How GymDogs found new level of confidence that pushed them to top 197 against Iowa State

Marissa Oakley had the honors after closing Georgia’s uneven bars rotation with a stick. She formed a mob around elated teammates, then confetti suddenly flew through the Stegeman Coliseum air.

The GymDogs celebrated as if they had won a title. Those chances won’t come for a couple of months, but in some ways, solidifying a 49.275 on the event that had been a glaring weakness felt like a feat of equal significance. Georgia (4-1, 1-0 SEC) surpassed its hurdle and a semblance of confidence and swagger dawned upon it in a 197.325-196.625 win over Iowa State.

“I think our bars was a turning point,” said sophomore Megan Roberts, who recorded a 9.925 to tie with Oakley for the highest individual score. “We proved we could do it. We worked hard this week, and I think it has really shown.”

A few seconds went by, Georgia reconvened for a quick switch of emotion and the confetti had to be cleaned up. Two events that require a level-headed approach and eloquence — balance beam and floor exercise — still awaited the GymDogs. They huddled for a collective deep breath and readied for their strongest events.

The GymDogs spent 10 days of practice working to fix deficiencies on an event in which it averaged a 48.100 through two meets. Most of that improvement, however, occurred mentally. Head coach Courtney Kupets Carter, in a tactic taken from her competing days, uses a concept called mental sets.

The gymnasts sit in a group and go through a lineup as if it were actually being competed. They visualize each movement, mimic it with body motions and attempt to connect each of them so their bodies automatically perform due to muscle memory rather than overthinking. That’s done by keywords, and a gymnast focuses on one specific element rather than the entire routine — “tight” or “squeeze,” for example. Assistant coach Josh Overton, who oversees uneven bars, tries to whittle down each gymnast’s list of keywords to 10. At one point, Oakley had 42 of them.

Each athlete has her own method, but Georgia is OK with the strategy if it results in a 9.925. Nonetheless, the importance is seen within the mental approach as it leads to improved performance.

“You have to be mentally strong enough,” Kupets Carter said. “To be in this type of environment with the standard we set, that’s difficult. You have to be confident within yourself and know you’re capable of it. We’re just now hitting the cusp.”

Georgia had its per-usual dominance on balance beam and floor with a 49.400 and 49.450, respectively. Four of those scores — Rachel Baumann (beam), Sabrina Vega (beam), Rachael Lukacs (floor) and Vega (floor) were above a 9.900 and allowed the GymDogs to show their swagger once more.

An overall score of 197.325 after the third meet is quite the feat for Georgia. It didn’t reach the same level until the eighth meet last season in a victory over Florida (Feb. 22, 2019). Georgia is the eighth team this season to score above a 197.000 and only the fifth program to score as highly as it did through Jan. 20.

“This team is in a really good place,” Roberts said. “This is just the beginning of the season and there’s so much we can do. It’s a good sign to get good scores so early, and I have a lot of faith in this team.”

Kupets Carter said after losing to LSU that “no problem” existed on uneven bars. Georgia proved it, and it’s trending toward not having too many problems on any event. The GymDogs have faced adverse times through the season’s early stages — most-notably the season-ending Achilles tear by senior Rachel Dickson, who refuses to skip practice for a rehab session. From then on, the philosophy has been to hone in on team chemistry and bonding closer together.

There’s a belief that reaches a different level than either of Kupets Carter’s previous teams. Georgia has depth on every event, four contributing freshmen who have been consistent and a senior star in Sabrina Vega who has routines that make a crowd erupt and are worthy of going viral, according to ESPN.

Georgia didn’t “pout,” as Kupets Carter put it. Instead, it’s a game of slow progressions and the GymDogs are having fun playing it. There are still needed areas of improvement as they’re told the importance of “every little inch,” but this team knows another level of success is brewing.

“They’re a very talented team and capable of a lot of things,” Kupets Carter said. “... They’re showing a lot of character. We go forward and keep getting stronger.”

After solidifying their place within a national standing, the 18th-ranked GymDogs try to follow it up with a quad meet featuring three heavyweights — Alabama, Denver and Oklahoma. Georgia will get a snapshot of competing against teams that it hopes to see during national championships in March.

Each of the gymnasts are eager for the chance to display another stepping stone of growth. Georgia is a month ahead of last season’s schedule based on results: highest floor score since the sixth meet vs. Arkansas and highest beam score since the sixth meet vs. Florida.

As the season progresses, Georgia appears back on its track toward elite-level success it strives for.

“It shows how hard we’ve been working,” Oakley said. “We said ‘this is just the beginning.’ … We have to keep trusting the process.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 6:30 PM with the headline "How GymDogs found new level of confidence that pushed them to top 197 against Iowa State."