It's that glorious time of year again. Fantasy gymnastics is here!
If you haven't already, you can sign up here. Then you're set to get your drafting on!
Drafts are open and the fun has begun. I look forward to this time of year. Finals suck but knowing there's fantasy gym always cheers me up. I've participated for the past 2 years, and I've definitely done my share of learning strategies, as marked by a great average team score increase. So, I figured, why not share my tips. Let's get to it!
1. Do Your Research
Research, research, research! Know the strengths of each gymnast and plan accordingly.This is where Road To Nationals comes into play as a great resource to use. You'll need 5 slots minimum per event, so make sure you find a decent deal of all arounders and multi-event gymnasts who could contribute to your team. Preferrably, she should be able to consistently reach 9.8 or better, and if she is consistently scoring 9.875+, then that's excellent. And, while you may have heard of a gymnast, she may not be as good as you thought or as good as other girls as well.
2. Branch Out
That being said, branch out. Broaden your horizons. Just because a team is a lower ranked school, chances are there's at least one gymnast on their team that could be more useful to your team than a girl from a top school that doesn't compete. Not only that, but those girls are less likely to be picked by as many people, so you'll have more of a shot at getting her versus a girl who everyone will pick such as Bridget Sloan. Feel free to draft the top girls (the "Bridget Sloans"), but hidden gems will be very important to your success in the regular season.
3. Don’t Draft All of the Same Team
While you may be a fan of a certain team, it's important to selectively choose who to draft from each team, not just your favorite team or the team that’s the reigning national champion. Not everyone on each team will put up a great score or even compete. In addition, if that team happens to be one of the ones that has a bye week, you will be screwed in terms of scores if the majority of your team is composed of girls from a specific team.
4. Be Careful with Freshmen
Reigning Junior Olympic National Champion? Past renowned elite? Another girl in the Junior Olympic program? With varying backgrounds, all freshmen are different. While some freshmen do excel, it's important to note the issues that come with entering college. You never know how long it will take a girl to get acclimated to college and competing in college. You also never know what lineups they'll actually make, especially on teams returning the majority of strong lineups. That's where freshmen previews come in, courtesy of Balance Beam Situation. Pairing these with your own research, draft only the ones you think are likely to make a huge impact.
5. Be Aware of Injuries
Whether it's an injury from last season or a preseason injury, take note of it when you draft your team. You never know how they might respond compared to their previous selves, so be vigilant of this when drafting, but if you're willing to risk it then place as need be. You also don't want to draft a girl and when season comes you get her on your team and find out that she's out for the season with an injury such as a torn ACL. Stay up to date with new season ending or significant injuries and modify your draft as need be.
6. Use All 150 Spots
150 spots are provided for a reason! It can be hard to find enough satisfactory girls to draft, but it is necessary to draft all 150 girls in order to avoid getting a random gymnast on your team who may be no good whatsoever. With the increase in players last year, it became more necessary. My team last year went into the deepest part of my draft, slot 142, than it had gone in my previous year due to the increase in conference size. While they may not be your top choices, they will at least be sufficient to your needs as backups.
With all that said, good luck, and happy fantasy gymming!
