Overcoming Any Mental Block
I’ve had many mental blocks in my life, and no I’m not just talking about cheer – but, the cheer ones have been the most challenging to overcome.
My first mental block was with my standing tuck. I could physically do it, but I was mentally blocked. I knew I could do the skill if I wasn’t thinking about it so to overcome this challenge, I would sing my ABC’s when I was about to take my standing tuck so I wouldn’t over think it. And Boom! I nailed it.
Another mental block I had was with my full. I had seen so many people not land right and tear their ACL or their meniscus so, I began building up a fear because I didn’t want that to happen to me. So, as weird as it may sound I would talk out loud while doing my passes. An example would be “round-off, back-handspring, full” and as I would say each skill I would do it and it helped to clear my mind.
For me to progress, I had to get rid of my mental cheer blocks because that was what was holding me back most. Drop the fear and just do it! And on a future note, I’m working through my mental blocks about entering my senior year then heading off to college.
Here’s a great blog with a step-by-step guide to Overcoming any Mental Blocks you might have. In flying and cheering, body control is key. So check out this short video on Becoming a Perfect Cheer Flyer from LiveStrong.
You have to be able to put in the work and time it takes to overcome mental blocks but, I promise, in the end it’s worth it.
Good Luck<3