Lessons In The Gym...

Today I was in the gym… it was an open gym, but I decided to go to the two events I hated the most.

The first one was vault.

There is a runway, you start at your number, or you count your steps to see how far away you start from the table (that’s the big tall flat thing). Once ready, in a meet you would salute the judge with two arms up (as if raising your hands) and run. Hit the springboard (the thing in front of the table) and do a skill off it.

The reason I don’t like vault is because it happens so fast, and then you are tired after only doing one turn… boring. However, today I found it kind of fun and relaxing. I enjoyed vault for the first time in years.

Then there are uneven bars.

These are the only bars that women compete on.

If it weren’t for my death defying falls that I have had in the past, they would be no big deal. That is exactly why I hate them though. They are a big deal they are all about two things:

1.)    Keeping your body tight, squeezing every muscle in your body.

2.)  Timing, it is everything on bars.

I personally struggle most with those two things. Sounds weird I know, but I honestly could not tell you if my legs were bent or straight (I’m getting better at it though).

Although today, I spent most of my time on bars. I’m trying to get a skill that we call a straddle cut. What you do is you hold onto the bar and swing under it with your legs in front, you then bring your legs through your hands, shoot them upwards, let go of the bar, straddle your legs and catch it again.

The whole point of the skill is to get your legs between your hands and then back out, by letting go. That is what we call a release move.

 My coach watched a few of the ones I did. Every time I would slam on the mat below me. I had yet to catch the bar again. Every now and then I would hear from across the bar area, “that one was better Garber” So I would get up and do it again. Hoping my body would remember what it just did.

As I went to chalk up again a teammate told me to shoot my feet upwards not back. My coach then commented saying, “That’s the same thing I’ve been telling her for two months.”

I then replied, “I’m trying and they are getting better.”

She agreed (wow! That’s an accomplishment), and continued by saying “you need to be patient.”

My immediate reply was, “Well… that’s something I defiantly am not!”

“I know, most gymnasts aren’t,” She said with a laugh.

You see, my biggest problem with working this skill is something that Coach Rachel said herself. “I’ve been telling her for TWO MONTHS.”

The last thing I worked on for two months was a kip… I’m not even going to explain what that is… but that’s like the most basic skill in gymnastics.

My back walkover on the beam, I got it in one day; put it on the high beam in two.

My up-rise, I worked on it for two weeks. Gave up and then went back to it, made it on the first one.

My back-tuck, my coach spotted me once over her shoulder for me to get the feeling of it. The second time she had me do it with just a regular spot and by the third one, she expected me to do it by myself.

My half on floor… got it on the tumble-track in two days, and by the third day, my coach had me putting it on floor.

Lets just say I haven’t had to “be patient” for any of my skills. Nor had I had to slowly work at them and watch them get better and better.

The thing about those skills is that they come and go. I do them when I want, whenever I want. If I’m not in the mood, I won’t do them.

So what I got out of today’s practice:

1.)    I’m sore. Haha

2.)  When you are given an option, like open gym, you are usually faced with two basic options.

a.      Something that you like, no risks and you are more willing to do.

b.     Something that you don’t think you will like, and you usually avoid.

So go with the one that you usually don’t like. You will surprise yourself, and you usually learn lessons from choosing something you don’t think you will like.

3.)  Be patient, because the best things come with time. You will learn to appreciate them more. Like my kip, I don’t go through a practice (in which I go to bars) without doing a kip. Same with when I get my straddle cut, I probably won’t go through a practice, warm-up or routine with out it, once I finally catch it.

Therefore, my best advice for anyone that is reading this… Find a vault day that you actually enjoy. Meaning… actually try the things you don’t think you will like. You might be surprised!

In addition, wait for the day you will catch the bar. Girls wait until the right person comes along. Be patient with your parents. Be patient with God, he’s on his own clock. Because in time, the things you were patient for (like a husband, or a straddle cut) will probably be one of the things you cherish the most, it will be valuable to you, and it will be something that you don’t go a day (or a practice) without.

Until then,
Bec

Confused on the straddle cut, here's a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv72hzTDRL8&feature=related

Fix Me

Has someone ever tried to fix you? It makes you think that you aren’t good enough…
I get that feeling being in the gym all the time.
As a gymnast being good kind of runs along the same lines as chasing the score of a 10.0.
I am chasing Perfection… Something that simply cannot be achieved, no matter what any judge says.

This is how our chase of perfection happens. Over the summer, you work hard to figure out different skills that you need to move up to the next level, you train your body to do the terrifying skills. By the beginning of the school year, you have about two months to officially get the skills. By the middle of October, you are going into a competition knowing that you have the skill…

Sometimes…

You know that you can catch the bar after letting go…

If your muscle memory kicks in…

You know you won’t hit your head on the beam…
If you remember to push, off of your leg…

Just saying your first meet of the year isn’t great…

Throughout the whole season, you are perfecting the skills that you are bad at. You train your muscles to remember. I train my hands to do a circular motion ever time I let go of the bar. I do front walk over’s on the beam until my foot knows where it will land. Until I remember to push my hips forward every time.

Fix.
Fix.
Fix...

By the end of the season the big meets come. There are Districts, Zones (what others call regional’s) and Nationals, and by those meets the coaches are trying to decide if it is a bigger deduction if you do the skill or if you don’t.

If you are confused here’s how deductions work, every time you bend your legs it’s a deduction, let go too early, deduction, timing is off deduction. If you don’t do required skills there is a bigger deduction… so when it comes down to it… and all the deductions are added together… what gets you a higher score? Doing the skill… or not?

Keep it?

Take it out?

Keep it... fix it

Take it out... still fixing...

For me it’s always been… I have the skill, but no matter how many times I do it in one season, the skills always get taken out near the end because I still have too many things to fix. Yes, I get high scores but it makes me wonder… am I good enough? Is all my hard work to twist, release and go backwards worth it?

When it comes down to it, I don’t want trophies and medals… I mean I do… but I want to earn them! Not just, get them because my skills are easier...

And I would rather have someone help me fix what I'm doing wrong... rather than just take it out and return to it later when I'm having bigger problems. And I would rather have someone constantly fixing a skill... rather than just leaving me to figure out what I am doing wrong.

When someone tells me I am doing something wrong it feels like they are telling me how imperfect I am... but it's not that at all...

Gymnastics relates so well with my walk with God. Because all the time people try to fix me. Try to make me better. In TBQ if I quote a bible verse wrong... I feel like I can't get it right, and if i had a bad day... it's not a good thing to tell me.

If my mom tells me my skirt is too short... she is always trying to fix how long my dresses and skirts are... but it's not because she is trying to tell me what is wrong with me.

The people that try to "fix me" are molding me into the person they know I can be. My mom knows that I can be preppy, and fashionable while still being modest. I can keep up with the latest trends without showing my bra straps. When I quote a bible verse wrong, they aren't telling me my memory is bad... they are trying to help me engrave it into my mind. It's just like a skill in gymnastics. If I practice it enough muscle memory kicks in... and i don't even have to think about what i am doing anymore, it just comes. It's the same with the modesty that mom pushes, and when someone corrects me when it comes to studying God's word.

So next time someone tries to "fix you" whether it's a boyfriend, girlfriend, your best friend, coach, parent or teacher... just remember they aren't telling you that you made a mistake just to "fix you" they are telling you that you made a mistake so that you can learn from it and fix it yourself next time.

Because they know who you can become.

-Bec