Gymnasts battling through early pains

Ice is surprisingly important for the Missouri gymnastics team. Whether it is for an ankle, a wrist or maybe a shoulder, it is a big part of life for the Tigers, especially now.

This is the hardest part of the season, Missouri coach Rob Drass said, because the team is putting in so many repetitions. Without careful planning, injuries could start to build up.

“It’s not uncommon to see some ankles taped or to sprain an ankle here or there,” Drass said. “Gymnastics is a contact sport, you just don’t contact another person, you contact the ground. And it doesn’t move.”

The ground doesn’t have to be hard though. Lining the floor of the gymnastics facilities in Hearnes Center are Resi-Pits. These are soft mats, like those used for pole vaulting, which are sunk into the floor. Depending on what the team is working on, mats of varying firmness are placed on top of the Resi-Pits. This softens the landing and lessens the chance for injury if one of the gymnasts lands wrong.

The Tigers are practicing a lot on soft surfaces now, Drass said, but they will begin working on more firm surfaces later in the season. In vault, Drass said the Tigers will use the soft surfaces for most of the year, using the hard mats only in the days before a meet.

Another vital area for keeping the gymnasts safe is spotting. Drass compared spotting to playing catch with the gymnasts, but the more technical definition is manipulating the gymnasts in the air to make sure they fully rotate and finish in the right position. Spotting is so vital for the safety of the gymnasts that it is one of the few sports the NCAA allows coaches to be at during voluntary summer practice.

So far, the Tigers have had a fairly healthy preseason. Freshman Brooke Boehmer tore her ACL and will miss the season, but besides that, it has only been the usual wear and tear that can be solved with ice and time.

Senior Whitney Crater and freshman Liz Straatmann are slight exceptions. They were injured last season, so safety measures have been stepped up for their recoveries.

Crater, who tore her Achilles tendon the day before last year’s regional championships, said this is usually a mentally straining part of the season, but this year she is noticing the physical challenges more. One day, Crater said she could hit her routine, but the next she might not be able to even run.

The key to Crater for staying healthy now is proper warm-up. She said the practice facilities can sometimes be colder than it is outside, so running, ankle and agility exercises are necessary to get the body ready. Crater is ahead of schedule on her recovery and should be competing Dec. 9 at the Black and Gold meet.

Straatmann is also having success in her recovery. She has had injuries to both knees in the past, but most recently she tore her left ACL. Drass said the injury might prevent her from competing heavily in floor exercise and vault, but that she could contribute immediately in bars and balance beam.

Straatmann has been icing her knees up to two times per day, but she is happy with her recovery.

“The coaches work really well with injuries,” Straatmann said. “They understand when to push through and when not, and they have a good balance between that.”

The gymnasts also work closely with the team’s trainer. Drass said most gymnasts meet with him daily to discuss whatever injuries they might have, whether it is a sprained thumb or a torn Achilles tendon.

When the meet season starts in January, Drass said these wear and tear injuries start to go away.

He said the practices are lighter and the adrenaline and excitement of meets help the gymnasts work through injuries.

“This is the hardest part of the season for us,” Drass said. “That’s why we accumulate most of the injuries.”

If everything goes as planned and the Tigers can remain healthy, Drass said he expects the Tigers to be a top-25 team. One thing is for sure, though, as long as there is gymnastics, there will always be a need for ice.