Pleasing Coach

Mr. Morozov blew his annoying whistle again, startling us for the 10th time that day.

"You're landing is off again Natasha!" He threw aside his clipboard in frustration and came over to the balance beams where I and my 4 other teammates had been trying to perfect our routines all morning.

I groaned and mumbled a string of curses in Russian as he approached us. "You are not paying attention to the dynamics, Natasha! It's all about amplitude in this particular round..."

blah blah blah... I stopped paying attention as he rambled on for 5 minutes. My teammates looked just as irritated as they analyzed their fingernails and waited for practice to end. We were passionate about our sport, but not as much as our coach was. He was a famous gymnast and one of the top performers back in his day before he retired and began coaching at one of the most prestigious gymnastics schools in Russia.

"Class is dismissed! I will see you girls tomorrow; Natasha, please stay after class."