If you're a gymnast who's had a mental block for a long time and you feel hopeless, this article is for you.

I've talked a lot about how finding the root cause of a mental block is important because it helps you identify why your mental block is showing up. By becoming aware of the why, you can then work to notice patterns in your thinking that keep getting in the way.

But in this article, I want to go even further and talk to the gymnast who feels like she will always have a mental block.

If you'd rather watch the video version of this article, click on the video below:

This could be a mental block that has come and gone for years. It could be constant mental blocks that move around to different skills and events. Or it could be a mental block on one particular movement, such as back skills, that affects you on many events.

If this sounds like you, I want you to understand something:

Having a mental block for a long time does not mean you are stuck with it forever.

I'm going to get a bit neuroscience-y on you now and talk about the neural pathways your brain creates.

When you're learning a new skill, it can take time to become consistent because your brain is still figuring it out. As you practice, your brain creates and strengthens neural pathways—connections that help your brain communicate with your body and coordinate what you're trying to do.

Doing an action or thinking a thought over and over strengthens these pathways, making what you're doing easier, more efficient, and eventually more automatic.

Think about a pathway in your lawn.

If everyone walks across the grass in the exact same spot every day, eventually you'll see a well-defined path. The grass gets pushed down, the dirt becomes visible, and that route becomes easier to recognize and travel.

But if you suddenly decide to walk five feet to the left, there isn't a clearly defined path there. The grass is tall. The ground is covered. You have to create that path by walking it repeatedly.

Your brain works in a similar way.

The more often you use a particular thought, response, or movement pattern, the more familiar that pathway becomes.

Think about your favorite pair of jeans. The more you wear them, the more they conform to you. A brand-new pair can feel stiff and unfamiliar at first. After you've worn them over and over, they feel comfortable because your body is used to them.

Your brain works in much the same way.

 Rewiring your brain takes time.

The reason you can feel hopeless and like you will always have a mental block is because your brain may have practiced that response over and over again.

At some point, the response can become so familiar that it starts to feel automatic.

You think about the skill.

Your brain anticipates danger.

You stop.

You feel frustrated.

Then the next time you think about the skill, your brain remembers that experience and prepares for it again.

It's almost like your brain has learned:

“This skill = something I need to protect you from.”

And here's where things get really important.

Your brain isn't necessarily trying to sabotage you.

It's trying to predict what is going to happen next.

If you've repeatedly experienced fear, hesitation, falling, frustration, pressure, or a lack of confidence around a particular skill, your brain can begin to associate that skill with threat.

So when you stand at the end of the floor and think about doing the skill, your brain may essentially say:

“I know where this is going. We've been here before. Stop.”

That's why simply telling yourself to “just do it” doesn't always work.

You're not fighting a lack of motivation.

You're trying to change a pattern your brain has learned.

But here's the good news.

A well-worn pathway is not a permanent pathway.

You don't have to erase the old pathway from your brain.

You have to build a new one.

Think back to the lawn.

You don't need to somehow destroy the old path. You simply start walking a different route.

At first, that new route might feel awkward.

You might have to consciously think about it (this is where key words come into play in gymnastics).

You might not trust it yet. You might even need to take baby steps into the new pathway and back out again.

But every time you walk that new route, it becomes a little more familiar.

Eventually, the new path becomes easier to follow.

That's what you're trying to do with a mental block.

You're teaching your brain:

“This is a different experience now.”

And that takes time, repetition, and patience.

So how do you actually rewire your brain?

1. Stop fighting the block

This might sound strange, but one of the first things you need to do is stop treating your mental block like an enemy you have to defeat.

When you approach a skill thinking:

“I HAVE to do it today.”

“I can't block again.”

“What if I freeze?”

“What if I mess up?”

you're giving your brain even more evidence that this skill is something dangerous that needs your attention.

Instead, start noticing what happens without judging yourself.

You can say:

“There it is. My brain is giving me the stop signal again.”

That's very different from:

“I'm terrible at this.”

“I'll never get over this.”

“What's wrong with me?”

The first response creates awareness.

The second response reinforces the story that something is wrong with you.

A mental block is something your brain learned.

And because it was learned, it can be changed.

2. Figure out what your brain is predicting

A mental block isn't always about the skill itself.

Sometimes your brain is reacting to what it thinks will happen if you perform the skill.

Maybe it's predicting that you'll fall.

Maybe it's predicting that you'll get hurt.

Maybe it's predicting that you'll disappoint your coach.

Maybe it's predicting that you'll look stupid.

Maybe you've had a bad experience with the skill before, and your brain has connected the skill with that experience.

Or maybe you don't even know exactly where the fear came from.

That's okay.

Start asking yourself:

“What does my brain think is going to happen if I do this?”

The answer can tell you a lot.

Because once you understand what your brain is predicting, you can begin giving it new information.

3. Give your brain experiences that contradict the old prediction

This is where the actual rewiring begins.

Let's say your brain has learned:

Back handspring → danger → STOP

You don't necessarily rewire that pathway by standing at the end of the floor and forcing yourself to throw the skill over and over.

Instead, you want to create experiences that teach your brain something different:

Back skills → I am in control → I can handle this → I am okay.

That might mean returning to a progression, using a spot, working with a coach you trust, breaking the skill into smaller pieces, or practicing a version of the movement that feels manageable.

The goal isn't to prove that you're fearless.

The goal is to give your brain new evidence.

Every successful, controlled experience is another opportunity for your brain to update its prediction.

4. Make the new pathway small enough to use

One of the biggest mistakes gymnasts make with mental blocks is trying to jump from:

“I can't do this.”

to

“I'm going to do the full skill by myself.”

That's a huge leap for a brain that doesn't trust the skill yet.

Instead, think about building that new path across the lawn.

You don't create a dirt path by walking across the grass once.

You walk the same route again and again.

Find the smallest version of the skill that you can perform successfully with a reasonable amount of confidence.

Then repeat it.

When that starts to feel normal, make the next step slightly harder.

Small doesn't mean insignificant. Small is how you build.

5. Practice the response you want—not just the skill

This is one of the most important pieces of rewiring. Your brain doesn't just learn what you do. It also learns the pattern of what happens around it.

If every attempt looks like this:

Think about skill → panic → hesitate → stop → get frustrated → try again → panic

then you're giving your brain a lot of practice at the mental block.

Instead, you want to practice:

Think about skill → breathe → focus → commit to the next step → complete the movement → recover

Even if the skill isn't perfect you're teaching your brain a different sequence. The goal isn't perfection. The goal is to repeatedly practice the response you want your brain to learn.

6. Use thoughts that support the new pathway

This doesn't mean you have to stand there and tell yourself:

“I'm amazing!”

“I'm not scared!”

“I know I'm going to do this!”

If your brain doesn't believe those statements, they may actually make you feel more frustrated.

Instead, use thoughts that are believable and useful.

Try:

“I don't have to feel fearless to move forward.”

“My brain is learning something new.”

“I can handle this step.”

“I don't need to know exactly how this attempt will go.”

“One attempt doesn't determine my future.”

You're not trying to argue with your fear. You're teaching your brain that fear doesn't have to make the decision.

7. Use visualization to practice the new response

Mental rehearsal can also be part of creating a new pattern.

Picture yourself performing the skill with the technique and timing you're working toward.

But don't make your visualization a movie where everything is magically perfect and you feel absolutely no nerves.

Instead, imagine yourself experiencing some of the same sensations you experience in the gym—and then successfully responding to them.

• See yourself taking your breath.
• Feel yourself getting ready.
• Picture yourself beginning the skill.
• Imagine yourself completing it.
• Then imagine yourself calmly moving on.

You're practicing the whole response, not just the perfect ending.

8. Stop measuring progress only by whether you landed the skill

This is one of the hardest things for a gymnast to understand.

If your only definition of progress is “I did the skill by myself” then you may miss a tremendous amount of progress.

• Maybe you walked into the gym without avoiding the event.
• Maybe you did the progression you were afraid to do.
• Maybe you felt nervous and stayed present anyway.
• Maybe you committed farther than you did last week.
• Maybe you stopped after a difficult attempt instead of spiraling into “I'll never get this.”
• Maybe you tried again.

Those things matter because you're not just training a skill.

You're training your brain's response to the skill.

9. Repeat the new experience enough times for it to become familiar

This is the part nobody wants to hear:

Rewiring takes repetition.

You may have practiced the old pathway hundreds or thousands of times without even realizing it. You can't expect a handful of good experiences to completely replace it.

But don't let that discourage you. Every time you create a successful new experience, you're giving your brain another piece of evidence.

Over time, the new response becomes more familiar. What once felt strange can begin to feel normal. And eventually, the thing that once required enormous mental effort can become automatic again.

10. Expect setbacks

This may be the most important step of all.

Rewiring your brain doesn't mean you'll never have another bad day.

You might have a skill for three weeks and suddenly block again.

You might perform it beautifully at practice and struggle with it at a meet.

You might feel like you've completely moved past a mental block, only to have it show up again.

That doesn't mean you've lost all your progress.

Your old pathway didn't disappear.

You've simply been building a new, more useful pathway alongside it.

Sometimes stress, fatigue, pressure, a new environment, or a previous mistake can make the old response more likely to show up again.

When that happens, don't tell yourself:

“See? I'm back to square one.”

Instead, remind yourself:

“My brain went back to an old pattern. I know how to build the new one again.”

That's a completely different mindset.

You are not stuck forever

If you've had a mental block for a really long time, it can be incredibly convincing.

It can feel like this is simply who you are now.

“I'm the gymnast who can't do back skills.”

“I'm the gymnast who always gets mental blocks.”

“I'll never trust myself again.”

But a mental block is not your identity.

It's a learned response.

And learned responses can change.

You don't have to force your brain to forget everything that happened before.

You have to give it enough new experiences that it learns something different.

One step.

One repetition.

One successful experience.

One new response at a time.

You are not trying to erase the old path. You're building a new one.