What makes the D difference: Part 1
Gina Pongetti Inside the gymnastics
Execution can always be improved: more time, better repetitions, a rethinking of the fundamentals.
Difficulty scores, on the other hand, are either there or they aren’t.
If you combine the two, say a D and an E, the highest total will be your final score. Would you take a risk and try a more difficult skill, but have a poor execution? Or would you settle for a below average D score, but have a beautiful execution? Of course, the goal is to practice enough to push the limits of your skills and combinations, and take risks too.
Coming into the tournament, the U.S. men’s gymnastics team was trailing by six points after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Even if the machine was working fine, it was like racing a car with the governor on. In Minneapolis this week, as the men prepare to announce their 2024 Olympic team, the defense will no doubt be influencing every decision.
“We were down six points before we even raised our hands on the first routine. It’s very difficult to basically expect to be successful,” he explained. U.S. Men’s High Performance Director Brett McClure.
What did they need?
Time. Plenty of it.
It’s a time to not worry so much about your ability to perform or compete or build and grow. It’s a time to take risks. Drill, strengthen yourself, and improve yourself.
Oh, there is a plan.
The plan devised had to do with rewards. A bonus system would be created in the US to reward skaters who attempted new moves, and if they fell or received a significant deduction, the bonus would be offset. Great in theory, but when competing against the best skaters in the world on an international stage with an international judging panel, the questions arose. For team consideration and selection, the scoring would be changed to the regular FIG scoring system. “The idea is to get the competition to a good enough score,” McClure explained.
“Strengths are, we’ve made the vault a lot more difficult. High bar is also a great event for us. We have an incredible number of pommel horse athletes compared to other countries in the world. I think we’re above average in the other events. Floor, rings. China is very good at stationary rings. I don’t think any country can catch China in this event, but they will have weaknesses. It’s going to be a puzzle of looking at all the pieces and seeing how they fit together.”
After three years of hard work practising new skills and combinations since the Tokyo Olympics came to a close, the programme has put its goals into action.
“[Since] “At the last world championships we were within two points and heading into the Paris Olympics with a different mix of athletes we could be within one point of China and Japan,” McClure said.
Tom Guglielmi “The Stanford head coach coaches some of the top prospects for the 2024 team,” he said.“They push the envelope.” Like every coach of an elite program, he looks at what the world is doing and the standards at which anyone can win a medal, both as a team or as an individual. Their success may be the product of the theory McClure describes.
To get better, you need the space to do so. The problem is that many of our national teams are in the peak of their collegiate careers, so working towards consistency and performance in team scores and championships takes priority over improving D-scores. This starts with the NCAA preseason, continues through April, and culminates with the NCAA Championships. Then we have the Winter Cup in February, which is in the middle of the season. This is followed by the World Cup Series, etc.
McClure’s theory is that when a college has a pool of elite athletes, others will follow. They want to train together and have the camaraderie to weather the elite stresses. If a team has the advantage of depth, it can rotate players during NCAA competition, giving them more breathing room to cycle and train harder during peak times.
“We know we need to start big because we’re not going to be competitive enough to win a medal,” Guglielmi explained, “and that’s what motivated my group, my Stanford group of athletes. We want to be in position to win a medal if we go in.”
