Sarah Shire's Gymnastics Journal
10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Oct. 31, 2008
Hey Mizzou Fans!
I thought I'd stop by and let you know a little bit about what's been going on in the gym this past week. As many of the girls have mentioned in their previous journal entries, conditioning and training in the gym have been very intense lately, but it's really starting to pay off. This week we focused on high conditioning in the gym, and lower numbers of skills with shorter workouts in the weight room. I would like to break down the events a little more specifically and really let you see who is shining on each event...
Vault:
This week has been a real eye-opener for the vault line up, and it's super exciting, let me tell you! Adrianne (A), Danielle (D), Lisa (Lap), Lauren (Lo) and I have been throwing fulls very consistently at each workout, even trying to stick them this past week. Alex is still doing HUGE front handspring pike halves that are guaranteed to be bigger and even better than last year's, while Becky and even Alicia (Hatcher) are doing layout halves. Our freshmen are bringing great variety to the line up with Tara's full, Mary and Allie each doing yurchenko halves on vaults, and Brittany's tuck full. D and I are also throwing the occasional one and a half to upgrade in the future. Needless to say, the depth is there on vault!
Bars:
Bars is coming along great! The girls have been working into routines and I'm so impressed with the way things are coming along. I'm just getting back into swinging since surgery on my shoulder so I have some time to watch these girls throw amazing routines so early in the season! Allie, Tara and Lisa Lap are doing beautiful full pirouettes to reverse hects to straddle backs and finishing with double layouts. "A" and Becky continue to breeze through routines and have really been working handstands and landings nice and early in the season. Liz continues to work on upgrading her routine this season, hoping to add a toe full, and Alex hopes to add a double front dismount. "D" put routines together this week as well, catching her Jaeger and finishing with a double front dismount. Mary adds some variety with her invert giant half turn to Geinger, finishing with a double Arabian. And Hatcher continues to amaze me...adding a HUGE reverse hect after her already beautiful Khorkina, and probably the most impressive thing on bars in the gym right now, is Hatcher's double lay full out dismount that she is working our of her bail...it's simply flawless!
Beam:
Beam is full of new skills and exciting things here at Mizzou Gymnastics! Almost everyone has upgraded somewhere. D, Lap, and Mary are doing front tuck mounts, while Hatcher and I are doing round-off layout step out mounts. "A" is doing a new series (back handspring layout step out to back handspring swing down), Brooke has added a switch side leap, Alex has her series on the high beam now, and I've added a 3/4 twisting back handspring. Beam queen Brooke continues to amaze me with her consistency and she is going to be even better this year on "her" event. Mary is another solid competitor that I'm sure we will be able to count on during the season. Overall beam is coming along great and we have Amy to thank for it. On Monday's we work dance routines to set the rhythm and make our routines flow. Tuesday's and Friday's are set aside for number's working routines, Wednesday's we work problem parts and Thursday's are "team beam." This past week we got a partner to complete our assignment with, which started to add a little pressure but really kept the beam assignment interesting. With this system, we're guaranteed to be great on beam this year.
Floor:
As many of the girls have already mentioned, our choreography is awesome this year thanks again to Amy, but what is really beginning to shine is our level of conditioning, which is making us able to be strong enough to finish up our last passes without difficulty. Not only are many of us doing new passes, we're doing them earlier and easier than ever before. "A" started working double layouts again and they are looking better than ever. Hatcher, Allie, and I are opening our routines with triple fulls and Lisa Lap is opening with a front-handspring front double full. Lo, Alex, D, Becky, Tara, and Brittany are doing big double pikes. This year Lo and Brittany are ending with 2 and half twists. D, "A," Tara and Mary are ending with double tucks and I'm attempting to end with a double pike. I'm sure all the conditioning and hard work is going to continue to pay off as we progress into this season...keep an eye out for an amazing team this year!
GO TIGERS!!!
Shi
