Why Artz Is So Good on Floor
1/20/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 20, 2017
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's gymnastics senior captain Nicole Artz is ranked tied for seventh nationally on floor exercise. It is an event that has been a calling card for the six-time All-American.
"It has been my best event my entire gymnastics career," said Artz. "I have a lot of confidence on floor. I like to go out there and dance, flip around and relax a little bit."
It is funny to hear a gymnast describe a routine as relaxing. Gymnastics is a one-of-a-kind sport where only a small percentage of the population can replicate what the athletes do at even the most basic level.
The saying "don't try this at home" is certainly applicable for fans watching a gymnastics meet. Artz's "relaxation" comes through a routine that includes a pike full in, front handspring to front lay to front full and a double pike. But for Artz floor exercise is relaxing because of the interaction with her teammates.
"Dancing on the sidelines with our teammates makes it feel like a more relaxed event," said Artz. "You learn everyone else's choreography and dance along. It makes you invested in your team. Seeing them during my routine is a lot of fun."
Michigan does a drill where the team spreads out around the floor. The person doing their routine then must make eye contact with every person. As eye contact is made the teammates around the floor sit down. The goal is to look at everyone and have them all sitting by the end of the routine.
"I really try to make eye contact with the judges and my teammates and feed off the crowd," said Artz. "I want to make sure everyone else is having as much fun as I am."
One reason Artz can let loose and have fun on floor is because of the hours of hard work she has put into her routine. She started working on her choreography in June with the only person she has ever done floor choreography with, Debbie Granger, her old coach from Wisconsin. Michigan head coach Bev Plocki allows her student-athletes to do their own choreography and pick their floor music so that their floor routine represents who they are.
The music in 2017 is unique to Artz and her teammates. Her boyfriend, Zachary Cook, mixed the majority of the team's floor music this season.
"It makes our team pretty unique because we can have the same song as someone else on another team but it is different because he has added things into it to make the songs unique to us," said Artz. "Last week we heard Emma's (McLean) floor music but it sounded different because of how he mixed it."
It took three days for Artz and Granger to come up with this year's choreography.
"You just dance around and see what feels right," said Artz. "It usually just comes together. You tweak a few things here and there after so the process in all is a few months. Then you practice it so many times and you get so comfortable with it that it is like riding a bike."
Artz has already practiced this year's floor exercise hundreds of times. However, she has only had three opportunities to perform it. She impressed celebrity judges at the exhibition meet in December and has started off the season by posting Michigan's highest score in each of the first two meets. Both high scores were her floor routines.
She scored a 9.875 at No. 6 Utah to start the year and followed with a spectacular 9.950 at Ohio State last weekend. The 9.950 tied for the top score in the nation this year. Four times she has scored a career high of 9.975 which has one judge giving her a perfect score. The last time she did it gave her the 2016 Big Ten title.
"It was the most fun I have had on floor," said Artz. "I saw the score flash before I went so I knew there was no pressure as we clinched the team championship. It allowed me to just have fun and do what I love to do. Watching my team in the background the entire time was really cool."
It always comes back to the team. Artz is the ultimate competitor but for the team, not herself. She was disappointed in going to the NCAA Championships last year because it was as an individual and not with her team. This year she is hoping the team can build off her performance last weekend and enjoy NCAAs as a team. For her the best way to do that is to be relaxed.
"For the rest of the year I just want to be relaxed and have fun," said Artz. "Just let everything go."
Michigan will open its home schedule this Sunday (Jan. 22) at 2 p.m. in Crisler Center against No. 19 Illinois. » Buy Tickets
• Event Preview: Home Opener Set for Sunday against Illinois
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