Accepting the Fear
Fear in tumbling is something very common. It is part of the daily routine when an athlete practices their passes or works in a new skill. That part of the brain that keeps human beings alive gets triggered. The natural instincts of survival fill tumblers’ minds with second thoughts. This fear can stop the progress of an athlete for months, years, and in some cases forever. Athletes and coaches must use strategies to successfully handle fear.
Many times athletes have asked me how long it takes to push the fear away, due to all those tumblers that make skills and passes look so easy. But in reality, you don’t push the fear away, you just learn how to handle it, use it in your favor. The first time that I did a handstand I was very scared, and I actually fell on my head. Now, after many years of practice, when I do a handstand, I use my fear of falling as an indicator of posture adjustment. I don’t panic anymore when something goes wrong, and that happens eventually with every skill.
Strategy 1 – Mental Practice
This strategy is one of my favorites, and it works very well with most of the athletes. To put it into practice, you must recreate the entire skill in your head from your own perspective. Just thinking about the technique is not enough, your mental practice must incorporate all possible senses, what you feel, see, hear, and think during the trick. Doing this, you are preparing your brain to know what to do, what to feel, and how it should act, reducing the fear of uncertain events during the performance. It will also help you to identify the scariest phase of the movement, and those moments of the skill that you haven’t fully understood.
Strategy 2 – Self-Talk
When you face a very scary skill – especially after a fall or injury – your brain is trying to stop you by sending messages of “what if I fall”, “what if I make a mistake”, and other negative thoughts. This cloud of negativity will make it hard to focus on the important. Here is when using self-talk helps, you will be able to push away those thoughts with positive ones like “I trained for this”, “I got this skill”, “I know what to do”, “I’m ready”. Or specific commands like “Punch, look forward and tuck”, “arms up then twist”. These positive thoughts will redirect the attention to execution instead of fear, and keep you focused on what you have to do.
Strategy 3 – Focus Breathing
When you face a scary skill, your body will enter into a fight or flight state (rush of adrenaline, muscular tension, tunnel vision, etc.). To stay focused, you must tell your brain that everything is fine, and breathing is one of the best ways to do that. Deep diaphragmatic breathing will calm your body, but that is not automatic, it requires practice, and patience. After some practice, you will be able to relax just with a few repetitions (at the beginning, it is normal to need in between 5 and 10). Also, while you are doing this exercise, your attention should be in all the oxygen entering to your body, going to your lungs, and then, getting distributed to your muscles. Your brain will interpret these signs as “there is no imminent danger” reducing anxiety and the chances of freezing from fear.
Coach Frez’s Strategy – Execution Routine
We will combine these three strategies to create a fourth strategy to get you in the best mental state possible: an execution routine. The idea is to have a sequence of steps before trying that scary skill:
Once you step in the starting position for your pass or skill, you will start with:
– Recreating the skill in your mind, closing your eyes and using your arms to “mark” the movement.
– Open your eyes and look at the space where you will perform the skill, and breath deeply three times as if you are gathering energy.
– At the same time you are breathing, you will fill your head with 2 good thoughts and 2 clear commands.
– Once the third breath is over, you can start the running (or the movement if it’s standing) with a clear focus on the commands.
I teach my athletes this routine when they are struggling with fear, and I know that by doing this, you will have a safe and powerful tool to keep your mind in what you can control, away from fear and chaos.
Final Thoughts
Fear is part of tumbling, it is what makes every skill awesome and impressive, because regular people are not able to do such amazing movements in the air without falling on their heads. It is supposed to be hard, and threatening. If you have been in this activity, I’m sure that you have worked with fear before. It is a familiar opponent, don’t see this as “a new fear”, it is just another day in your tumbling life. Be patient, keep practicing, and someday you will put your fear in the right place in your head.
If you want more practical tips, clear explanations, and evidence-based guidance to help you progress safely and confidently in your training, subscribe to my newsletter “Tumbling Insights” for free.