One afternoon this fall, sixteen year old Carson Crooks competed in the Annual Tim Weaver Invitational held by Hanover Gymnastics. Crooks is known and widely followed online due to his influence in men’s gymnastics, where he posts updates on skills and events almost daily. Gymnasts spend the majority of their time in the gym, practicing and preparing for their upcoming competitions, and the Tim Weaver Invitational was no exception.
The team prepared for the competition for three weeks compared to their usual one or two. Because the Invitational was the first competition of many during the long winter season, the group practiced with longer hours. “It’s the first meet of the year,” Crooks says, “so it just needs a little extra.”
Not only does the team prepare physically for competitions, but they also must prepare mentally. Crooks says that to deal with this pressure, he listens to aggressive music and visualizes his routines. He says, “A big part of it for me is clearing my mind of everything other than the idea of a perfect routine.” This allows him to both hype him up and prepare him for his upcoming challenges of the day.
Crooks is known for being hard on himself after meets, but he claims to try his best to think about what he did well rather than messed up so he can calm himself down in the moment in front of college scouts and coaches. Later on, however, is when he goes back to practice and works on what he knows he needs to fix.
While some may say that gymnastics is a sport of failure, Crooks has other beliefs. “In other sports, there’s almost like a limit to how far you can take it, but there’s always some upgrade or something you can do better. It’s essentially impossible to be perfect in men’s gymnastics.”
The Tim Weaver Invitational is only a stepping stone in a river, and there are still many stones ahead. The season holds many competitions, and Crooks says he can only progress with practice.
