“Jump! Tuck! NO T-Rex arms, Morgan! Hands up! Flip faster! Come on, you can do this Morganess!” (Which is what they call me.) My coach was conducting. I have been working on my front flip on trampoline for years now, but for some reason I just couldn’t do it. It’s harder than it looks. I also I keep forgetting to do my landing right which is untucking myself, straightening up, but keeping my knees slightly bent. Sometimes it is not jumping at all or just not jumping high enough. Other times I bend my arms instead of keeping them straight. Which is why sometimes they call me T-rex. Not only that, but on certain occasions, I don’t tuck or flip fast enough which throws it off as a whole. I was starting to give up, things started to look good in …show more content…
my summer classes I landed two front flips, but I need to land three for the coaches to officially confirm that I could it. That means that I get to sign my name on the wall and start working harder on my back flip. All I have to do is jump, keep my arms straight, tuck, flip fast, and land. Why can’t I do that? The gym had a faint smell of sweat and fans were blowing everywhere which made the whole gym a a bit more noisy. The air was still very humid, so it made me feel like I was going to pass out after a while. Shrewsbury gymnastics had a smaller gym than others but it didn’t feel very tight, there was still plenty of room.
On one side there was the bars area, in the middle there was the floor and the beams next to it. Standing side by side with the beam was the tumble track, and then there were the two trampolines. I was on the yellow one, since it’s more bouncy. The black one next to it was smoother but you really have to jump hard to get the same height you get on the other. As I was jumping each sound of the springs thumping made my heart beat faster. Suddenly the trampoline felt more nerve racking and uncomfortable. My calloused feet were going numb, and my mind telling body to flip, but my body …show more content…
resisting. Today I was the only one in class, there is another girl, but she doesn’t come a lot.
So for most of the class I was just attempting to do a perfect front flip. In my head I kept saying, Hands up, jump up, make a tuck, and flip fast and land. It was not working.
You could do it, you could do it. I kept on telling myself. I kept on trying and trying and trying. I keep trying so many times, I lost count. The coach said we were going to move on in a couple minutes to beam which I love but I wanted to keep on trying my front flip until I thought I was not able to attempt it anymore. I could do this. Come on Morgan, Come on…
Here goes nothing, I thought. I jumped up, I tucked, but then when I flipped it felt too slow as I was going through the motions, Seriously Morgan?! I was so upset. At least try not to smash your head open. I felt the pressure of my body going down I untucked myself. BOOM! At first I thought it was my knees but no, my feet hit the trampoline. I straightened up preparing myself to fall back. Still I didn’t. I stuck my landing.
“Perfect Morgan!” My coach exclaimed, “That’s it!”
I tried again and landed it. Then another time. Coach Ed walked up to me with a piece of chalk in his
hand. “Go ahead,” he said, tilting his head to the chalkboard, “not too big though.” I nodded, walked up to the black chalkboard filled with names. I searched for a spot to put mine and right next to the center was a perfect spot. I was writing up my name on the chalkboard. I could now look at the board covered in chalk and chalk dust, and not just see other's name, but mine too. Right there. I felt like I could do anything. I felt accomplished. I finally made it. I figured out what it felt like to land a front flip. It felt, amazing. This opened doors to other tricks I could learn. Such as, front flips and twists, back flips, front flips on the ground or on beam… So many options. I was so proud. So much, that it was probably one of my proudest moments.
I swear it’s a sickness. It’s either that or gravity has a bit of a crush on me, since I can never seem to stay upright and on my feet. Last summer during softball alone I had many semi-catastrophic occurrences involving loss of balance or coordination such as getting a cleat stuck in home plate and almost kneeing myself in the face and tripping in the indent in the batter's box while going after a bunt. These events, however, were by for not the worst that happened. The worst took place during the Presque Isle tournament, facing none other than the Presque Isle panthers.
Even if it’s just one practice, I have a hard time with it; sitting at practice watching my teammates tumble always gets to me. It always makes me question if the sacrifice I make is still worth it. As soon as I come back and get moving again, I get a fresh reminder of all the love I have for tumbling and cheer.
Located in the popular Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in California. Every year, mother nature’s breathtaking beauty attracts millions of people from around the world. People hike for three long and fatiguing hours in anticipation of witnessing forceful water rushing down the steep mountain from 2,425 feet above. Last summer, my family and I backpacked through the Yosemite Falls Trail and I came to learn what a truly exhausting experience it is.
I usually never tried to do the more evolved tricks because I was scared of hurting myself for the upcoming football season. Since I was able to try the trick one time and almost land it, it pushed me even further to try again and again until I landed it. After a week of non stop practice, I was able to finally land a 360. The main reason I landed it was because I put myself out of my comfort zone. If I didn’t put myself there then I wouldn’t have even tried the trick in the first
Ok you tried doing it now what you are going to do is bring your leg back up to your stomach then your arm is going to go back behind your head not to far though now pretend you throw the ball your leg that is up to your stomach will go down right before you throw the ball remember this is just pretend when it goes down it will touch the ground right in front of you.Then your are going
This was amusing to us, the spectators. One particular spectator thought he would join in the fun. The third contestant, Jim Pratt, made his first attempt but lost his grip and fell onto the gym floor on his stomach knocking the air out of him. He got up holding his stomach, gasping for air, and laughing at himself at the same time. The small crowd joined in laughing with him. Nobody wants to try, fail and just quit, so naturally, Jim wanted to try again. Many of the cautious few in the audience expressed their doubts as to whether he should try it again. Jim, having the competitive nature I am sure that all teenage boys possess, attempted to dunk the round orange ball one more time.
Two years ago when I first started competitive cheerleading, I was very nervous and shy. It was my first year cheering, and I knew no one on my team and had no clue how to do any of the skills we were being asked to do. It was tryouts and most of the kids in the gym had cheered before and knew what they were supposed to do. Meanwhile, I on the other hand, felt very lost and confused. The coach asked us to do a stunt and put me as backspot. There were lots of very experienced kids watching and I felt intimidated by them. I knew the general idea of what to do, but nothing beyond that. I was too afraid and shy to ask how to do the stunt, which was not a smart decision. Because I was too afraid to ask, I messed up the whole stunt, causing me to
We had a short amount of time in each area, so we needed to use our time wisely. We ran through the routine twice and moved on to our stunts. I was really excited; I had a great stunt group and knew we would be flawless. We started the warm-ups; one, two, three times we failed - to my surprise. I didn't know if we did something wrong or we were all just nervous. We attempted it one more time, and finally it was a success. Everyone had warmed up and was patiently waiting to perform next. Once the other teams' music stopped, my heart dropped. In that exact moment, I knew we were next. Before we went on the floor, we did our favorite chant to get everyone's energy up in excitement. Our school is called and the time had come to go out there and give it our all. When we go out on the floor, everything is loud and bright. Our routine had started and we are pumped. Our team was immaculate with all the motions, smiling, yelling the cheer with excitement and walking to my first stunt. We set to do the stunt and the cheerleader goes up and I caught her foot. The stunt made it and then she fell. At that moment, I felt like the world stopped. Everything we did - all of our hard work, the long practices - just went down the
To introduce who Josh is, he lives in Lehi, Utah, where I used to live. He is fifteen, and goes to the high school there. He has been my friend since I was two. The experience this essay is about is the time I learned to do a front tuck. It was last summer, and we were down in Utah to visit family. Josh had wanted to try a back tuck, and wanted me to join him. So we both practiced on the tramp until we could do both front and back flips in one jump, then laid a mat down on the grass and got up the courage to do it on the ground. I relied on the courage that he had and tried it right after he did a back tuck successfully on the ground, landing on his knees, and now he can do a back tuck,
As I saunter onto the school field, I survey the premises to behold people in coats, shielding themselves from winter's blues. The sun isn't out yet, but the place bursting with life and exuberance, with people gliding across the ice covered floor almost cat-like. The field is effervescent and despite the dire conditions, the field seems to have taken on a life of its own. The weather is bad and the ice seems to burn the skin if touched, yet the mood is still euphoric. The bare shrubs and plants about the place look like they've been whipped by Winter himself. The air is frosty and at every breath the sight of steam seems to be present. A cold, cruel northerly wind blows across the playground and creates unrest amongst some. Crack! The crisp sound of leaves is heard, as if of ice splitting and hissing. Squirrels are seen trying to find a point of safety, scurrying about the bare trees that lie around the playground. Mystery and enigma clouds the playing field, providing a sense of anticipation about the place. Who is going to be the person to spoil the moment? To kill the conversation?
After several weeks I had mastered all but one of the tricks; The Drop. The Drop had always terrified me because the first time I attempted this trick I landed awkwardly and badly hurt my leg. I never had to guts to try it after that. A month or so later after my leg had fully healed I started to think more and more about The Drop and whether or not I should try it again. I started to see ramps everywhere I went, and imagined racing down them and jumping into the air magnificently. I also found myself getting distracted in class because I was daydreaming about completing the most epic of leaps. However, I was still crippled by fear when I contemplated actually reattempting this stunt since it had ended so disastrously the first time. I eventually built up my confidence and told myself that I simply must go back, and try successfully perform this trick successfully at least once. So one warm, sunny day I packed up my skater gear and walked back to the park. I felt the balmy sun beating down on my face and it felt as if each sunbeam was encouraging me an...
Execution: Bend your waist to raise the upper part of your back from the floor. Keep your lower back in contact with the ground and lift the upper trunk as much as possible. Then lower down again until the back of your shoulders comes into contact with the floor. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
The ride started to swing and go in circles. I could see my dad standing there waving at me while I was having fun. Then the fourth swing came. The ride whirled us upside down in a sweeping motion. I was already sliding in my seat before, and now I was being thrown around in the plastic seat. We dangled there for what seemed like an eternity to me. I was so small I started to slip out of the restraints I was in. My shoulders slid through with ease, and I started to panic. I gripped onto the handles with all my might trying to keep myself from slipping. I looked down at the pile of rocks below me. It seemed like they were inviting me down to crush me. I started to scream for mom, but she couldn’t hear me with all of the noise inside the room. I slid further down to the point where my ribs were almost past the restraints. My arms were giving out, so I tried to hook my legs onto the seat. I looked for Dad. I kept thinking that if he was here that he could save me. Searching for him, I felt myself slip more. I kept telling myself to hold on, that I would make it out
“Look out!” Someone yelled as I saw a frisbee coming straight at me. I stood still for a moment as the bright orange disc was hurtling towards me in slow motion before I reacted. “Try aiming at the right person next time or maybe just stick to something like golf!” I yelled back after catching the frisbee and tossing it back to the two teenagers that were messing around across from the campus.
My heart is beating rapidly. I am filled with trepidation. Can I perform? Will I remember my routines? Will I stick the landing? Will I keep my legs straight? What if I fall off the beam? What if I disappoint my coaches? What if I’m not the best? What if…?