LSU gymnastics associate head coach Jay Clark has a sign in his office that reads, “You’re either coaching it, or you’re allowing it to happen.”
The message is in reference to the uneven bars, an event in which a missed handstand or a step on the landing will prevent a gymnast from earning a 9.900 or better.
“I try to remind myself every day that I can’t let up and not be detail oriented,” Clark said. “It is easy to do because if you see a kid that has a bad habit, and you see them do it every day, you think you’re not going to be able to change it. But you can.”
Clark, who serves as the bars coach for the Tigers, said he has to work with an incredible amount of diligence because he doesn’t have a team full of natural bar workers.
“Bars is one of the toughest events out of the four,” said sophomore all-arounder Shae Zamardi. “It involves a lot of strength, mentally and physically. We have to work on it a lot more than the other events because it takes so much more out of you. It’s an event where, in order to get the strength for bars, you have to practice bars.”
To the gymnastics community, championship-caliber vault and floor lineups are intrinsic to LSU gymnastics. The Tigers have won four NCAA individual vault national titles and another on floor since 2009.
Since joining LSU before the 2013 season, Clark has coached three Tigers to All-America honors, a school-record 49.330 average on bars in 2014 and three of the top 10 scores in program history.
This season, LSU is No. 2 in the nation on bars with a 49.350 average, and the event accounts for the highest total for the team.
“I hope it’s a confidence builder for them because it’s an event that we have to train with an incredible amount of discipline and demand a lot in order to be proficient,” Clark said. “From a perception standpoint, [the No. 2 ranking] helps shake off the stigma that LSU has had for so long, that we are great on vault and floor but not [bars and beam].”
LSU coach D-D Breaux said Clark’s overhaul of the event began with consistency in training.
When the gymnasts step into the practice facility, they mimic how they will warm up and train at a meet. Clark said the lack of variance from practice to competition allows the gymnasts to develop a routine.
“He has such a consistent way of coaching, and we know every day when we get in the gym that we have a set assignment to do,” said senior all-arounder Rheagan Courville. “We can either take the easy road and do the assignment he says to do, or if we choose not to, we are going to spend the whole day on bars. He prides himself on consistency and good, clean work the first time.”
For Courville, Clark’s consistent ways changed how she approaches the event.
A two-time national champion on vault, Courville said bars has always been her weakest event and caused her to question her abilities in competition.
But under Clark’s guidance, Courville is the No. 2 bar gymnast in the nation, and her expectations have risen to the same level as his — perfection.
“It really shows how much of an impact his coaching has had on our bar for the entire lineup,” Courville said. “I know I wasn’t nearly as confident when I first started working bars here. Obviously he has completely changed that mindset, and I wouldn’t be half the bar worker I am now if it wasn’t for [Clark].”
Even with the No. 2 ranking in the country, the Tigers still train on bars more than any other event because the youthful lineup has not found its ceiling yet.
“I think the mantra of all of us here is to improve even when things are going well,” Clark said. “We enjoy our success, but we are not satisfied with it. Our job, as coaches, is to make sure that message is there every day. That’s what has to happen until you have reached the top of the mountain, because until you are there, there are always places you can fine tune.”
You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR.