How to control your nerves on the gymnastics balance beam

Nervousness and anxiety are very normal in artistic gymnastics. Especially when it comes to the balance beam. By far, balance beam is the event that almost every gymnast feels most excited about. The thought of landing 4 feet off the ground on a 4 inch beam can be very intimidating. No matter how much experience you have, you’ll still be nervous when it’s your turn to compete in a balance beam routine. There are some things you can do as a gymnast to relieve anxiety and nervousness.

Reducing your anxiety before a balance beam competition at a gymnastics meet isn’t easy. It takes a lot of training! But in the end it’s worth it.

Competing a balance beam routine is different from working out and doing it. You can perform a balance beam routine in practice thousands of times and never get nervous and then go to a gymnastics meet and collapse once the bar is on. The question is, how do you eliminate anxiety and nervousness in a gymnastics meet?

You can eliminate nervousness through competition! But the problem is that there are not enough encounters in a season to get a lot of experience from it. This means that you need to create situations that will help you train and prepare for a gymnastics meet other than training and competition.

You can start by doing a balance beam routine while having a loud progressive/cheerleading class at the gym, or when you’re throwing a birthday party. You can also try playing music very loudly while doing your gymnastics beam routine. Invite friends and family to watch and encourage them to talk and cheer while you’re on the beam. While all this is happening, you need to try to focus and tune everything out. Another good way to practice is to go to as many small/fun gymnastics as you can.

Just remember that if you fall off the light your anxiety level will go up, which is not a good thing. So don’t rush, take a deep breath and take a short pause if necessary. It’s better to get a small discount for going over time or for a pause in your routine than for a discount for a fall. Plus once you fall it is much more difficult to get back up and get over it without letting your anxiety get the best of you.

The hardest thing about beam is not the gymnast’s dance, skills, turns, hops, or leaps in the routine, but rather the mental inclinations of the gymnast. The main reason girls shake the beam and get so nervous is because they’re head-spinners. This is by far the hardest thing to get over! The only things that can help with mental tendencies are practice, practice, and practice.