“Mental block”—the words in cheerleading that are often whispered. Unfortunately, it's a common plight. Some athletes fall into a black hole of fear because of a fall, but sometimes, it just happens. When an athlete falls into a state of tumbling instability, it often recurs throughout their cheerleading career.

There is no universal solution to this problem because every athlete’s situation is different. This is "Mental Blocks, Part 1 - A Coach’s Perspective" on how to help athletes deal with mental blocks. None of these people are sports psychologists, but they all have ample experience with struggling athletes.  

Lane Petersen, former Stephen F. Austin cheerleader and tumbling coach with more than 20 years of experience

I’ve worked with quite a few students that have had mental blocks. They typically originate from a crash and/or wipe out. The only way a student gets over a mental block is pushing through it. Depending on the severity of the crash, the healing time varies. More severe crashes typically take longer.

From the students I’ve worked with that have mental blocks, I’ve found it's easiest to almost start over from scratch. If they crashed from performing a back-handspring, then go back to a backbend kick-over, jumping to a flat back on a crash pad. Use the big blue barrel to have them go over backward again.

In the healing process, there must be a lot of hands-on spotting, and constant reassurance that the crash won’t happen again. I constantly reiterate that their safety is my No. 1 priority.

Overall, a lot of patience is required by the coach. Try to put yourself in your athlete's shoes and understand what's going through his or her mind. This promotes a better plan of action that will be much more effective. From the coaching side, it’s important for us to understand that in the student’s mind, whatever a coach says is almost always “easier said than done” in a student’s mind. The student’s focus is clouded with doubt, so help them take one step at a time.

When you work with students that have mental blocks, you’ll get a better feel for how fast the recovery will take.

Terry Escobar, cheerleading and gymnastics coach for the last 25 years

I believe mental blocks start due to various reasons: pressure, fear, or moving an athlete too quickly through a skill. It’s been my experience that repetition on a controlled surface (where an athlete can do the skill independently), works the best. After they regain confidence, they can progress to a harder tumbling surface. They must devote time and hard work to the skill a minimum of three times weekly. I believe that with positive motivation and having athletes go back to the basics, they can overcome mental blocks.

Wes Frazier, former competitive gymnast and cheerleader / current All-Star tumbling coach

Conquering tumbling blocks from my past experience requires a few things:

• The athlete needs to have a desire to personally want to get past it. 
• The athlete needs to work with a coach he or she trusts. The athlete needs to personally know the coach will be there for him or her to make the necessary changes. 
• There needs to be a "new" surge at getting past this. If it is more of the same, the athlete will reside in the past at every chance. The fear needs to be conquered and that only happens when the desire becomes greater to change . . . this time . . . today . . . right now. 

Sandra Morgan, former gymnast and University of Houston head cheerleader / current All-Star cheer coach

I think mental blocks stem from either a hard fall or something much more psychological for a gymnast or cheerleader. 

I have seen athletes get them from an unpleasant experience that they have not fully dealt with. I have helped individuals overcome mental blocks that no one can explain. It could be a fear of failure or even anger toward an authority figure that they are now retaliating against subconsciously by not tumbling. It is super complicated, and each case should be handled differently. I've found positive encouragement and allowing them to have control is the best remedy. When they are ready to fix the mental block, it will cure itself in a positive environment.

Kim Chapman, former competitive cheerleader / current All-Star cheer coach

• Take them back to the tumbling level that they feel successful at
• Repetition, repetition, repetition!
• When you/they feel comfortable, take them to other tumbling surfaces to work drills and change the "feeling of fear" with and without a spot: tumble track, air tramp, rod floor, decline mat, tumbling pit, etc.
• Work repetition on these new surfaces
• Move/migrate to firmer surfaces when tumbling is consistent and confident