Rocky Mountain Open 2011 – my first competition in 10 years

Over the weekend I traveled with the Arizona State Men’s Gymnastics Team to the 2011 Rocky Mountain Open where I competed in the competition as an individual. There were 4 college teams, one team of six guys from the Olympic Training Center (which happens to be located in the same city), and 4 individuals (including me). I was not the oldest one there, the same guy who competed in Vault every year back when I was on the ASU team was still there (I heard he’s 49 now). There was another guy who might be older than me but I didn’t want to pry, and the fourth individual graduated from Penn State a year and a half ago.

I was very excited to be there and full of adrenaline – so much that I wobbled on most of the skills, held the front lever way too high, and even fell out of a straddle L near the end. But I had a wonderful time, and I’ve already started thinking about what I’m going to add to my routine for next year. My start value was 14.7 (which is less than expected, probably because one or two skills were devalued by my form breaks) and I scored 11.0. The third place score was 14.7, so all I need to do is add a little more difficulty and clean up my form and I have a chance at placing next year. Considering there are Olympic athletes (from the OTC) competing there I would be very proud to place in that meet.

In the meantime, Scott said I could compete at one of the ASU home meets this year, so I’m setting my sights on the dual meet between ASU and University of Michigan at Aspire on March 2nd. That gives me about six weeks to increase my stamina and change a couple things in my routine to make it easier to perform cleanly. I want to swap out the back uprise straddle planche with a cross pull out after my kip-L cross near the beginning. That will avoid a bunch of bobbles on the straddle planche. I also want to remove the straddle L near the end so I won’t fall out of it anymore. 🙂

Stay tuned, I’m just getting started!

About Robert

I competed in gymnastics for 16 years through college at Arizona State University. After 10 years and 5 (now 6) children, I have returned to gymnastics as a competitor. I am a lifetime gymnast. :)
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