How to Do Well at Gymnastics Competitions

Before the meet (at home)

Go to the gym and practice. If this isn't possible, practice your routines at home (no excuses, you can practice without tumbling and the music! Sometimes, you may be able to find it on Youtube) Be careful not to overdo it, however. Practicing too much before a meet can wear you out, make you frustrated, and even make you unable to compete, if you injure yourself. In the days immediately before a meet, lightly practice and focus on perfecting the small things in routines like dance, attitude, toe points, and arm and leg placements.

Eat a good dinner. Eat foods like pasta (carbohydrates) and meat (protein). The worst thing you can do is not eat. Avoid dairy.

Pick a leotard. Usually the gym will provide the team leotard for you but if not you would pick out the leotard that makes you stand out more and that complements you. Even though your old leotard might be your favorite, you should look professional.

Plan your meet schedule. Competition times can range from early morning sessions of 8:00 to late night sessions around 6:30 or 7:00. A good thing to do is plan out your day in a schedule minute by minute. This way you make sure you have enough time to get ready, but you have to meet the time limits you set for yourself.

Lay out your gymnastics leotard, grips, tape, etc. hours before you compete. If you have a drawstring bag or backpack, put the essentials in the bag before the meet, such as grips and wristbands, any wrist or ankle braces, bobby pins, hair ties, or hairspray/gel, so you don't forget them.

Visualize your routine . Knowing the routine will save you the stress of trying to remember what to do on the apparatus. When you go over it in your head Go over parts you have trouble with (dance, leaps, etc.) On Floor: Learn the music. Know when the music can help you remember your routine (the same way theatre performers remember their lines using cues. You can remember using musical cues.) Count out the beats as well. This will help you stay in time with the music, and avoid ending too soon and just standing there awkwardly. On Beam: Strut your stuff! Be confident, and make the judges look. On Bars: When going over your routine, know the rhythm of your swings. Some people swing faster, some swing at an even pace, and some people speed up as it goes along. Knowing your rhythm will help you visualize you routine. On Vault: Know the number on the tape measure where you start, so you know how many steps you need to take. Visualize your run, and then how long it takes after you hit the springboard to fly over the vault. This will help you know when to 'block' off.

Go to bed early. It is essential to have a lot of rest. Go even if you aren't tired. Though you may feel completely rested when you go to sleep, you will be tired when you wake up if you don't go to bed early. If you really can't go to sleep, do other resting activities: Reading Watching a movie Do homework

At the meet

Eat a good breakfast. Not Dunkin-donuts, or McDonalds. Eggs and bacon are good, with toast.

Be able to remember the routine. It may seem strange to target something so obvious, but it has happened that a gymnast "blanked" on even the balance beam mount.

Visualize your routine again. Continuing on the first step, go over your routine. Even if you went over it the night before, you can never go over your routine to many times. Use the tips in the previous section.

Be there in time to warm up. It is dangerous to do gymnastics without warming up (as in any other sport), as you can pull a muscle. Run around and warm up, then stretch.

Use hairspray or gel. There are many (good) ways to do hair for gymnastics, but some good styles are: French Braids Spider Webs Cornrows Buns Pony tail

Present or salute the judges. Make sure you present before and after every routine on every event as you can lose 0.1 every time you forget.

Don't get nervous. That sounds hard, but it's possible. Nerves are notorious for making even the best, most prepared gymnasts mess up. Be confident, especially on beam. Projecting confidence and showing attitude, especially on beam and floor, can give you a higher score even if you mess up.