Your draft is in and the die is cast! We’ve rounded up our top tips for dominating your league.
Use All of Your Lineup Space
Fill your lineups on every event every week. Even if you only have nine gymnasts who have ever competed beam, fill the 10th spot! Look for someone who has competed exhibitions or at intrasquads and put ‘em in, coach! Better to take a zero but keep the possibility for a score open than to take a guaranteed zero. You never know what might happen.
Stay Up-to-Date on Injuries
Keep an eye on our injury updates page when you set your lineups. We dedicate a lot of time to scouring photos and videos to determine who is on crutches, who is in a sling, and who might be on a scooter week-to-week. Bookmark the page, and use it! You don’t want to put someone in a lineup if they are injured!
Watch out for Bye Weeks
Keep an eye on our schedule. Bye weeks have stymied the best of us, and you don’t want to get caught in the trap. Remember, too, that when gymnasts have multiple meets in a weekend, the higher score counts. A gymnast with high-scoring potential but who can be inconsistent is a good play on double meet weekends.
Use the Waiver Wire
Make trades! There are always amazing gymnasts who go undrafted, freshmen who are breakout successes, or gymnasts who add events we don’t expect. Grab them when you can!
…But Don’t Over-Trade
It’s easy to get too excited about the waiver wire and drop gymnasts after a bad week or when they’ve been rested. Be judicious about dropping folks. Sometimes rest is just rest! And everyone has a bad week. If you trade gymnasts away too quickly, you may be doing yourself a disservice in the long run. Patience is key!
Beware Possible Rest Meets
Some teams, like UCLA for example, will rest top gymnasts and give newer talent a chance to compete at meets they’re almost sure to win. If a big team is up against a lower-ranked opponent, know this is a possibility. Keep in mind, too, that sometimes injury-prone fifth- or sixth-year gymnasts tend to get a little more rest than others. If a gymnast like that sits one week, don’t panic!
Consider the Average!
It’s easy to sort gymnasts by high score on each event, put in the top 10 scores, and call it a day. Keep in mind, though, that average scores can be a key factor in your lineup decisions. A one-off 9.950 won’t do you much good if a gymnast’s average is a 9.700—all while you’re keeping a 9.850 average on the bench because the high score is a 9.900. Beware especially high scores from meets like the Tennessee meet from 2024; those tend to be artificially inflated.
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Article by Emily Minehart
