Stuff Gymnastics Coaches Say

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Signs of a burnout gymnast

For a proud parent of an aspiring gymnast, the last thing you want is your daughter/son to feel any sort of pain. Be it physical or emotional stress, our lives are dedicated to protecting the most important people in our lives.

WARNING SIGNS

• Not enough sleep/sleeping every chance she can.
• Irritable. (watch out!)
• Not wanting to go to practice. Making excuses. 
• Talking about quitting. 
• Saying the coaches don't encourage her like they do the other kids
• Complaining about not having free time
• Increase of injuries
• Decreased appetite
• Lack of enthusiasm

But what happens next?

Not all cases are the same but here are some tips to help cope with whatever might be going on, gymnastics related or not. 

• Talk to them about rescheduling activities. Lower training hours, switching to a recreational program, etc. 
• Try to find out which activities they put in high priority. 
• Talk to their coach. Perhaps, he or she notices too and chances are they have dealt with this situation more than once before. 
• Come up with a game plan. GOALS to get out of this rut no matter what! What needs to happen, when, why and how?

Being forced to do a sport they just aren't into is much more damaging to a gymnast than retirement. Some say finishing what you started is something we need to instill in our children, I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Would you make him/her finish the season if he or she decided its time to hang up the grips?