Prepare for the meet!

You got to warm this stuff up!

Any gymnast can tell you that warming up at a meet is drastically different than in practice. Especially on beam and bar, you have to be ready for it.

At a meet, you get to warm up on the apparatus for a time proportional to your team. In level 7, each gymnast gets 90 seconds. You add up the total amount of gymnast in a team, and that team gets to warm up for that long. This year, my team gets 4 1/2 minutes to warm up.

Because you get a limited amount of time, a lot of the drills that we would regularly do, can't be done. On floor, we usually warm up round-offs and back handspring drills. At a meet, you can't do all of that.

Most of us are ok with the shorter floor prep, but it's more of an issue on beam. I got my back handspring on the beam about a week before my first meet. So I had to get ready for the warm ups pretty fast. For difficult and scary skills, like back handsprings, we usually start on a low beam and work our way up. We like to use the low beam first to build confidence. If we can get our hands on a low beam, we can get them on the high beam. Unfortunately, most meets don't have a low beam to practice on, so you have to be ready to go from  the floor to the high beam. I remember this before our routines. I stopped doing back handsprings on the low beam, because I know that I won't get to at the meet. If I can't do a back handspring right away at my home gym, in my own territory, I probably will freak out at the meet.

Most of us like to warm these up on a low beam first.

On bar, you have to be consistent. Today, I got to warm up a couple of cast to handstands before I did the giant. I don't get to do that at the meet. You have to be able to do your skills right away, without the warm up. It's pretty important to be ready for that.

Superstitions!

I'm a little superstitious when it comes to gymnastics. Not like wear my lucky leotard or anything, but I have some rituals I have to go through.

I'm the most superstitious on bar. And not until I started working on giants. Here's my list of rituals!

1. I MUST chalk up before every giant. My coach Samir asked us to stop chalking up as much because it took so much time. So I took a turn without getting more chalk and flew off the bar! Since then, I chalk up fast but before every giant.

2. I wear elastics around my grips. I don't know how effective it is, but, heaven forbid, if I don't wear any, I'm afraid my grip's velcro will come off!

3. I started doing this new drill two days before I made my giant. So now I'm convinced it helps a ton.

On beam!

1. I ABSOLUTETLY, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS, eat yogurt before competing beam. I've even had my Mom go to the store on the way to the meet for yogurt. At my old gym, our coach thought it helped beam (I have no idea why). But I ate it before beam then, and it feels wrong not to now.

2. I get chalk on my hands before doing back handsprings. It started when my hands slipped when I didn't have chalk. (of course it couldn't have anything to do with incorrect hand positioning I did back then. Chalk, it must be the chalk!) It wouldn't surprise me if I used almost as much chalk on beam as I do on bars. :$)

Do you have any rituals before competitions or hard skills? If so, comment below!

I Made the Giant!

Definitely. Those days when I only stopped because Samir (my coach) didn't want a bloodstained bar. Those days when I kept going even though I was sore. And tons and tons of chalk. All for the giant. 

I was SO close yesterday. The cast was there. Samir and I decided that's better to do a giant with bent legs than none at all. So I had that going for me. I thought I was going to make it. But just as I was coming over the top of the bar, I came down the wrong way. Samir promised me we would go to bar first thing tomorrow.

My hands were sore from yesterday's efforts, my hips were bruised, too, from all of the casts. I didn't want to waste time with the low bar. I wanted to make that Giant. I jumped to the high bar, the cast was nonexistent. Was today going to be one of those days? I tried again. A better cast but not enough power to make it around. Samir left and walked over to help some girls with vault.

"I can do it. Just go, it's not like he's doing anything standing there. I mean come on, you'll just come up short and twist off of the bar like always. But what If I make it over? That's unlikely. I'll go for it"

I jumped up on the low bar, preparing myself mentally for the task ahead. I jumped, swung out far, and casted high. "Yes, that should do nicely." I bent my legs to help give me more power, the way I've been taught. I hate bending my knees during giants, but I'll do what it takes. I came over the bar. I heard some of my teammates cheering. I squealed a little, both out of fear and excitement. I had conquered the giant and that wasn't a fluke - I made several more afterwards.

After It was clear I was consistent in making them,

my teammate Kiera videotaped my giant.

Ugh! I did SO much better in practice!

Last week, at my meet, I messed up my bar. I didn't make my giant, totally goofed up my free hip at the meet and my cast was nonexistent compared to some of the ones I was doing at practice. I have done way better in practice and might have made it to state if I had done as well as I could on bar.

                                


Usually, a bad performance at a meet is attributed to nervousness. I have another theory.
I'm far from consistent in my giants and during warmups I tried to get as many turns as possible. As my coach said. "It's not a workout, Theresa!" As a result of my strenuous practice, I was tired and my arms were slightly sore when the time came to compete.

I think it's possible that when gymnasts really push themselves in a meet warmup they get tired for the real deal. Nervousness may have something to do with it, but I think worst then usual performances might happen because of overly intense warmups. I know that, in practice, my third floor routine is my worst, because after two routines, I'm pooped. The same effect could happen after a hard warmup.
Do you agree? Have you ever been tired before a routine and it affected
your performance?
~The Gymnast.

Ties! How are They Resolved?

I was at my meet last week, and one of my teammates and I tied for first place all around. We wondered, how do they resolve a tie? Some meets announce a tie at the awards, but not how they resolve it. So I looked it up!
The USA System for levels 5-9: 
 Add the two highest execution scores to break the tie. If there is still a tie, then the highest single judge’s score is used to break the tie. If there is only one judge, then there is no tie-breaker.

Although some meets allow two gymnasts to place the same, most don't. I was at one where they gave one of the girls who tied a rose and mailed her a trophy or medal later. Most meets use this system and one girl places higher than the other based on their two highest scores. 

Team Awards
Northwest ~ 2nd Place

You might remember at the 2012 olympics, there was a tie. Aliya Mustafina tied with Aly Raisman for third all around. Now the tie breaking system I was talking about applies only to levels 5-9 in the USA gymnastics system. This tie was at the olympics, so we used the FIG, the federation of international gymnastics, system. What happened was that they took the three highest scores and combined them. Whoever has the highest combined total wins. Aliya Mustafina had a low beam score but higher scores on the three other events.  Aly Raisman, on the other hand, had more consistent scores. In the end, Mustafina won third.

Aliya Mustafina ~ Third Place AA

Aly Raisman ~ Fourth Place AA

~The Gymnast

My Meet Video!

Switching to the Gymnastics!

I've decided to get back to blogging. I'm also making a few changes. My personal blog is now, a Gymnastics Blog!

I biked to the library yesterday. There is one path you need to follow and it takes me straight to the community center. Behind it is the library and a beautiful lake that has a bike path around it. Next to the library is a mall. Dad picked me up at three thirty and took me to gymnastics. I plan to go today to.

At gymnastics I improved my free hip. A free hip is basically a move in which you spin backwards around the low bar without your hips touching. If your hips touch it's a back hip circle. You also have to push out of the free hip into a push away kip. A push away kip is a skill where you cast off of the low bar and swing around, bring your feet to the bar and with straight arms pull up. I can do the kip where you start on the ground but my feet always touch on the push away and I have trouble doing one out of a free hip.

Joey lost a tooth! He got the new wii game Super Mario Galaxy 2.

I was doing a SAT test. Dad got me a SAT practice test from Barnes and Noble. I did one of the math segments. I only answered eight of the twenty questions because a lot of them I didn't understand. Now I now about tenths and squared and math sequences. It is very interesting.

We visited the local library yesterday. It has a lot of chairs and even a study area (which looks like a glass box with people studying with them) but not enough books. No shelves are higher then five feet and they are not fully stocks. I hope they with get more books.

I got a new BIKE! I ribbonfied it. I put ribbon in the back wheel and tied some onto the handle. It is a mountain bike. I also bought a seat cover and a back pack like thing to put stuff in it. I can bike to the rec center so that should be fun. I might do some crafts to and other things offered at the community center. The have a very big playground and an indoor one two. They have a pool and a skating rink. I can't go to the skating rink without an adult so that is not an option. Every thing else is fine. I probably will go swimming once a week if the weather is fine. What I'm not sure about is if I can bike to the library. Joey went on a Land of Lakes Choir Boys tour. He came back two days ago. If you look at the links you will see Joey's tour. That is a blog set up by the LOLCB to let us know about the tour. You can read it if you like. Also, on my polls do not use the dictionary.

I only speak in direct simple sentences. I only type in direct, simple sentences. The girls at gymnastics are DEFINETLY going to make fun of me. I do not care.

On Saturday I went to the rec center. Mom dropped me off. I explored the rec center. I swam in the pool. I can bike to the rec center. I will try it sometime. There is a pool at the rec center. There is a skating rink at the rec center. There is an indoor play set at the rec center. There is an outdoor play set at the rec center. There is a teen center at the rec center. I can not go in the teen center. I am disappointed by the teen center. I found out that the teen center has a pool tables. It has video games. I consider the teen center boring. I can not skate by myself in the skating rink. I must be accompanied by an adult.

Yesterday I made a big accomplishment. I jumped to the high bar nine times in a row! That is really big because I usually lean over when I am on top of the low bar so much that I fall off. Well I did it. Finally! B-)


We had Mrs. A yesterday and She had us set up three big blue blocks, each with a mini tramp and a mat behind it. She told us to do three cast like movements off of the mini tramp with our hands on the block. We had to go up to a handstand. She also said that unless we went up to vertical we could not do a back tuck off of the mini tramp. I went up to vertical on my first turn. On my second turn I went over handstand. Marydonna and Gabby were supposed to hold the block down and to push me back if I go over. When I was over handstand and at the point when they should push me back, they screamed and performed duck and cover. Now going over is all ready pretty scary and uncomfortable but when girls are screaming it is terrifying. This happened again and then Marydonna and Gabby brought over the mushroom that the boys use to practice pommel horse and they stood on it so they could be closer to me. Well it happened again and they did duck and cover. THAT HURT. Then Marydonna asked me why I always went up to vertical. Gabby asked me why I go so hard. Oh well.

:-) (-: Today, this post will be my one hundredth post!!! :-) (-:

I was chosen to write the Olympic Times by Mrs. A. She wants me to write it, send it to her so she can show it to Katica and it will be a real newsletter. I need to write two gymnast profiles. One on a girl in the upper levels (my class) and one on a girl in one of the lower classes. I can do one story on anything I want. We also do a column featuring girls who have done a new skill. I am very excited for the newsletter.

Mom gave me a new hair cut. It is a short haircut. It's a summertime hair cut. It's too short to put in a pony tale so I will use clips.

Dark day: behind the scenes.

Well I'm not sleeping in the basement. It's cold down there. I also like to be a particular temperature to fall asleep. I fall asleep quickly but it's harder to get out of the bed! To warm and cozy : -) They'll be sleeping down there for a long time.

Dark Day

Dark, cloudy and all together miserable. It was the type of day that makes you wake up, snuggle up and go back to sleep. Well, that's what one would LIKE to do, but the Leibig kids had school to do. It went on like most sunny days would for Theresa. She got school done quickly. It was not rainy YET so she played with her friends, Kimberly and Eliana. Eliana told her it would there might be a tornado. At the dinner table when Dad commented on the clouds Theresa said there might be a tornado tonight. Joey and Julie freaked out and decided to sleep in the basement. Theresa decided to sleep in her room and slept well. The younger children slept in. They decided to sleep in the basement until Theresa joined them. They never slept in their beds again.

I shocked the girls at gymnastics on Monday night. I put a napkin on my lap :-O Gergely said "Did you just put that napkin on your lap. Should I get another napkin and put it under my chin?"
"No I don't do that." Said I.

Brynn said. "I might do that at a restaurant." (Many other comments like that)

Then I couldn't find my knife and I brought a bagel. So I asked the girls if any had a spare knife.
Rachel said "You use your finger."

I ended up using the back of my spoon. I also got a little bit of cream cheese on my face so I dabbed it off with my napkin.

Mary Donna "Theresa, like this." And she wiped her mouth on her forearm.

I am hoping to inspire. The explorers take the arrows.

If you saw it, there was a poll for the definition of xyster. The answers were a South American Monkey, The point of time between being a star and being a black hole, The last name of a European sientist and a surgery tool. One person said it was a black hole and one person said it was a surgery tool. Surgery tool is correct!

I also asked how to pronounce xyster. The options were zister, wister, wistar and zisty. One person said zister and one said zisty. Zister is the correct pronunciation.

I was a (assistant) camera man at Joey's spring concert. *It was his biggest concert ever. A problem they have is that I just went to a concert with his choir and the †Nordic choir. They didn't change songs. I complained to Mom and she said I could help her with the video taping of The spring concert. She had told the LOLCB that she would. She manned one camera and got shots from the sides while I had one camera and it was in the middle. It has legs so I just moved it side to side when people moved and I zoomed in and out. I also took pictures for the cover of the CD and the menu.






* He's in the Land Of Lakes Choir Boys.

†Their are five diffrent choirs. The prep choir is where boys go when they're new. The Voyager choir, Joey's choir, is the choir after the prep choir. They get to go on tours so they can get experience for the next up choir. The Nordic choir is the national touring choir. The Viking choir is the international touring choir. The Schola Cantorum choir or the Alumni choir is for boys whose voices have changed.

I am going to decorate my cubbie at gymnastics. I am going to put some card stock on the three sides of my cubbie. I have one that is like the bottom of a pool. It will go on the back. I have a piece that is purple and one that is green to go on the sides. I also have a furry piece of fabric that will be used as a rug. I will use a blue piece of card stock for the top. I also have a awesome piece of fabric that will be used as curtains for the outside of the cubbie. I will get some pictures of it once it is done.


I went to sell raffle tickets with Joey. He is in the Land Of Lakes Choir Boys (aka. the LOLCB)* They are selling raffle tickets for the spring concert. They are raffling

1. One thousand dollars.
2. Five hundred dollars.
3. A Sony game station three.
   

They are five dollars each. We went door to door selling raffle tickets. It worked surprizingly well. The LOLCB has an impressive way to get boys to sell raffle tickets, they give each boy one dollar for every house you sell to.


*Personally, I think they need to get a LOLCG! The Land Of Lakes Choir Girls.

Happy birthday Joey!

OK, Joey's birthday was yesterday but what the heck.


We spent most of the day on the computer, DSI and television with the occasional break outside. Then we did presents.

1. He got this awesome nerf gun. It's like a machine gun. You pull the trigger and twenty five bullets come out. You load it up again and you wait for someone to walk by. JOey went to the bathroom during geology and Dad greeted him with the gun. Grandma Leibig gave us the killer gun.
2. He got hex bug. It's a little micro bug that crawls around a course you set up. It's like the modern Thomas the train set. You set up these pieces and the robot crawls through it.
3. I got him a hear through walls kit. It can hear through walls and I had to sacrifice my private talks with friends. I also got him a book called "The real spy's guide to being a spy".
4. Julir got him a fake bow and arrow kit and bubbles that you can touch.
5. Joey got two squirt guns from Thomas.
6. He got a game called thunderstone.
7. He got a refill pack for his gun from Grandma Liebig.
   
8. He got a DSI game from Grandma Liebig.
9. He got a Calvin and Hobbes book.