Discouragement

The reason I haven't been posted is mostly discouragement. I'm improving on almost all of my fitness goals except one--and that one I've regressed on. I have a beautiful round-off back handspring. Lots of power, completely connected. I can through it uphill onto mats stacked a foot high without a problem. However, I can't throw it on the regular floor.

I used to be able to. Only a couple of months ago, I was doing it without problem. Then, for no particular reason, I got scared to do it. And I haven't been able to do it without a mat or a spot since.

I've tried slow progressions towards doing it with just the floor. They aren't working. I only get about one hour at the gym a week, and that's an open gym--not a lot of coaching. Still, one of the coaches was talking to me about it last night, trying to help me through it. He reminded me that each week it's just a workout. Some workouts are good, some are bad, and that's okay. I need to stop thinking so hard about the skill and just do it. Which is very good advice. I just can't seem to follow it.

Gymnastics is easily the highlight of my week, especially when things seem as rough as they have recently. Having this shadow over my favorite skill is having a major impact on many other things in my life, especially my caring about fitness. I'm keeping at it, but I'm not sure how to move ahead. How do you deal with major mental blocks on skills, and what keeps you going when you find it hard to care about exercise? I'll just keep working on the skill, and practicing all the other skills that are going well. And there are many--my front handsprings are cleaner, so are my aerials, I'm developing a good front tuck, my cartwheels are becoming consistent, and I'm becoming stronger. All that should balance out to positive compared with one skill that's holding me back.

I should be focusing on all the good things. But it's hard not to get stuck on the one thing that's holding me back.