Parents Dowel Hand Guards (Reisport)

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

ChalkBucket may earn a commission through product links on the site.

xxStumpyxx

Proud Parent
Joined
Mar 15, 2015
Messages
394
Reaction score
304
My daughter got some Reisport Dowel Handguards last year (head coach measured her for them and ordered them), she got the smallest size 00, since getting them 10 months ago she cannot manage to do her moves, all she is trying to do is a back hip circle from a cast, she said the handguards bend (as in to big and a bulge appears) when trying to do this skill, she cannot even manage to do it with a spot (she could do it just fine without handguards), my daughters hands haven't really grown in that time and she still measures 13cm from wrist to tip of her finger. The head coach has rechecked the had guards and also my daughters coach and they said put foam in the finger holes while wearing the guards..

Does it make sense to keep wearing these handguards as she struggles to hang on to the bar with circling skills, she is fine with straddle undershoot dismounts and just about OK with pullovers. Would it make more sense to revert back to Palm Guards as her hands are so small for her age, or does she need to find a way to get past this and wear the Dowel Hand Guards?
 
Our girls don't wear any grips until they are kipping. I would suggest rethinking any grips at that level. They usually just aren't needed yet.
 
Our girls don't wear any grips until they are kipping. I would suggest rethinking any grips at that level. They usually just aren't needed yet.

O/p is in the UK. IME typically as soon as a child is put on a WAG squad they get hand guards. Some go straight to dowel grips, bigger clubs anyway. In the main it works as they're used to them from the start.

Stumpy my 7 year old had dowel grips from the start and was always fine with them, as were the rest of her squad. My younger DD has similar problems to yours though, they bunch up- however they are her sisters old ones and she's never had ones fitted.

Go back to the coach again, ask if it's worth trying a different brand. With younger DD I wonder if it's the wrist size as they seem to pull up, DD has very slim wrists.

But definitely think you need to ask the coach what the options are.
 
When Alex first started wearing grips they were too big as well. They were also reisport. They ended up taking them away until her hands grew as it was dangerous.

Have you thought of ballie's. IMO they run a little smaller in size.
 
Thanks for the replies and confirming what my daughter is telling me, it is hard when your daughter keeps saying the grips feel too big and the coach to say they are fine, my daughter measures up to the maximum (or a mm or two under) measurement for the next size down and the minimum for her current ones, she has had them nearly a year and has lost her basic skill wearing them (back hip circle, even struggles with a spot while wearing them) Before she wore these grips she could do this skill, I should imagine as they are quite expensive the gym ordered her the bigger ones expecting her hands to grow into them a bit better, but that hasn't happened, they put ripped up pieces of foam to try and make them fit better. My daughters measurement from wrist crease to finger tip is around 12.8cm to 13cm and she has tiny slim hands, her current grips cover her entire palm.

I total agree with what some of you are saying about using grips, my daughter hates them and doesn't want to wear them and I am not crazy about it either, but what can you do when you get reassurances they are fine from coaches !!!!!
 
We're in the UK too and have found different clubs have different 'norms' of when to get grips. The general thing I have seen is for them to have palm guards at first. Then they move to dowels either when they start jumping to the high bar, or when they start to train upstarts (kips).
Resipsort are often moved onto at a later date when they are doing more serious bar work.

Ultimately, I think you have to trust your gym and go with their philosophy but there are other grip brands around. Some are designed for smaller hands and have options for finger sizes. And some are narrower on the actual leather so the gymnast still has more feel of the bar. If you have a look on 'gymnastics planet' there are lots of different brands, each with their own merit.

'Gymnastics express' sell finger wedgies if the holes on her grips are too big. This is basically just a bit of foam like your gym are already using, but they come in different thicknesses and stay on the grips more easily in our experience. It might be worth looking at if it makes life easier.
 
My daughter is starting to do high bar work, she sometimes does straddle undershoot dismounts off the high bar (into a pit), can do a squat on but hasn't worked on jumping to the high bar yet.

I spoke with the coach and the coach was under the impression the grips didn't go any smaller (which I found they do), I was told she needed to have dowel grips and not Palm guards - she started with Palm guards when she joined he first development group two years ago. I will have a look on gymnastics planet and see what they have.

I wonder why they need to have dowel grips for and not regular Palm guards or bare hands.
 
Our coache really doesn't like grips, so they don't encourage them, until they are doing release moves, around L8. Won't stop kids from getting them earlier though.
Daughters group doing L6, uptraining, only one of 12 has grips.
 
We decided on "Pixie" grips that are narrow and the next size down, hopefully these will be a better fit. I was told that she has to have dowel grips and not Palm Guards.
 
My dd has the baille 000 they fit really well although she refuses to wear them or palm guards says she can't do any moves without slipping and she prefers bare hands
 
I'd be interested to hear how she gets on with the pixie grips. I've seen they are aimed at smaller hands, but don't know anyone who has tried them yet.

The positive thing to think is that once she has got used to them she will not have to go through getting used to the dowel while she is focussing on harder skills.
 
If she doesn't like the pixies, my DD really likes these. She started out with pixies, and was not impressed. It took almost a year from her first pair of grips, to get her using them consistently. She already had giants and clearhip hands without them, and didn't see the need. She likes to feel the bar, and the Just Rights seem to be a good fit. She's also in the smallest size.
Link Removed
 
At my dd's gym, all the level 4s start with pixie grips. My dd had a bit of an adjustment and it took her a couple of weeks to get her kip back. But, overall she like them and hasn't had any problems with them.
 
My dd has very tiny hands and has had great success with English Bulldog Kipper grips in size 000 - she likes the single buckles but another girl we know has Velcro if you prefer that... We totally recommend them!
 
The pixie grips have arrived and my daughter has used them once so far..

My daughter told me they fit much better, they feel better then her old grips and they don't bunch up.

Still early days but it is encouraging so far, she now has to be able to get through her bar routine wearing her grips, she has to do a pullover, cast, back hip circle, straddle undershoot dismount, the only thing she is struggling with is the back hip circle, hopefully it is just a confidence thing as she kept falling out of it every time whilst wearing the Reisport Grips (even with a spot), she said she can now stay on with a spot, so that's good news.
 
That all sounds positive. Any handguards will take a while to break in so I wouldn't expect perfection straight off!
 
Once the coaches told us that DD had built enough callous on her hands that it was time to get grips we tried a few. (Side note: any body else watch reactions of people your gymmie shakes hands with... they are really taken aback by the construction worker feel). We started her with pixie grips, which she really didn't like. Then moved to the Just Rights, which she stayed with for two years. Just replaced them with ginnasta (narrow version) and she loves them, said they were broken in after 30 mins.
 
That all sounds positive. Any handguards will take a while to break in so I wouldn't expect perfection straight off!

They did wooden bar again on Monday and this time she did the entire routine without a spot, including the back hip circle, she is back to liking bars again, for once she likes all 4 apparatus now.
 
You don't need grips, but the skin will thank you for it. :)
I think OP said somewhere that her gym required them :-(
I agreed with you though. We have several girls that don't use grips.
 

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

College Gym News

The Hardest Skills: McKayla Maroney

3 Skills that FIG Would Ban at First Sight

Back