Taking risks

Risks

With the sport of gymnastics, there's always a risk that you could get hurt. Even on the simplest of things done even the slightest bit incorrect could result in an injury, minor or major. Most gymnasts go through their fair share of injuries, both big and small. However, there are always the lucky few who just don't get hurt, and they are certainly lucky because of that. My younger sister, for example, is one of those lucky few. She has never been hurt and has never had to miss practices or competitions because of an injury. I am not one of the lucky ones, unfortunately. I get injured so often that it's hard sometimes to even think I'm related to my sister! My minor injuries aren't important but some of my major ones include two fractured tibias and a torn muscle in my knee that I am currently dealing with. 

What happens because of the risks taken

With injuries come doctors appointments, scans, and of course physical therapy. You eventually become a regular at your orthopedist's office and physical therapy seems normal after a while. MRIs and X-rays become just a part of life and you have more braces, boots, crutches, and prescriptions than you thought one person could have. In some cases, it is necessary for you to get surgery for your injury, but fortunately for me I haven't needed a surgery because of an injury. 

Positive outcomes 

Even though you may think you're going to die if you are out of the gym for too long, you don't. In fact, your body gets time to heal and rest itself, which sometimes positively impacts your return to the sport! Also, the time off allows you to get involved in other activities that you otherwise would not have been able to do because of gymnastics. And, of course, you become a master at keeping a positive attitude about your situation and are easily able to convince and tell people that you are fine and you are healing well even if that is not the case.

This week, I wasn't able to come up with something more interesting to write about but here is the best insight I have regarding injuries caused because of the risks taken by gymnasts while doing what they love. 

Paige Woodard Google Hangout

Yesterday, the 8th of May, I took part in a google hangout with a high school senior named Paige Woodard who is very interested in digital citizenship, specifically social media. This was the very first google hangout I have been a part of and it was a very interesting experience. I learned a lot about how Paige got to where she is today and how she became so involved in social media and digital citizenship.

I learned that is critical to have a public professional account and a private personal account on all social media sites. But you should be aware that even if you have a private account, all someone needs to so is screenshot something and put it out on a social media site and it is no longer private, the point in that being that nothing stays private forever! It is very important to protect yourself online and having accounts be private is a good way to protect yourself. Another big thing that I learned is that it is important to leave a positive digital footprint. Whatever you do online can always be found by either someone who is considering hiring you for a job or by a college admissions officer who is deciding whether to accept you or not accept you. It is important to make sure that you are completley comfortable with everything you post and that everything you post is positively affecting you and your online image. There is so much more to know about how to be a good digital citizen on social media sites but those points are what stood out to me the most! I hope you all agree and follow the good advice given by Paige! 

Disconnect

(I know this is a gymnastics blog, but this week, I have decided to stray from that topic because I experienced something that I just had to write a post about, and I hope you will enjoy it.)

This weekend, I had my overnight retreat that I needed to go on in order to make my confirmation later this year. I didn't mind going, but the only catch was you couldn't bring your phone. And, as is the same with all teenagers, I couldn't imagine being without my phone for over 24 hours. So, of course I brought it, but it was shut off and in the bottom of my bag. We put all our stuff up in our rooms right at the beginning of the retreat, when everyone started arriving. So, my plan of being able to take it out of my bag when I needed it ended up backfiring because I thought that I would constantly have my phone at least near me, but that didn't end up happening. 

At first, I didn't think I was going to make it through the retreat without it. Honestly, I was fidgeting, and didn't know what to do with myself. I constantly kept thinking, I wish I could just check my phone to see the time. Even if it was to do something as simple as check the time, I wish I could just be able to pick up my phone. But I couldn't, atleast for the time being, because we didn't go back to our rooms for a while. So, as time went on, I still was just as anxious to go on it. I couldn't wait for when we went to bed so I could sneak my phone out and go on it, hoping I didn't get caught. 

At around 10 o'clock (not to talk about religion too much because I know it is a very controversial topic for some), we went to confession. It was a long process because there were so many of us who had to do it, but it was the turning point in the retreat for me when I didn't feel like I needed my phone anymore. It really got me thinking, and afterwards, I had plenty of time to think until everyone else was done, so I did, and I kept thinking about all the things I could do without my phone, all the good I could do with my time, rather than just wasting hours on hours staring at a little screen scrolling through social media. After everyone was done, we went upstairs to go to bed. 

Once we got upstairs, I didn't even remember I had my phone with me at all. I didn't turn it on or even touch it. I just wanted to actually, physically, be with the people I was with. So, for the rest of the night until I went to sleep, my phone didn't even cross my mind. 

The hard thing for me was that other people were on their phones. They didn't even care that they could get caught and they didn't care that they were ruining the whole point of not going on your phone. And, if I had noticed earlier in the night, I probably would have gotten mine and went on it just like them, but since I had already gone through an entire day of eye-opening activities and experiences, I didn't even wish I was on my phone like they were. 

The next day, we had over 12 hours of activities planned, from 7:15 AM wake-up to 7:30 PM pick-up. During those 12 hours, my phone didn't even cross my mind. I spent my time that day enjoying what we were doing and enjoying spending time with the people I was with. If you had told me the day before that I wouldn't want to go on my phone at the end of the retreat and I would survive without it for over 24 hours, I definitely, 100% wouldn't have believed you. 

Once 7:30 came along, I had so much I wanted to tell my family about the retreat, I still, even though I was allowed to go on my phone, didn't even think about it. My phone sat powered-off in the bottom of my bag for 30 hours, and I was fine with it. The only reason I got it out of my bag at all when I got home was to plug it in and charge it, before which, I quickly skimmed all my social media networks I had missed out on for the last day. I only saw a little on each, but didn't even care about what I missed and went to sleep rather than staying on my phone. That is a big step for me, considering that I often times sit awake in my bed just doing different things on my phone, not even caring about the time. 

Now, about 24 hours after I powered my phone back on, I still go on my phone and check social media and text my friends and things like that, but I do so with less of a desperation, less of a need to see what other people are saying on Twitter and to see what pictures people are posting on Instagram. 

~Thank you guys for reading- I hope you found my experience of disconnecting as amazing as I did! ~

Bars

The second event in the official order is bars. So, here you go: the best overview of bars that I can provide for you.

Bars is different for boys and girls gymnastics. Boys gymnastics has two different events that include bars, but I know basically nothing about those events, so today I will just stick to talking about what I know. Women's gymnastics has an event called the Uneven Bars. The name is literal: there are two wooden bars that are connected but are at different heights, one low bar and one high bar, and are different lengths apart based on how far apart certain gymnasts need them to be. At competitions, every gymnast performs a bar routine. Your level determines how many elements or skills are required for your routine. For me, I am required to have eight elements in my routine. One must be a mount, or way you get onto the bar (there are plenty to choose from) and a dismount, how you get off the bar (there are also plenty of dismounts to choose from). Most girls don't have an identical bar routine because of the number of different elements that you can choose to put in your routine. Of course, the element must be difficult enough but not too difficult for your level. Certain girls definitely have more skills than others. Unfortunately for me, I am not one of the girls who has a lot of bar skills. I have the bare minimum, to say the least.

Basic Mounts
Pull-overs and kips are the only two mounts I have ever done. A pull-over is when you literally pull yourself over the bar into a front-support position, which is when you are on the bar, supporting yourself with your arms, which are straight. A kip is more difficult. You glide on the bar to get into a kip and then you do a certain motion that also has you end up in a front-support. A kip is kind of hard to explain without a visual or tutorial video, which is why a link to one is included at the bottom.

Basic Dismounts
Many dismounts I have done are too difficult to explain, but I will try to explain one that might be easier for you to understand. A fly-away is the basic dismount. And once you have it, and it is pretty difficult to get, you do more difficult dismounts that are built off of a simple fly-away. You basically are in a front-support on the high bar, you cast (swing your legs back and drive your heels down and out) and swing around the bar and let go when you are at about 180 degrees and you flip off and land on a mat in front of the high bar. Once you get the fly-away, you begin to straighten out. You originally get it in a tuck position, then you get a pike (when your legs are flat and your knees are touching your stomach), and then eventually a layout (flat body).

Rips
Rips are another thing you should be prepared for if you want to become a gymnast. You get a rip once you swing on the bar so much that you literally rip off a layer of your skin. Often times you also bleed where you got the rip. Also, many girls don't rip. Obviously, everyone has different types of skin and girls who have thicker skin don't rip as often. Again, unfortunately for me, I don't have very thick skin on my hands, which is probably why I rip so often. That's basically the only disclaimer for bars, except for the chance of falling off, but that doesn't happen very often at all.

Grips
You should also know about grips. Once you reach a certain level or once you begin to do certain skills that require them, you must get a pair of grips. They are made of leathery  material and cover the palms of your hands to help prevent rips (which doesn't work for me) and to help you keep your grip on the bar during skills where it is possible you could lose your grip. When you first get a pair of grips you have to break them in. Breaking them in is a long process and is kind of painful, but once you finally do break them in, you can't imagine what bars was like without them.

~Once I am able to do gymnastics again, I will be sure to post some of my own videos, but in the meantime, here are some links to videos showing basic bar skills:
pull-over video
kip video
back hip circle video
front-hip-circle video
free-hip/clear-hip video
cast handstand video
squat on video
fly away video

*this is a picture of a standard set of uneven bars*

Competition Day

What goes through your mind
Most gymnasts get really nervous for meets, as is expected. You typically get more nervous for invitational and state-wide and regional competitions than you do for little meets that don't count for much, but all different kinds of competitions are still atleast a little bit nerve-wracking. For me and some of the girls on my team, the panic sets in around 3 or 4 days prior to the competition day.

Why you get nervous
We are mostly worried about a new skill if we are doing it for the first time in competition, but mainly we worry about sticking our beam routine. Because, basically, if you fall off beam in a meet, you get a .5 deduction from your score of a maximum of 10.0, and that .5 ruins usually ruins your all-around score, so if you fall, it is hard to place in the AA, which everyone hopes to do at meets. Also, other things like: relatives coming to watch, pressure from your coaches to do well, first competition at a new level, or if how well you do at that competition determines whether or not you can qualify for a following meet can make you extra nervous. 

Judging
As I mentioned before, each event is scored out of a 10.0 and the judges who judge you write down all the errors they see and then add up all the deductions and give you your total score. A 40.0 is the highest possible all-around score you can get, but that never happens. A mid-high 35 or a 36 is usually a good enough score to place in the AA, but nothing is ever guaranteed. Even if you get the highest all-around of your life, you could still get 2nd AA because someone else in your age group could have done even better than you. 

Location
Meet locations vary, depending on the host gym and the type of competition. If it is a little meet that is basically entered for practice or to prepare for bigger meets, then sometimes the host gym has it in their actual gym. But, if it is an invitational, it is usually in a ballroom at a hotel or in a high school. State competitions are usually at a high school in the middle of the state. And regional competitions are somewhere in New England. For example, last year, regionals were in central Massachusetts in a ballroom at a hotel. 

Check-in, warm-up, march-in, compete

You arrive at the location of the meet and you go to a table that is labeled "gymnast check-in". Once you check yourself in, you go into the gym, put down your bag, meet up with your coach, and begin warming up whenever you are told you may begin. Check-in, warmup, march-in, competition, and awards all have a designated time, but meets often run late due to issues in the previous session. 

Once warm up is over, you go over to whichever event you are competing on first, introduce yourself to the judge, get another short warmup, and then compete, in whichever order you are put in. The rotation for the events is vault, bars, beam, floor, but everyone can't start at vault, so whichever event you start on, you follow the pattern to determine the rest of your order of events. 

Right before and right after you compete, you salute to the judge. A salute is basically putting up both of your arms by your arms while looking at the judge. Once you salute after your routine, indicating that you are done, the judge tallies up all the errors they wrote down and they flash you score and write it on your scorecard. Out of a 10.0, your goal is to get in the 9's, but sometimes that isn't as easy as it sounds. Mid-eights and nines are what you want to get for a score, if you want to place on that event. 

Competition usually takes anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours, if the meet is really slow-moving. After you are completely done competing, you are escorted to awards, where you wait to see how you did. I will soon be writing another post all about awards, so I will talk about awards in that post!

This picture is of a panoramic view of a competition I worked at a few weeks ago, I'm hoping this helps you imagine what being at a competition is like! 

States

Mentality
The State Championship Competition is the most important day of your entire season. You work all year for this- the frustration, the pain, the sweat, the tears, everything is done for this one competition. It determines how well you are doing in your level and shows how much you have improved over the entire year and the season. It is important because if you don't do well, you sometimes think that your whole season was for nothing because you ended it on a bad note. And, to be honest, ending anything, especially an entire season, on a bad note is never a fun experience.

Dates
States for Xcel bronze, silver, and gold are usually the second weekend in May. However, for platinum and diamond, states are the second weekend of March. And that date is fast approaching. This will be the first time I will ever have had states in March instead of May.

My Past Experiences
I have been to states five times and I'm going to explain my experiences at states from the past all the way up until now. 2009 was the year of my first states. I was a Prep Opt Novice at that time (what is now known as Xcel Silver). That year, it was particularly nerve-wracking for me because it was my very first states, ever. I managed to stay on beam and did okay on all the other events. I placed 6th in the All-Around, 2nd on vault, and I actually ended up being the floor state champion for my age group. I consider my first states to be pretty successful!

2010 I was a second-year Prep Novice/Xcel Silver. So, since it was my second time, it was a little less scary for me. That year, that competition, was the one of best competitions of my entire life, if not the very best one. I placed in the top 5 on bars, floor, and vault, and I was the beam and All-Around State Champion for my age!! And the trophy I received at that meet is my favorite, still to this day:)

2011 was a rough year for me. I broke my legs a month before states, and thought I couldn't compete, but I ended up getting special permission from my doctor that I could compete if I iced between events and I was taped a up a certain way by the trainer. This states was a little fuzzy for me, but I do know that I ended up placing 5th place All-Around, as a first-year Prep Intermediate/Xcel Gold.

2012 honestly isn't even worth talking about because that was also a rough year and a rough states for me because I was recovering from injuries and a surgery so it took a while for me to get back in the game and get all my skills back. I placed 4th on floor and vault at that meet and didn't place in the all-around. But, with success comes failure, so I was able to accept the fact that even though I didn't place in the AA, I'll do better next year!

2013, however, as a third-year Xcel Gold, I did pretty well. I got 6th on bars, 5th on floor, 3rd on beam, and I was the vault state champion in addition to getting 2nd place All-Around!! That, in my opinion, was a good way to end my career as an Xcel Gold. I actually qualified for the regional championships based on my performance at states last year, but I will have a separate post all about regionals.

This year, states 2014, are unfortunately not in the cards for me. I am still out on injury for another 6 weeks and states are next weekend, but I am planning to go and support my teammates:)

But, I will hopefully be able to compete at States next year!

This is a picture of me and all of my teammates at States in 2012 when we were the 3rd place team!!!

Please, feel free to comment with any questions you have about any of my experiences or any questions you have about states or gymnastics in general!

AT&T American Cup 2014

The American Cup was this past weekend and it was amazing! The American Cup is one of the first international competitions of the season for the men and women. There were many breathtaking  performances by gymnasts all around the world, especially competitors from the US! This year's AT&T American Cup was held in North Carolina.

Women
The representatives for the women were Brenna Dowell and Elizabeth Price. Both girls are elite American gymnasts who qualified to participate in this elite competition. They both rocked all four events and took the 1st and 2nd place All-Around spots, with Elizabeth winning the whole competition and Brenna coming in a close second!

Men
As for the men, they also did really well! The two US representatives were Sam Mikulak and John Orozco, both elite American gymnasts. John Orozco did well enough but had a few mistakes causing it not to be his best day, and Sam Mikulak was neck-in-neck with a Chinese gymnast for most of the competition, but ended up pulling out a win for the US!

My Favorites
There are many gymnasts, world-wide, who inspire me and really continue to amaze me year after year. Some of whom were present in the AT&T American Cup. Below, I have included links to what I think were the best performances of the competition and you really don't want to miss!

Highlights from the meet:

-Victoria Moors' (Canada) breathtaking floor routine

-Vanessa Ferrari's (Italy) powerful floor routine

-Brenna Dowell's (US) new and improved bar routine

-Elizabeth Price's (US) incredible vault

This image shows Sam Mikulak and Elizabeth Price celebrating their incredible wins!