Competing or practice?

[GikiGirl]

I am wondering which do you guys like the best? For those of you who have competed.

I definitely find practice more fun, and like it more. I like to have the chance to try something over if I make a mistake...and I like throwing new skills into pits and whatnot, which you cannot do at competition.

 

[katy]

i definitely prefer practices to competitions. i am only competing again for moral support for another teammate. it is fun to have routines, i feel like my practices are more focused, but i don't like the down time of a meet. i feel like i am constantly stretching so i don't cool down.

 

[GikiGirl]

Totally agree that having a competition makes practice more productive, and it is a fun goal to reach to do your routines in front of everyone. I have getting cold in between though, and having to adjust to new equipment, that usually is worse that we are lucky enough to have at our club.

 

[JMR132]

I prefer to compete. I have more to look forward to with my practices and get more done. I only wish I had more possiblities to compete in my area. Every competition is so far away and it's not cheap to attend. I will keep my fingers crossed that more pop up in the area. The owner where I work out has said that he will do "over-the-hill" meets whenever we want so....

 

[katy]

i know what you mean about the meets being far away. i am driving to the other side of michigan for a power tumbling meet on sunday. it is a three hour drive. then in feburary, also three hours away in ohio, we have an artistic meet.

 

[gurlgymnast]

I like practice more than competition, but especially since right now I am just working out by myself at the gym, competition is a good motivator. Plus it's fun to meet new people and talk to people I know who used to go to my gym.

Actually, this season I have been to one meet where I competed AAU Mod Op (as unattached to a club, with no coach) and I got to rotate with these little girls who were having their first meet ever...it was fun to cheer them on and they couldn't believe how old I was (they thought I was 14).

BTW - MO (or even level 7) is a good level to compete in AAU because if you can't make the requirements you only get a .2 deduction...Some meets might require you to have a coach, but it only costs like 12-14 bucks to be a coach so all you have to do is convince a friend to "coach" you.

 

[GikiGirl]

I did some USAIGC meets last year, and it was not required to have a coach, but I did bring along my husband who has coached gymnastics before, to help me set the equipment and whatnot. Everyone was nice to him and the other coaches offered to let me jump in with their groups if we had similar settings for warmup, etc. USAIGC has a good website that shows all upcoming meets, etc. and the national director was very welcoming of me being an adult and participating. The yearly membership is not too bad, I think its $40.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

There's definitely a certain thrill to competition that I enjoy, but I wouldn't want to do it every day.