Nervous for Level 4 meet!

[dreamergymnast]

I am so nervous for my first Level 4 meet. I'm nervous I won't make my kip/squat on bars, or my cartwheel on beam. Also, forgetting my routines and my vault. And it's an new level and new routines (especially vault.) I competed in the new Level 2, by the time that season ended I jumped to L4. My 1st L4 meet isn't until October 13th, so I should have time to perfect my routines, but I'm so nervous! Please help! And has anyone had this happen?

 

[stxrdusty]

Yes, before the meet my gym hosted this past spring. I needed an 8.5 on one of my two events to qualify to state as an event specialist. It was my last JO season and the first meet I'd competed in in over a year.
Honestly, just trust in your training, you're not going to compete any different from how you train. What you do in practice, is what you so at meets. Train confident, compete confident. Use your nervous energy, which in reality is adrenaline (a hormone that speeds up the heart rate and other bodily functions giving the impression of higher energy and more power) to make you better. All you have to do is stay focused.
What helps me at meets is to not look at my scores (or anyone's for that matter) until the meet is over. Its way less stressful that way.

 

[dreamergymnast]

With the score thing, I don't get nervous when I see scores (mine or anyone else's), but I can't wait until the end to see my scores, because the coach tells me if I'm not looking. And sometimes, when I get nervous, I forget the routines. Any tips on how to remember a routine?

 

[GymRat]

Once you practice a routine enough, your body will remember how to do it, even if your brain is telling you that it can't. It sounds like you have plenty of time to learn and perfect your routines before competition season, so don't stress over it. When the time comes, muscle memory will kick in and you will remember your routines.
Good luck!

 

[dreamergymnast]

Once you practice a routine enough, your body will remember how to do it, even if your brain is telling you that it can't. It sounds like you have plenty of time to learn and perfect your routines before competition season, so don't stress over it. When the time comes, muscle memory will kick in and you will remember your routines.
Good luck!

My friend told me to watch a Level 4 Floor Routine Tutorial and keep watching it until I can remember the routine. It kind of helped. Should I do this? Because I don't really know how useful the video will be (especially since the gymnast shown in the video is a lefty and I am a righty.)

 

[GymRat]

I think that you should first work through the routine with your coach. He or she will give you corrections that are specifically tailored to you. You have plenty of time to run your routine before season starts. Watching videos could help cement it in your mind, but I would definitely go through your routine with your coach first, and maybe have someone film you doing the routine, that way you can see your corrections.
Hope this helped, good luck!

 

[dreamergymnast]

It helped, I have the routine now I just need to make sure it is completely correct (not perfect, but still) and I need to run through it with music.