Twisted into Nots

PHOTO:Boston Globe

Over the past few months whenever I saw Simone Biles perform her incredible gymnastic routines -- especially where she twists and flips several times in mid air -- I wondered how does she do that? To me, it seemed incomprehensible.

Now I learn that I was correct: it is incomprehensible. One cannot possibly comprehend, or think about, these split-second moves while performing them. If you do, you become lost.

In gymnastics they call this mental tick, the "twisties."

When I first heard the term, I commented to my dog, Frida: "I can't even swing a golf club without getting the twisties."

Frida was nonplussed. The only thing on her mind was where are we going next, dad?

She does encounter anxieties but never in full stride, jumping into the car or through a hoop. She sometimes becomes nervous before the act but never during.

I, on the other hand (err, paw), seem to be more prone to twisties as I get older. I used to scramble up the ladder and onto the roof of my house to repair a shingle or clean a rain gutter: no more. Such activity now brings on a case of acrophobia and dizziness. It's mental. I doubt my coordination. I'm smarter than I used to be. 

Frida instinctively knows better than to try to walk on a roof.

In golf, a twistie is called a "yip," and it has led to the demise of many a golfer. And God knows I'm one.

It involves an element of doubt, or as Simone explained, "I felt lost."

Gymnasts practice their routines over and over and over to develop muscle memory so that thinking about what they're doing is removed from the equation. Yet any little thing can trip the mental switch. When you're spinning around in midair and the danger of falling on your head enters your mind -- look out!

The pressure becomes greatest when you're competing in front of the world and expectations are foremost.

Developing the impeccable muscle memory requires excellent coaching and physical training. I can only imagine the stress of having a bona fide pervert tinkering with your body while you're going through full-scale training. Which, of course, was part of Simone's, and other young female gymnasts', experience.

Being a Black woman in a predominantly white sport only added to the pressure.

A little twistie can come from a heaping helping of mental loading.

I salute Simone for standing up for herself. She has entered a higher level of athletic performance that will prove even greater beneficial effects for all.

PHOTO:KCS

In the meantime, I will drag myself back to the driving range resolved to overcome my own simple case of the twisties, to swing a golf club beyond the doubt of failure, with confidence and the feeling of pure joy. 

Just don't think about it. Right, Frida?