Sofia’s letter

Here's the picture of what you're building this season.

You're powerful and you're fearless — you throw big skills that a lot of gymnasts are scared to even try. That fearlessness is the hardest thing in gymnastics to have, and you were born with it. So let's be clear about what this season is actually about: it's not being braver or throwing bigger. It's about turning the hard skills you already do into higher scores — through clean form, competing the way you practice, and working through the tricky skill.

• You're fearless. You go for the big skills, and that's the part most gymnasts never get comfortable with. You already have it.
• You're powerful — real amplitude, real height. The engine is there.
• You work hard and you'll grind the boring conditioning and shaping, which is why your form is cleaning up.
• Your scores are starting to climb, because the same skills done clean are worth more.

Point your toes and land clean — on everything. Here's the secret about scoring: the judges aren't just watching if you land it, they're watching how. A bent knee, a flexed foot, a low chest, a big step on the landing — each one is a little deduction, and they add up fast. You've been doing harder skills than other girls and scoring lower, and it's not fair, but it's fixable: point your toes, squeeze your legs straight, chest up and stick your landings. Same skills, more points. You don't have to do anything harder — just cleaner.

The conditioning, the flexibility, the shaping, the beam routines you compete over and over in practice, the visualization — none of it is glamorous, and some of it is really boring. It doesn't feel like it's adding up. It is. The gymnast whose scores climb next season is the one who did the quiet form work this year. You already have the power and the courage. This season is about the details that turn them into scores. Keep going.