments like: octagonal mats to support you.

Use padded floors. I advise you to make use of a nearby gym or padded foams at home. Do not try out new skills on bare floors or grasses. Grasses are not soft enough to absorb the shock coming from your head if you suddenly come crashing
Go for it: when all these are ready, just go for it. Take that step. You will definitely not get it the first time, but it can only get better.

Get strong: the stronger you are, the better your confidence. I have noticed that if your body is not ready for a skill yet, it will affect you mentally, so try to build your upper body. Do lots of press ups.


Be confident: on a well padded mat or on a very soft surface, you can’t really get hurt. You just fall and learn one or two things from the fall. The first time I managed to go for a back handspring, It looked like a funny backward roll over and very awkward but it continued to get better at every try. Having one or two things to learn from the previous ones.
Gymnastic is really fun and fulfilling when you have finally gotten a skill and showing it off either to friends or at competitions but u definitely need to work hard for it. Tell yourself how much you want this and how much you are willing to invest to have it. Remember; take it one step at a time.