Gymnasts who are not able for whatever reason to discuss their fears are candidates for injury and are safety risks. Recommendation - Be open and willing to accept feedback from your gymnast about their personal feeling concerning readiness and apprehension. Never invalidate these expressions of an inner psychological state. A third point for this discussion has to do with the importance of physical preparation and safety. This may seem like a given, but the critical place that physical readiness plays from a psychological point of view in terms of safety is sometimes overlooked.
All coaches know the excitement that a talented and quick learning gymnast can bring to any program.
We all have egos and the temptation with gifted children when we are anxious to show competitive results is to take a short cut and perhaps by-pass important building blocks. Skipping steps in the didactic process can not only result in a safety hazard, but can mitigate against the gymnast realizing his or her full potential. It is much more difficult to go back to correct a missing link than it is to stay longer with the progressive basics until mastery is achieved. This results in carry over to other skill learning while the sin of omission often leads to a regression later in the athlete's career. Remember, overall, your physical preparation is your best mental preparation.