Twin City Twisters, Minnesota
Hello from Minnesota
My week at Twin City Twisters has come to an end!
On Sunday after a week in Texas, we flew to Minneapolis, Minnesota. On Monday I started training at Twin City Twisters. The vibe and the feeling at the gym were so warm and welcoming!
Twin City Twisters gym was definitely smaller than in Texas. Despite that, the gym was really busy all the time. The training schedule was also different than in Texas. In TCT we trained from Monday till Friday from 1.30pm till 5.30pm. So just 4 hours a day plus morning practice twice a week. On Saturdays practice was from 7am till 12pm. This added up to 29h per week which is almost the same as my normal week in Finland. All the girls from Level 9 to Elite were training at that time and the gym was dedicated only for them. Small children and recreational were training in a separate section at the gym (the gym is divided with a wall into two sections). I was really happy that I was able to train with Elite very day and learn from their training. At TCT they also had more gymnasts close to my age, meaning girls from 16-18 years. In Texas, the average age was perhaps closer to 12-15y. Practice starting later allowed the girls to go school in the morning. Most of the girls did the rest of their school online.
My week at Twin City Twisters has come to an end!
Twin City Twisters gym was definitely smaller than in Texas. Despite that, the gym was really busy all the time. The training schedule was also different than in Texas. In TCT we trained from Monday till Friday from 1.30pm till 5.30pm. So just 4 hours a day plus morning practice twice a week. On Saturdays practice was from 7am till 12pm. This added up to 29h per week which is almost the same as my normal week in Finland. All the girls from Level 9 to Elite were training at that time and the gym was dedicated only for them. Small children and recreational were training in a separate section at the gym (the gym is divided with a wall into two sections). I was really happy that I was able to train with Elite very day and learn from their training. At TCT they also had more gymnasts close to my age, meaning girls from 16-18 years. In Texas, the average age was perhaps closer to 12-15y. Practice starting later allowed the girls to go school in the morning. Most of the girls did the rest of their school online.
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| Coach Sarah & me |
Our main coaches were Sarah Jantzi and Steve Hafeman. Sarah is such a calm and warm-hearted coach. She doesn't make a big number of herself, but she has certainly been really successful on the national and international level. Without Steve, I would have never been able to travel all the way to TCT. He made me feel so welcomed already months before I actually traveled to the US.
Girls started every practice with rolling. The conditioning was not as bad as in Texas Dreams, so I survived better (haha). Most of all, I was so happy to see that the team spirit at the gym was so nice! All girls were supportive of each other and they really seemed like a little family. I felt a lot like home with all my gym friends giggling and supporting each other. Greetings to all my friends in Finland btw :-)
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| The whole competition group came out for a photo for me! |
The second thing that I was really happy to experience was mental coaching. On Thursday afternoon, the team took a little mental time at the beginning AND at the end of the practice. We discussed topics like gratitude and hard work.
It's so important to understand that gymnastics is our passion and we all work hard for success, but it's still just a sport and we should not define each other's personality based on our success or failure. All girls were participating in these discussions... It was very instructive!
In Texas, I tho tried acupuncture for the first time in my life - so then also in Minneapolis, we found good acupuncture. It really helped the ankle and I felt better after the treatment. TCT has also their own sports medicine consulting twice a week. Their physiotherapist Jeff immediately understood what was wrong with my ankle and he rehabilitated it twice during that week.
As a state, Minneapolis was so much different than Fort Worth, Texas. I could say that it almost felt like Finland. It was a bit cold and dark, and it felt like normal September...
As a state, Minneapolis was so much different than Fort Worth, Texas. I could say that it almost felt like Finland. It was a bit cold and dark, and it felt like normal September...
There were lots of lakes and beautiful neighborhoods around. With my mom, we enjoyed our primitive lifestyle during this week. We lived in a cheap Best Western hotel close to the highway. Before the practice, we bought some food from the grocery store and warmed it up in the hotel room microwave +
ate it on the floor together. It was kind of cozy on it’s own way... :D
We also went to the Mall of America (the biggest mall in the country) And it was huge!!!
I really enjoyed my time at Twin City Twisters and I hope to see those girls again someday!
Big thank you to everyone who joined my week at TCT!
Really enjoyed reading about your gym experiences here in the US! ( so yes thanks for writing in English—Finnish looks interesting, but I don’t know the language at ALL.). Hope you stay injury free and have a good 2019 season !
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