When people watch gymnastics, they think about all the flips and turns and jumps they do. People see when the gymnasts do well and when they mess up. What they don’t see is the mental part of gymnastics.
Gymnastics is a very tough sport. It is very important to stay focused and not distracted. One little mistake can lead to serious injuries and could even end your sports career.
During practices, the gymnasts stretch and warm up first and then they go to each individual event.
For vault, the gymnasts jump off of a spring board onto a table-the vault- and push off, landing on their feet. On the uneven bars, depending on the gymnasts’ levels, most gymnasts would transition from the low bar to the high bar by jumping off of the low bar and grabbing the high bar and then they dismount, landing on the mat under the high bar. For the balance beam, the gymnasts must complete a routine with a leap, turn, jumps and a skill while trying not to fall on a four inch beam. Finally, on floor, the gymnasts perform to their floor music and must have a turn and leap and depending on their level, either a series or if they are on a higher level, tumbling passes. All of these events make it very easy for gymnasts to overthink and develop mental blocks.
During practices, gymnasts work really hard to perfect their skills and to learn new ones. Sometimes, gymnasts push themselves a little too hard and start to get mental blocks. A mental block, in gymnastics, is when you can’t seem to complete or even do your skill that you’ve easily done many times. This happens when a gymnast’s brain freezes and stops her from doing her skill. It could also be caused by stress and when gymnasts push themselves too much.
In gymnastics, mental blocks are usually referred to as “twisties.” This can be very dangerous because it could cause them to bail on a skill, for example, a back tuck. When you bail, you freeze and stop doing the skill you were doing. When you bail on a back tuck in mid-air, you could land on your neck and that could cause you to break it and it could even be life threatening.
The famous gymnast, Simone Biles, had a case of “the twisties” in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It happened when she got lost in midair. She decided to pull out of the competition for her own safety. A lot of gymnasts struggle with mental blocks and it affects their performance.
“It takes a long time to overcome them,” 14-year-old local gymnast Oenee Berrios said. “It feels great when I finally overcome them.”
There are some ways to help you overcome these blocks. Sometimes it’s best to just take a break from the skill and go back to it when you’re ready. This is a good way to deal with them instead of continuing to try and do it and risk hurting yourself. Even getting heavily spotted by coaches can help.
These don’t necessarily work all the time though. Everyone is different and can have very different ways of dealing with blocks.
“When I watch other people do the skill I’m struggling on, it makes it easier for me to just do it,” Berrios explained.
Gymnastics is more than just flips; there is also a big mental part. If you aren’t 100% focused, anything could go wrong.
