Gymnastics at its Finest

Chapter 2

We have a meet this weekend, and this is the last practice we have before it. I start on beam. Sometimes I like starting on beam, because I haven’t had the chance to be tired out yet, but other times I don’t. Sometimes beam can be really nerve-wracking first, even though it’s just practice.

“10 series in a row.” My coach yells.

Ugh. My series is so inconsistent. I’m going to be doing series the whole beam rotation.

I warm up a few back handspring layout step outs on the floor. I stand with my hands above my ears, swing my arms, and jump. I push off my hands in the back handspring, and then get ready to push for the layout. I land one foot at a time, and stand up straight. Good. Solid. I get up onto the high beam and warm-up a standing handspring. It felt nice and solid, so I decide to go for the next one I do.

I stand again with my arms by my ears, and my feet in front of each other. I swing my arms, and jump. I do the same thing as I did on the floor, and land square on my feet. I can hear my feet hit the beam. 1 down, 9 to go.

I keep repeating the same steps over and over. I actually land my 10 in a row successfully! This is a huge surprise. I guess I am finally getting more consistent. I look over at my coach, and see a look of approval across her face.

“Good.” Katie (my coach) says. “Move on to dismounts. Make 5 and then move on to routines.”

I nod and turn around to go back to the beam. I hop on, walk to the end, and warm-up with a round-off layout. It feels good. A lot better than usual actually. I’m getting a little excited for the meet! I’m so consistent today! I stand back at the end of the beam, and throw my round-off double full. I take a small step backward. Not my best, but I’ll do better next time. I hop back on the beam and do it again. I stumble on this one and put my hands down. Whoops! At least these ones don’t have to be in a row. I go again and stick the landing. I do it 3 more times, and I’m finished.

Whoa. This is turning out to be a really good practice.

I start doing my routines. I jump onto the beam in a middle split. That’s my mount. I turn to the side so I’m sitting on the beam, swing up to a handstand, step down, and finish. I dance to the end, and do my series. I land a little crooked, but I hold on without a wobble. I finish and pose. I get ready to do my leap series. I do switch leap, switch half, and split half. Not too bad. This is good and consistent. I do my side aerial and punch front without a problem. I get ready for my dismount, and stick the landing. I salute and look over to Katie. She smiles and nods.

“Amazing routine. Just make sure the series lands up straight. You can go on to floor now.”