The Cheer Mentality
Most think cheer is a fun, laid-back, worry-free sport. That is most definitely not true. Cheer is physically very hard. But the mental side of it can be even harder. Mental blocks are a form of anxiety that happens to every athlete many times in their career. A mental Block is a physiological barrier blocking athlete from preforming their skills. It is most common in tumbling. For example, an athlete may be throwing an easy for them tumbling skill and take a bad fall. After that fall the athlete is terrified of the skill and even though they want to do the skill, A mental block stops them from throwing it. From my experience with mental blocks, it is very frustrating. I got angry with myself and lost all confidence and thought of myself as worthless. I would go to throw the skill but just as I was about to do it, I would fall. Mental blocks are a very tricky thing, but with going back to basic, lots of support from teammates, and a good coach it is possible to get over mental blocks.
At my first competition ever, I remember feeling the most anxious I’ve ever felt in a long time. And still to this day, I am not the only one who shakes backstage (sometimes from fear or from the cold air)! It is a common thing to feel so excited for something but so crazy nervous at the same time. Backstage me and my team always use breathing exercises to calm ourselves down. Calming down helps us give our best performance. For me, the calmer I am, the better I preform the routine and don’t crack under pressure!
Thank you for reading my second post, Come back for the next one!