David Patterson is a happy man. To be alive. To watch his daughters grow older. To experience the high of a budding collegiate gymnastics program as it marks its first win over a major opponent. To see a state-of-the-art gymnastics practice facility change from dream to reality. To see a gymnast learn and then master a skill she thought was way beyond her. To lighten up the atmosphere in the gym with a joke or two when a freshman phenom is trying too hard. To have FUN!

How does a typical day shape up for the assistant head coach of the Crimson Tide Gymnastics Team? Bright and early! David spends approximately 1-1 ½ hours each morning mapping out the gymnasts' afternoon practice schedule, with input from Sarah and Bryan as needed. While Sarah mainly directs the beam and floor exercise practices, Bryan trains the gymnasts on the bars and David primarily covers the vault warm-ups and training runs. He also rotates among the apparatus to lend a fresh perspective on a gymnast's routine.

David noted that bars and beam practices tend to consume the most training time. When asked if this is different for a gymnast that comes in with a large repertoire of skills, David agreed but noted that the key then becomes one of consistency. He used examples of two freshmen with awesome bars skills (Natalie Barrington from the Canadian National Team and Raegan Tomasek from the USA National Team), pointing out that Raegan trained a longer bar routine during Elite competition in order to reach a 10.00 international start value but was experiencing problems with performing the routine consistently. Now, they have shortened her routine yet it still remains well above a 10.00 start value for collegiate competition and she is performing it with consistency (including a dynamic arabian double front dismount).

Practice sessions are even more exciting now with weekly intrasquad competitions that help the gymnasts determine their positions in the line-up. David noted that this often can put more pressure on the gymnasts than a real meet does because they want to make the line-up (which is the first seven), and, if they fall short, they are able to see where they stand and what they need to do in order to move into the starting rotation. This year David reports that the coaches should have the hardest job deciding the line-up because of the increase in talent and depth. He wants to see 10-11 gymnasts gain competition experience on every event, which has not been possible during recent years.

Do the Bama coaches scout other teams prior to a meet like a football team does? Not according to David, because essentially the coaches are looking for the best line-up during the early season meets that will prepare them to have their best showing against a more depth-rich team, like the Georgia Lady Bulldogs. With regard to starting off slow and building up to more difficult routines down the road, David noted that any gymnast on this team who is already consistent with performing 3-4 release moves during preseason practice will be doing it at the beginning of the competition season. He applauded the leadership of seniors Gwen Spidle and Mandy Chapman with regard to how they have refined their routines each year to add more difficulty for the overall benefit of the team.

Finally, how has coaching changed over the past 20 years in David's opinion? Surprisingly, he pointed out that recruiting seems to be less important because there are so many good gymnasts out there wanting collegiate scholarships. This allows the Tide coaches to search long and hard for the gymnast who truly is the "best fit" for the Bama program and what it entails. And for all of you chat room fans who have been trying to guess the identity of the lone Tide recruit for next year (2000 season), David confirmed that, indeed, Kristen Sterner of Kentwood Gymnastics in Michigan, has officially signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Alabama on a gymnastics scholarship. David's message to Bama Gymnastics fans everywhere regarding the upcoming season? "I think this will be the most fun team to watch that we've ever had!"

Let's start the fun now!