I was a competitive gymnast from 4th grade until a sophomore in HS.
the one thing I'll say / my $.02 is confidence is everything; particularly as you climb through the levels to Elite Level gymnastics. I made it to Class 2; after that was Class 1, then Elite. At level 2, compulsory routines and their elements began to get more difficult, and at CL 2 level optional routines were part of the meet. everyone did a compulsory, then optional routine that met the routine elements ; typically for the optional routine, you had to demonstrate a strength component, balance, and flexibility component.
as I went up in the classes and began incorporating full + twists (1.5 or greater) ; or doubles, my coach would emphasize what he called "air sense". have an air sense of where you're at in the air. and 'don't get lost". I can tell you, it's scary as **** getting lost. Not too bad when you're learning a move into the foam pit, but you can definitely psyche yourself out when you think about the consequences of being 'lost' on a complex tumbling, vault, or dismount move w/out a spotter or foam pit. The psyche-out begins.
Maybe she had been feeling a little 'off' for a while; and that compounded itself to the point where she wasn't confident in executing tremendously complex moves / psyched herself out to an extent - even though she's probably done the elements hundreds, if not thousands of times.
that's what this feels like to me, and not so much on the 'pressure' side of things. I say this because I read where her vault was reduced to a very simple (by their standards) difficulty and she still botched the landing. When gymnasts say stuff like 'they can't see', I'm assuming that's the same as being 'lost' as my old coach would say.
but's it's all just speculation / WAG on my part. [Reply]
What Simone did took major courage. She knew she didn’t have it today and took herself out. If she continued she could’ve hurt herself and probably not of medaled. Instead the US stepped up and brought home Silver. This is like saying Mahomes doesn’t have it and throws 4 INTs in the first half and is down 20 at halftime but you have Ryan Fitzpatrick as your backup. A good quality QB [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dayze:
I was a competitive gymnast from 4th grade until a sophomore in HS.
the one thing I'll say / my $.02 is confidence is everything; particularly as you climb through the levels to Elite Level gymnastics. I made it to Class 2; after that was Class 1, then Elite. At level 2, compulsory routines and their elements began to get more difficult, and at CL 2 level optional routines were part of the meet. everyone did a compulsory, then optional routine that met the routine elements ; typically for the optional routine, you had to demonstrate a strength component, balance, and flexibility component.
as I went up in the classes and began incorporating full + twists (1.5 or greater) ; or doubles, my coach would emphasize what he called "air sense". have an air sense of where you're at in the air. and 'don't get lost". I can tell you, it's scary as **** getting lost. Not too bad when you're learning a move into the foam pit, but you can definitely psyche yourself out when you think about the consequences of being 'lost' on a complex tumbling, vault, or dismount move w/out a spotter or foam pit. The psyche-out begins.
Maybe she had been feeling a little 'off' for a while; and that compounded itself to the point where she wasn't confident in executing tremendously complex moves / psyched herself out to an extent - even though she's probably done the elements hundreds, if not thousands of times.
that's what this feels like to me, and not so much on the 'pressure' side of things. I say this because I read where her vault was reduced to a very simple (by their standards) difficulty and she still botched the landing. When gymnasts say stuff like 'they can't see', I'm assuming that's the same as being 'lost' as my old coach would say.
Originally Posted by ptlyon:
So basically, she's ****ed
possibly. I can't imagine losing that degree of confidence at this stage in the middle of a meet / Olympics. It's one thing to lose it in the off season/ training, and have time to get your mind back.....but damn...I can't imagine having to pull it together so quickly. Not even sure how someone would do it.
if, assuming, the lost confidence / lost thing is the culprit.
I just can't imagine it's a pressure thing as she's dealt with it / managed it her entire competitive life. but everyone has a breaking point I suppose. Shit, who knows. [Reply]
There isn't any sugar coating it, she choked. Good on her for realizing it and pulling herself out. Not doing so might have cost her teammates the silver. [Reply]
Honestly even if she powered through it, she probably wasn't going to accomplish anything. Once you're mentally checked out your toast at any professional level.
It's not much different than the Super Bowl. You could probably bet money that the Chiefs coaching staff was not completely focused Super Bowl week because of the Brett Reid thing. No it wasn't mental health issues, but if you aren't 100% focused you're probably going to get waxed. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mlyonsd:
There isn't any sugar coating it, she choked. Good on her for realizing it and pulling herself out. Not doing so might have cost her teammates the silver.
plus, the risk of catastrophic injury.
one wrong move in the air / momentary mental lapse..... eeeeshh.
I'm wondering how much of this has been effecting her / and for how long (if it's a confidence thing). maybe she's been dealing with it for a while and she realized she might be playing with fire (if it's the confidence / not 'seeing' type scenario).
shit who knows. will be interesting to see how this all plays out. [Reply]
Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!:
What Simone did took major courage. She knew she didn’t have it today and took herself out. If she continued she could’ve hurt herself and probably not of medaled. Instead the US stepped up and brought home Silver. This is like saying Mahomes doesn’t have it and throws 4 INTs in the first half and is down 20 at halftime but you have Ryan Fitzpatrick as your backup. A good quality QB
So you are good with Mahomes taking himself out there? Interesting [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dayze:
plus, the risk of catastrophic injury.
one wrong move in the air / momentary mental lapse..... eeeeshh.
I'm wondering how much of this has been effecting her / and for how long (if it's a confidence thing). maybe she's been dealing with it for a while and she realized she might be playing with fire (if it's the confidence / not 'seeing' type scenario).
shit who knows. will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
And I think you’ll get a very honest post-mortem when all is said and done. I was surprised she came out with such honesty so immediately. Super rare for an athlete whose image is so heavily managed. I don’t think she’ll shrink away from her genuine thought process/frame of mind if she’s not able to perform on Thursday. [Reply]
Did anyone see the play that the USA left fielder made in the 7th inning of the gold medal softball game today?
Down 2-0 with 2 outs in the top of the 7th she made a spectacular catch over the wall in left field. It robbed the Japanese hitter of a 2 run homer and kept the US hopes alive with one final at bat.
It was a play worthy of the best of MLB outfielders.
As I have stated before, I am too stupid to figure out how to post videos or pictures on this forum. I am 75 years old and apparently am too ****ing dumb and too old to figure it out at this point.
But suffice it to say……….she made a simply spectacular catch! [Reply]
