CORVALLIS - When Leslie Mak sprained her elbow and couldn't do a full practice with the Oregon State gymnastics team, she spent time working on her mental choreography to be ready to return.

That's where she goes over her routines in her mind. For gymnasts, it's more than just visualizing the perfect landing.

Mental choreography is a cornerstone of their training. It's a technique used that matches the mind to the body during routines.

"It's something I use to calm my nerves," Mak said. "I did something like that before, but when I came to Oregon State they really helped me hone in on those skills of actually picturing the bar routine, the movement and think the exact same thoughts you would be doing it.

"That makes me more prepared and confident when I compete."

When a routine is developed on any of the four disciplines, a thought is created by gymnasts to say to themselves. The goal is to think about these words or lines and they automatically do the physical skill associated with the words.

For some it's as simple as counting. Thinking the number one means mount, two means swing and so on. Others use random words and occasionally a song.

"When you start a skill and have too many thoughts or you try to change too many things it doesn't work," coach Tanya Chaplin said. "You have to have specific key thoughts all the way through to be strong all the way through. And when we add something new, it elevates their belief system."

Mak uses the word "OK" frequently in her routines. Other odd sayings used are, "do what you know," and "doink."

Laura-Ann Chong uses words such as breathe, relax, stretch, let it swing, and staying in the moment. On the bars routine she talks her way through by calling out the skill she is doing.

"It's easy to get distracted at meets and think of other things," Mak said. "It's better to rely on these same thoughts over and over than thinking you can hear the band or the fans."

During the fall when gymnasts construct their routines they sit down with the coaches and write out the routine, line by line.

They'll come up with the sayings that go with each part. Then they take that to practice and see what works.

Superstitions comes into play when a routine works, they keep the line. If they can't do a skill properly, they change the line to see if that improves their luck.

"It helps them focusing on the technique rather than how your body is feeling," Chaplin said. "They have the same thoughts and rhythm all the way through."

Once they are set with their mental choreography they can practice wherever they may be. You can see them going through routines with their arms and legs flailing as they wait their turns at competitions.

"It's also good preparation for you," Mak said. "When I'm in bed and can't sleep, I practice my bar routine in my head. It makes me feel I'm not missing out on practice as much."

Mental choreography is crucial during multi-team events when someone does a floor exercise and loud music comes on. That noise can't rattle others on the bars or beam, or they could fall.

The coaches are involved in focusing the gymnasts before an event. You'll notice Chaplin talk to them before the beam or the floor, or assistant coach John Carney prep them before the bars.

"One of the main things I try to get across is to take the emotion out," Carney said. "Be methodical and mechanical. And don't do anything different in practice. Don't bring anything special to this routine. Everything is timing and speed. Sometimes they want to go extra hard and they make an error."

Another benefit of choreographing a routine in a gymnast's head for the coaches is they rely on that to coach gymnasts through routines.

Coaching or yelling at them during an event isn't allow like in other sports. If they do, they are penalized.

"I can't call a timeout to get them collected again once they go up there," Chaplin said. "There are times I'd love to. I can see they are nervous. So we have to get them prepared before they walk out there, and give them methods to correct themselves."