Are private lessons helpful in overcoming a mental block? Find out Coach Anna's expert opinion. More ..read more

Join Stick It Girl's Gymnastics Vision Board Contest! More ..read more

Words are powerful motivators. See if any of these gymnastics quotes speak to you. More ..read more

How 'Simone Biles Rising' is a very important reminder of some mental block principles we should all remember. More ..read more

Do you have a gymnast who tends to freeze up or "lose" skills right before a gymnastics meet? If so, find out some of the reasons why this happens and what your gymnast can do to get through this frustrating situation.     This time of season when many gymnasts are getting ready to compete, I get very busy as a gymnastics mental coach! It's because gymnasts are gearing up for their meet season but are starting to struggle big time and no one knows what to do about it. Why does my gymnast freeze up on skills right before meets? As we all know, right before competition season begins (o ..read more

  As many gymnasts get ready to start their competitive seasons, there's one thing I hear a lot of from parents and coaches alike. "She's doing great. But if only she had more confidence..." While it's true that confidence is something we all could use a little more of, confidence isn't just about feeling good about yourself. For gymnasts, it's literally the glue that holds them together. It gives them the ability to shine on the meet floor and to show up to competition as the best version of themselves. So how can coaches help gymnasts build confidence leading into gymnastics ..read more

  After working with countless competitive gymnasts who have mental blocks, I've noticed some things that gymnasts do that make their mental blocks worse. As a result I've come up with some mental block rules to help gymnasts move through their mental blocks. Here are Coach Anna's 3 Mental Block Rules for Gymnasts: Rule 1: Never ever push through a mental block. Most gymnasts think that when they get blocked on their skills, they need to push through and keep trying their skills again and again and again. While I'm not suggesting gymnasts give up on their skills, I am recommend ..read more

Injury. It's the dreaded "I" word.  No gymnast wants to get injured, obviously. But in gymnastics it's not so much about the actual injury. We know our gymnasts are tough and that their bodies are incredibly resilient.  Rather, it's about the mental recovery. The road to recovery can be a tough one mentally because there are so many factors involved.  For example, the time of season plays an important factor...and let's face, there's no real good timing for an injury. How long she'll be out of gymnastics and/or how long her recovery will be can also play an emotional facto ..read more

One thing I often communicate to my gymnasts is that their scores are not under their control.  While it seems counterintuitive to most gymnasts, the truth is that while gymnasts can try really hard and even put up their best routine, they don't always receive the scores they think they should get and/or deserve. As a former compulsory judge, I know how subjective scores can be even though they are contained within an objective framework. Judges are indeed humans and thus have their own perspective and biases. While gymnastics scoring was created to eliminate any such subjectivity, the t ..read more

  As gymnasts start putting together routines and fine-tuning their choreography for this upcoming meet season, you can start to feel the tension in the gym. Coaches are saying a pray that their gymnasts are prepared and ready to compete. Gymnasts are feeling the stress of wanting to do well this season. Inevitably, the climate in the gym is starting to feel turbulent. Some gymnasts go into a new meet season hoping they've done enough in the off-season to be successful in competition. But very few gymnasts go into a new meet season with a strong plan for how to feel prepared and ready to ..read more