Selling the Drama: All that glitters

can be turned to gold.

"Why do I get such low scores on floor?" Kathryn says.

"Because it looks like you're falling asleep in your routine," I say.

"Ohhh."

I firmly believe that if the presentation is good, you can sell anything. Especially floor routines. I never had the most difficult tumbling. Occasionally I fell on my face or off the floor. But if there was one thing I could do without fail, it was to perform my routine with love, joy, and drama. Sharp arms! Head turns! Plunges to the floor! Sword fights! With toes always pointed and solid jumps and turns, I'd often beat the girls with the big tumbling passes. No coach taught me the art of presentation; I had watched enough gymnastics competitions on TV and on old videos to see how it was done (back in the days when gymnasts actually danced in their routines). I took all of it in and put it back out with spirit and gusto.

It is time for my girls to do the same.

And it will be no small task.

"We are going to add pizazz to our floor routines," I say in January, emphasizing the word in hopes that it sounds exciting.

They look back at me with faces of, Um, okay.

I've already learned that calling out, "Lift your chin!" and similar directions does not work when the girls are mid-routine, especially when 1. they're tired and/or 2. on the verge of forgetting the routine if their concentration lifts for an instant. So we go back to the beginning of the routine. I instruct them exactly when to lift their chins. How to tilt their heads. What their hands should do at each instant. Where their arms should be. Over the course of several practices, we make it through the entire routine and then review.

Of course, some of them forget. Repeatedly. None of them match the robotic precision of the top teams. But then again, I never did either. Kelsey and Jamie start pulling in the 9.0's. So do the Level 4's. Their chins are up, they hear the music, they're learning to pay attention.