Q&A with Steve McCain
interview By Peter Kormann
article by Luan Peszek
Steve McCain, 23, is from Houston, Texas, but trains at UCLA. He's coached by Doug Macey, and has been a member of the USA Men's National Team for six years. McCain is a two-time World Championships team member, and was a semi-finalist at the 1996 World Championships on floor and parallel bars. He's also the 1997 Winter Cup Challenge Champion.
At a recent training camp, USA Gymnastics Men's National Team Coordinator Peter Kormann, sat down with Steve to discuss his training and success. Here's what Steve had to say:
Q: Describe a typical week in your gym at UCLA in terms of training.
A: I do three days a week in the morning, usually conditioning and body positions and maybe some cardiovascular or cross training. In the evening, we do about four hours of gymnastics workout six days a week. Depending on the time of year, we focus on routines, routines and skills, new skills, timers for skills, basics or whatever.Q: Do you train six events per day?
A: Again, it depends on the time of year. Usually we do four events a day or three events on one day and three on the other. But, if we're doing routines, we'll usually do all six events in one day.Q: What has been the hardest period of training for you?
A: About a month before this year's Winter Cup. I felt like I went into every single practice and reached a level of complete exhaustion. I kept pushing through it and pushing through it. I got to another level, like a heightened state where my energy level was up and I felt lighter. I went into Winter Cup feeling like I had worked harder than anyone else.Q: And you won the all-around title at the 1997 Winter Cup Challenge, so that training pattern obviously helped you in the meet?
A: Oh yes, definitely. At first I was nervous but once I got settled in, and in my mode, it was so easy for me.Q: Everyone experiences stale times when their training isn't going well. Is there anything you can do to get yourself out of that?
A: Yes, I try to remember that there is going to be a stale time. If you don't have any lows, than you won't have any highs either. You're going to have peaks and valleys in gymnastics. There's a time when you're going to be tired or your timing is off, but the best thing to do is relax and try not to get frustrated. Take a look at what is going on. Go back and work on the basics and build your confidence. Take it one step at a time. If I'm having trouble with a skill I'll say, "Okay I need to go back to the basics." If I'm having trouble on Kovacs, I'll go back to basic giant swings, then timers without letting go of the bar, then I'll take a look at the video to see what's happening. I'll patiently work back up to the Kovacs. I used
to always get frustrated and that's definitely not the right way to
handle it!Q: If you had to identify the single skill in gymnastics that took the longest time to learn what would it be?
A: Well, when I was younger I couldn't do a Stutz with my legs together. For years and years, I could do Diamidovs, back toss, and double backs. I could do just about everything, but I couldn't do a Stutz with my legs together. I found out later the reason I was having trouble was because I didn't go back to the basics. I didn't take the time to break it down. Everyone always said, "make the Stutz to handstand," it was all that anyone ever cared about. But actually it's the person that pays attention to detail the most, who is going to come out ahead. Everyone has the same tricks, optionals are becoming like compulsories now, so if someone takes the time to really make everything look good and work on something others don't, it will help him out a lot. If you take the time to learn a skill the right way, you're going to be better off than if you rush to learn it just so you can compete it quicker.Q: There's a lot of little guys and some older gymnasts who do Stutz with their feet apart, but you went back and did some turning
drills and some one-arm handstand drills in order to learn it the right way. Can you discuss this?
A: Yes, I started doing the swing half turn on the parallel bars and I got to where I could do a swing half turn all the way up to a handstand. With my coach spotting me, I would go from a handstand, swing all the way down and up to a one arm handstand, and my coach would hold me there. I would put my hand back on the bar, pirouette, and repeat the drill several times. Finally I would just go right to that same position, hop and do a Stutz. I kept doing it, patiently, and finally it just came. It was so easy after doing all those steps. I think that's what the guys at the training center do really well. Sometimes I look at a trick and think "there's no way," "that's impossible," "I'm going to get hurt If I try that." But then I watch them break it down little by little and finally do it. It's easy for them. So I think it's very important not to look at a skill like it's impossible. Just figure out the right steps, have patience and it will come.Q: A big problem with gymnasts is injuries. To reach the level that you've reached, I'm sure you've had to overcome some nagging injuries. What's the key?
A: I've been real fortunate not to have been plagued with injuries compared to a lot of other gymnasts. But, I've definitely had some. I think the biggest thing is to be honest with yourself and ask yourself it you're really hurt or just don't want to workout. If something is really bugging you, then there's always something you can do during workout that won't affect that area. Gymnastics is so diverse and there are so many things you can do. If you're injured in one area that's just an opportunity for you to polish up another area and get stronger. Pay attention to your body and do the right things. When I had a wrist injury, I would put straps, which were attached to the rings, on my forearms to train the cross position. It definitely helped. The doctor told me I wasn't allowed to put weight on my wrist for six months but I didn't miss a day in the gym. I would come in and work trampoline all day and work on improving my air sense. Now, as I'm older, I'm really glad I spent so much time on the trampoline because I can twist and flip so well.Q: Okay, here's the scenario, it's late in the week, you're really tired and sore, you really don't want to be in the gym but you have a meet coming up. You walk in, what do you tell yourself to get through the workout that day?
A: Don't think about that workout all day before you get there. I used to sit around and worry about workout all day long. By the time I walked into the gym I had already prejudged everything, I knew what I was going to fall on and what I was too tired to even try. Just trust yourself. When I walk it, I know there's a finite number of things I have to do. It's important to plan your workout so you know what you have to do. I love working out. Sometimes I'll be at the gym and I'll be tired, but then I think, "what else could I be doing. If I was home, I would be sitting on the couch or eating dinneró and I'd rather be working out in the gym." I love playing music in the gym and that really gets me pumped up. Don't think about how bad the gym is, think about the good you're getting out of it because you are pushing yourself to the limit. Also, just be glad you're able to do gymnastics. I've seen guys get frustrated and leave the gym and say, "forget it, I'm going home." But, if I ever did that just once, it would be twice as easy to leave the next time. Don't give into fatigue, it's just your mind. Keep pushing.Q: At Winter Cup, you appeared like you were in the zone and you looked so confident. What were you thinking about?
A: The first day was tough because it was the first meet back for me and I was worried about what others were thinking. It was hard for me to get in the zone. The second day, what helped was that I did all my warm-ups and then left the arena. It helped me to forget about all the little things that went wrong in warm-ups. I talked to my coach, Doug Macey, and he said, "you can do any trick out there better than anyone's going to do it today. We've worked very hard. Don't worry about anything else in the meet. Just go out there and show off and make me be happy about what we've done." So I went out there and I felt like it wasn't just me out there, but I had my coach on my side. I couldn't wait to get on the equipment. I tried to do exactly what I did at workouts. I would even listen to the same songs on each events as I did at practice. Once you're in the zone it's so easy. It was actually hard to come out of the zone. After the meet, I was ready to take on a new challenge. It's the best feeling in the world once you're in the zone.Q: There are coaches out there trying to train young guys going through just what you went through. What can these coaches tell their gymnasts?
A: Tell them not to ever be ashamed and afraid of giving stuff up for gymnastics. Before I came to college I had never missed a day of practice. I had a lot of friends who would try to get me to skip and go out and do other things. But, I knew I loved it and wanted to do gymnastics. As I got older I realized that I was almost giving too much to the sport. So, now I know, I have to have something outside of gymnastics to go to, but something that doesn't sacrifice my time in the gym. Also, I try to remember how the gym looked when I was 10 years old. I walked in and saw all the equipment and thought it was a big playground. I was so excited to get in the gym and workout. I think about how fun it really is. Sometime I feel like a little kid in the gym. Coaches should tell their gymnasts that they will have bad times and great times but they should not forget why they do the sport and how much they love it.This article appears in the September/October 1997 issue of Technique, Vol. 17, No. 9.
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