So…Our competition season officially begins in two weeks…AM I READY TO COMPETE????
Short answer: YES! Get that first competition of the season under your belt and out of the way. The competition nerves will slowly ease after each competition is complete, so it’s important to start that process as soon as possible!
Here are some quick tips to getting through your first competition!
- Take a breath before you start your routine
Just the act of saluting to a judge can be unnerving, so take your time gathering yourself before you start your routine! Stand in your “T” as long as you need. As a competitive athlete, you can take up to 60 seconds of time collecting yourself before your routine without getting any deductions, so use it if you need to!
- Whatever you do, DON’T TAKE A MILLION BOUNCES!
Newsflash…Bouncing is TIRING! Why waste your energy before even starting your routine? You can even do the 3 or 5 “bounce method” that we practice in class for any competition if it will help you to conserve your energy.
- Jump high and aim to put 10 elements on the trampoline (11 if you count the stop bounce) – that’s it!
As coaches, for the first meet of the season, that’s all we want! We do not care how pretty it is, how well you execute your skills (although it should be decent enough to get through the routine), etc. We just want to see you complete the routine! Everything else can be cleaned up and refined in between meets. Your routine should look it’s best at States, Regionals, and Nationals. But this is the beginning of the season, so be easy on yourself!
- Remember that you have trained for this!
Whether it be months or years, you’ve put in so much time and effort towards perfecting your routines, so own it! Compete like you are at your home gym! Keep your head up high and show em’ what you got.
- If you mess up, don’t beat yourself up
I cannot stress this enough. You messed up? So what? With the help of your coaches, assess where you went wrong in your routine, learn from it, work on it, and most importantly, move on! Come back stronger at the next competition.
- HAVE FUN!
This is perhaps the single most important aspect of competing. If you aren’t having fun and learning, what’s the point?
We want to wish our athletes the best of luck at their first competition on December 15th! We are so excited to kick off the season. GO TEAM USAT!