The speed at which you learn your skills can vary from time to time. I’m sure that to most of you, that’s not groundbreaking news, but it’s something I like to repeat often because it’s just so important for athletes (and even parents) to understand.

To explain my point further, I wanted to share email which I received recently. It was from an athlete who, from what I can gather, was obviously frustrated by her lack of progress and wanted some help.

Here’s how it went:

“Hey Coach, I just wanted to know why tumbling is so damn hard for me to get? I’m a pretty solid flyer, I can double down, I have no problem with full baskets and rewinds and anything else. You name it, and I can do it in the air. But just working on a running pass that needs a tuck is a challenge for me. Its tough because other girls seem to not have a problem at all! And I train just as hard as they do but I’m not getting the skills and feel like I’m letting my team down. Can you help? Any tips? – CheerSuzy“

(Note: names & small details have been edited to protect the identity of the sender)

My Response

So miss CheerSuzy, it’s pretty obvious that you’re quite good at what you currently do. In fact, I can probably bet that as a flyer you picked things up rather quickly. However, you have to understand that not every aspect of cheer will come as easily as flying did. And for gymnastics, you have to understand that if you’re a champ on beam and bars, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be a champ on floor and vault.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I don’t know of a single cheerleader or gymnast that didn’t have to work extra-hard on certain elements over others.

So the first step is to accept the fact that for you, getting higher level tumbling skills will simply take a little more time.

Notice I didn’t say it’ll be “harder” for you.

Unless you’re grossly under-conditioned (I assume you’re not) or are suffering from a mental block, tumbling only seems hard because you make it hard.

You’re putting a too much pressure on yourself by thinking you’re letting the team down and all that other nonsense which is probably very untrue.

Listen, if your coaches have decided to put you on the team, then it’s for a reason. It’s because they think you’re an asset, so stop thinking that you’re not.

Just because your tumbling is taking a little longer doesn’t make you less valuable. Got it?

Good, now let’s talk some practical advice…

3 Tips That’ll Help Speed Up The Way You Learn Tumbling

1) Increase VOL (volume of training). If you aren’t doing a focused tumbling class at least 3x a week for 2 hours per session (that’s 6 hours total) then that’s the first thing you should do. You say you work as hard as “they” do, and I believe it. But do you work for as long as they do? Do you have the same lasting power as they do? If not, that’s the first place to start. Nothing can replace the experience which comes from spending more time in the gym. Nothing.

2) Figure Out Your Sticking Points. If you’re having trouble in the running tuck, is it ACTUALLY your tuck? I doubt it, because if you can do rewinds then you know how to tuck properly. I can almost guarantee your RO BHS or RO aren’t being executed at a high enough standard. Spend the next month cleaning up and perfecting your RO and RO BHS entry. If you do, the tuck will take care of itself.

3) Drills Pay The Bills. Are you simply working the pass to get the pass? If so, then you’re basically beating your head against the wall. Is funny to me when girls who are having trouble with their fulls try and improve their full by… working their full. Sounds odd but 80% of the time doing more layout drills or twisting drills on a trampoline will produce much better results. Think about it this way: you can’t solve a puzzle by simply putting it together all at once. You solve it piece by piece. So treat your tumbling passes the same way. Figure out what pieces are missing or what pieces need work, then drill the living hell outta them. Ask your coaches for help and guidance in this area since I have no clue what your passes look like at the moment.

I hope that makes sense. If you apply what I’ve shown you here, you will not only make progress, but most likely at a pace that you enjoy.

But you know what? Even if you don’t make rapid progress and nothing I said here does you any good, just remember to let the process of learning a skill take its course.

Eventually it will pay off. It has to. Persistent athletes suffer from bumps, scrapes and setbacks, but they always succeed in the end.

Train hard, eat well and stay fierce!