Sports & Gaming

Competing On Meet Day

Lesson time 04:14 min

It’s important to give yourself time to prepare for a meet. Simone reveals her preparation routine, shares how to use selective listening during a performance, and tells you how to let go of mistakes while competing.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Give Yourself Time to Prepare • Express Your Personal Style • Use Selective Listening • Don't Rely on Superstitions

Simone Biles

Teaches Gymnastics Fundamentals

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] SIMONE BILES: Once you're a Senior Elite gymnast, we compete during the nighttime. And so you get up, you go to practice, and then you have the rest of the day to decompress before you compete that night. I usually eat either oatmeal for breakfast or a little bit of eggs and maybe a piece of toast. And then after practice, I try to eat a banana because usually I sometimes cramp up. And then that's a snack right before the meat is banana. But during the day, for lunch, I usually try to eat, like, a salad, and some chicken, or some fish and some vegetables to help fuel me for the meet. And then before the meet, I take about two hours to get ready, just so that I can take my time with the makeup and the hair, and really relax, take a nap, too. And I like to listen to music. Nothing too slow. Something to get my blood going and to feel confident for the meet, and something to just, like, shake out some of the nerves. [MUSIC PLAYING] So it actually took me a while to start wearing makeup before competing. I was a little bit older. I was maybe 13 years old when I first started wearing makeup. And it was nothing too crazy. Just some eye shadow sometimes, but most of the time, it was just mascara. My mom would actually do my hair. She would always braid it into whatever I wanted it. And so I used to have, like, either pigtails or a ponytail, and it was always braided. My whole head was braided. And then just put on my uniform. I think my favorite part about getting ready for a meet is the makeup part because we have all these different leos. So I really tried to match my makeup with the leo, and I think that's kind of fun. Sometimes it's simple. Sometimes I try to incorporate a bit of color, but it all depends on how I'm feeling. [MUSIC PLAYING] ANNOUNCER: Now a floor exercise for Bannon's, Simone Biles. SIMONE BILES: I and like when people cheer for me at meets. CROWD: Go Simone! SIMONE BILES: It calms my nerves and it makes me not feel alone while I'm out there. Most of the meets, I can tune out a lot of people. But I also think it's selective listening. So you can hear your coach. You can hear your parents. You can hear some of your girlfriends out there. But some of the time, you can hear the audience, like bars and beam. You can hear them, like, come on. Go, go, go, or over, or especially on beam, you can hear a penny drop. And it's like, come on, stay on, stay on. And I think that's, like, the craziest thing. I feel like selective listening comes natural because you're so used to hearing your coaches, your teammates. So once you're out there on the competition floor, it comes down to concentrating, and then that mental aspect of tuning in as soon as you raise your arms. [MUSIC PLAYING] Growing up, whenever I was in about level 5, 6, and 8, most of our competitions were local here in Texas. So I just had one superstition, and it was I had to watch "Stick It' before the me...

About the Instructor

At 22, Simone Biles is already a legend. With 14 medals, including 10 gold, Simone is the most decorated World Championship American gymnast of all time. Now the Olympic gymnast—part of the gold-medal-winning USA gymnastics "Final Five"—breaks down her techniques for vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. Discover how Simone performs under pressure, learn to practice like a champion, and claim your competitive edge.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Simone Biles

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

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