LSU gymnastics recently fell to No. 4 in the national rankings following an unfortunate loss to the now- No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs.
The biggest mistakes for the Tigers were in the floor and vault rotations, events that combined for only two scores of 9.900 or higher. With similar results in the season opener just a week earlier, it’s clear that LSU has struggled to find its footing in these events early on.
Head coach Jay Clark spoke on some of the struggles the Tigers are facing in Tuesday’s press conference.
“Not exactly the way we wanted it to go,” Clark said. “There’s just a lot that goes into it; certainly we don’t want to self-destruct, and that’s what we did.”
Vault has specifically been an area of concern for the team, which usually excels at the event.
“It’s been hit or miss,” Clark said. “We got sloppy, and landings were sloppy. It’s something we’re addressing, making sure that we understand what we do in practice has got to be at a high standard.”
He especially emphasized the idea that showing control was a significant focus for the team ahead of Kentucky. Even if not perfect, they’ve at least got to “be in the ballpark.”
On top of this, it’s been difficult to fill leadership roles following the losses of standouts like Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan.
“It’s early in the season, and you’re replacing someone who’s been in that role for a long, long time around here, and we’re still trying to find our footing a little bit,” Clark said.
Even more so, starting on the road hasn’t exactly helped to the Tigers’ success either.
It’s expected that the home opener against Kentucky will give LSU that extra backing of fan support, but also the added factor of more practice time, without travel, which plays a large role in finding that team identity.
“We’ve been on the road for two straight weeks, and so going forward, we get to come home now and get in front of our people and feed off of that energy,” Clark said. “This is our first week of a normal cadence for us, and starting on the road, we only got two days [of practice] in between [meets].”
Most of the holdup for the Tigers is just seeing enough consistency in practice that will transfer over to Friday nights.
“These kids are going out there giving us all they can, and they’re showing great things in practice,” Clark said. “My message to them yesterday was, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing.’”
Clark circled back to this idea later in the conference.
“There’s several people we’d like to get in on vault, and there’s several people we’d like to get in on bars,” Clark mentioned. “Ultimately, it comes down to who’s the hot hand and what gives us the best chance to win in this moment.”
Even with all the stir on what will be next for the Tigers on Friday, he has confidence in both his team and the season that lies ahead.
“I believe in their ability, and I believe in the potential of this group,” Clark said.
