Mind Games



Get yo concentration on.

 I don't recall any of my coaches telling us to sit still and visualize our routines. But I did read it one hundred times over in my various gymnastics books/biographies. The power of mental imagery! All of the testimonials: "I was injured and visualized my routines so much that when I returned to the gym, I didn't lose a thing."

Truth be told, I always struggled a bit with visualization. I switched in and out of being in my own head to watching myself. While still being in my head. If you know what I mean. A flip from internal view to external, like a camera following the action. Either way, visualization certainly never hurt any of my performances and it was a convenient way to zone out in school/the car/boring conversations.

"Everyone sit down and close your eyes," I tell the older girls.

"I don't want people watching me while I have my eyes closed!" Jamie says, and throws herself face down on the mat.

Okay.

"You're going to visualize your beam routine, and I'm going to time you. When you're done, open your eyes and look at me. Don't say anything. Don't move around."

The goal: to visualize the routine in real time.

Not surprisingly, there are suppressed giggles and full-out laughter in the first few tries. But then they quiet. Some eyes open after thirty seconds, others after 1:30, but most are on time.

"Where were you when you did your routine?" I ask Jamie.

"Uh. Here."

"What time of day was it?"

"It was sunny," she says, looking confused.

"I was at the World Championships," Kelsey throws in. "Everyone was cheering for me."

I explain that the more detailed the images are, the more engaged they are in the mental experience. (Or maybe it's just the writer in me.) I say that we can be physically prepared but we also need to train our minds. That this is a tool they can practice outside of the gym. Nod nod nod.

Will it help? Who knows. Will it hurt? At least I know that it won't.

Level 3 and Rising?

Courtesy of the lovely Anon, here are the proposed compulsory changes for 2013 and beyond: http://usagym.org/PDFs/Women/Junior%20Olympics/2013-2020Finalelementlist-March2011.pdf

Thoughts/Feelings/Reactions/Word-Like Things:

• Is there hope in the darkness? Is the mill circle FINALLY not (completely) required?
• I'm intrigued by this shift of the skills to the next level down. I'm not sure if I like it or dislike it, hence "intrigued." But I'd imagine that Level 3 will become a "real level," as opposed to its present "sometimes real and sometimes just for funsies," the way it is around here.
• And for all the literature out there about the present Level 4 as a "sometimes real and sometimes just for funsies" level, we all know that's a lie. In fact, we all know that any system which promotes "fun gymnastics" will invariably have participants (a.k.a. coaches and gyms) that take it very, very seriously. I digress.
• I also imagine that IGC will continue to gain ground in this next cycle. I mean: back handspring on beam in Level 5? I recognize that it's "optional," but we all know that those serious, serious participants will not allow their gymnasts to compete anything less.
• Which leads me to my biggest concern: By adding another level of optional competition, are we increasing the potential for burn-out for these little phenoms who fly through compulsories?

P.S.

Somehow, I just managed to accidentally start following myself. And I can't make it go away. Win.

Like a real team or something

Whoa! I'm finally back.

Yesterday, I was in the midst of saying something to Jamie on beam. I have no idea what. But when I finished, she said suddenly, "We're doing really good this year."

This is true.

Last year, the gym had zero team trophies. So far this year, with the combined powers of Level 4, IGC Copper, and IGC Bronze, we have eight. Bronze keeps winning second or third as a team. Copper won their first meet and took second last time with just three competing. The Level 4's have become a force, led by Larissa, who never scores less than a 36 all-around unless she falls (twice). Last meet they all broke into the 36's.

I feel most responsible for Bronze. Not for their success this year so much as their failures in Level 5. I keep thinking about what could have been done differently to have prevented them from that disastrous first season. Maybe they'd still be in compulsories now, and doing well with them. The traditional route. I keep thinking that their parents are thinking the same.

But the girls seem to look back gleefully. "Those were like the dark ages," Kathryn says. "Look at us now!"

It's no lie that the collective interest level, motivation, and enthusiasm has spiked dramatically with the shift to IGC. Maybe that's the important part. Maybe it never would have happened had we stayed the main course.

Dear Valeri, Look no further

Clearly, WOGA needs my resume.

For all my shawties

(This is in fact the same vid I posted last time. But now I call your attention to a new area.)

This here gymnast is what my friend Flo might call "beastly," and I mean that in the most complimentary way. Hilary Mauro is 4'9" and busts out that opening pass like no one's business. Like it's no big deal to run a few steps and flip twice in the air before landing.

Check her out at 9:41.

NCAA to start the day

I'm not in love with this floor routine, but I am in like with it.

Music is strange, but Shayla Worley is commanding. Check out that sass in the beginning as she lowers herself to the ground. It's like, "You will all bow to me."

(starting at 1:47)