“Her right ankle bothers her sometimes, so we’ve mostly been drilling them into the pit these days,” Ryan continues. “I don’t want to push her too hard on the landings. But the thing is, she gets a ton of power off the board, so she has a tough time sticking it. So one thing we’re focusing on is keeping her ankle strong, so we can get those landings in consistently good shape.”

“Got it. I’ll be careful about her ankle.”

“On bars, her routine is already excellent, but I’d like to upgrade it over the next few months,” he says. “Like, right now, she does a Tkatchev into a giant into a Pak Salto, but she could cut the giant.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken the language of gymnastics, and I’m relieved that it all comes flooding back: the Tkatchev involves flinging yourself up and over the high bar backward in a straddle position; a giant means swinging around the bar in a full circle with body outstretched; a Pak Salto is when you swing off the high bar, arch into an elegant back flip, and catch the low bar.

“Which means a higher difficulty value,” I say, mentally mapping out the combination in my head.

Because the Tkatchev and the Pak Salto are both release moves, Hallie would earn more points for connecting them back-to-back, rather than separating them with a giant, which is considered an easier (and less risky) move.

“Exactly. We’ll play around with it. And we’re working on some other cool stuff. Have you ever heard of a Seitz?”

“Maybe?” I cock my head. I’ve been out of this world for a long time.

His eyes sparkle. “It’s a transition move. Imagine a toe-on circle on the low bar with a full twist to catch the high bar.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow,” he says, exhaling. “That’s our girl. We just gotta get her the recognition she deserves.

“She’s not bad on beam. Her acrobatic skills are all there—a back handspring, back whip, back layout combo you could die for, a solid front aerial. But there are places she could tighten up, like that goddamn wolf turn.”

“She does that on beam, too?”

“The way the Code of Points is these days, you basically have to. She does hers as a double, but I’m hoping we can get it to a two and a half.”

“That’ll be tough.”

“Right.” He closes the binder and drums his fingers on the cover. “And then there’s floor. That’s in your hands now.”

“Thanks for letting me do this,” I say.

Ryan smirks and taps on the binder again. “I mean, you gotta come up with a plan,” he says.