Boy, was I ever wrong!!!

[gymdog]

I don't really see the benefits of palm grips since I'm not really even convinced they'll prevent ripping. Maybe for some. I don't see them as particularly valuable and in my experience ripping comes from a gain in height/weight or getting used to swinging bigger skills and for longer periods of time. The only period I went through that I consistently ripped was when I was a L6/7 (first two years I used grips) and we went to bars more than once a practice a lot of days We would go and then go back at the end if we had time, usually over vaulting. Worked, for the next three years I went from having very little bar skill/technique to state champion at optional levels, but the transition period was really rough and honestly I almost quit over it because I was behind already so I felt like I couldn't meet the expectations. My hands would be bleeding and I still had five more sets of skills I wasn't confident with.

BUT by the time I was a L8 I never ripped and I haven't ripped in the 5 years since. Even when I stopped swinging bars for a couple months and then went back, I expected to rip but I didn't. I switched gyms at one point, changed bar settings and workout methods and went through a huge setback on bars which had been my best....it was the only thing that really suffered but I feel like that's easy on bars for most people. It's not an event where general preparation in other areas easily transfers and coming off a several month break (I had been in really good shape before and had most of my old bar skills back prior) it was the only thing that I really couldn't get back into. Any tumbling, beam, vault problems I had were more mental than physical. On bars I found I couldn't do a long hang kip cast handstand, my rhythm was so off. If it isn't one thing it's something else. Gymnastics is a marathon and there are always going to be little setbacks and obstacles to overcome. In time you'll look back and something that seemed so agonizing at the time will just have been a little bump in the road.

 

[Billy]

I think the problem with DD's grips is that they are too big. I posted a separate thread with pictures for opinions. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

They look too big to me. My DD wears the dowel under her first knuckle when her fingers are bent. But wait til the experts have weighed in here!

-Lynn

 

[MadKate]

Does your daughter have no desire to practice at home? I cannot keep DD from practicing. She does leaps through the mall and pivot turns in line at Walmart. Nobody makes her practice at home. She does it because she loves it. There is never enough gym time. At dinner time or shower time or bed time it's always "can I do just one more [insert skill]? Please!!!"

When I was a kid, I was easily amused by a leftover length of tongue and groove planking from when my parents redid the bathroom...which, sitting on the floor, was a much safer adventure than the "vaulting horse" made from stacked Commodore 64 boxes and a foam camping mat, paired with a futon, beanbag chairs, and a rebounder! As long as the kid's still making noise, they're still alive! Ahhh, the days before the internet...

When I tried gymnastics again several years back, I ended up with a pair of dowel grips someone else gave me because they didn't fit her...I'd never seen anything other than palm grips before that, guess I never looked too closely at peoples' hands on TV. Don't really know if they fit me right, but I do know that they look at you *real* strangely when for all intents and purposes you're a rank beginner and you show up with those things! (Free is free, I figure, and rips suck...is there a compelling reason to *not* use them if you're basically entering the world with no preferences to start out with and don't want to drop more money on the beginner kind, if they'll let me use the ones I've got? I nearly passed out the last time I saw someone else rip, there was so much blood...not good with blood, here...)

 

[LemonLime]

My thoughts are that there are a number of elite/Olympic gymnasts who don't use grips at all. I know they are common in this country but it is clearly possible to do the skills without them so why push? If a gymnast can do all the training and skills without grips then let them.

There are no international elites in the United States who do not wear grips out of around 70 gymnasts and I only recall two at JO nationals who did not wear grips out of approximately 500, but yes, it is very common in some other countries although becoming many times more common in those countries as well to wear grips. Many international elite Chinese and Russian gymnasts who compete internationally now wear dowel grips, but they did not used to do so.

Dowel grips HELP a gymnast learn skills and protect them from injury. My daughter and her friends could probably do all of their single rail releases and D/E dismounts without grips but their risk of peeling and paralysis would go way up and their ability to catch would go down so I'd rather they wear dowel grips if the coach asked (they're not! LOL). Sure, it can be done, but it's NOT advisable.

I don't believe any gymnast should be pushed to do anything, however, unless it will help them be safer. Until L7, there may not be a reason to wear grips. Plus, it's always up to the coach. Grips v. no-grips is not a whimsical decision. It's a safety issue and also relates to skill performance.

 

[KBT]

There are no international elites in the United States who do not wear grips out of around 70 gymnasts and I only recall two at JO nationals who did not wear grips out of approximately 500, but yes, it is very common in some other countries although becoming many times more common in those countries as well to wear grips. Many international elite Chinese and Russian gymnasts who compete internationally now wear dowel grips, but they did not used to do so.

Dowel grips HELP a gymnast learn skills and protect them from injury. My daughter and her friends could probably do all of their single rail releases and D/E dismounts without grips but their risk of peeling and paralysis would go way up and their ability to catch would go down so I'd rather they wear dowel grips if the coach asked (they're not! LOL). Sure, it can be done, but it's NOT advisable.

I don't believe any gymnast should be pushed to do anything, however, unless it will help them be safer. Until L7, there may not be a reason to wear grips. Plus, it's always up to the coach. Grips v. no-grips is not a whimsical decision. It's a safety issue and also relates to skill performance.

Many international gymnasts do not wear grips because they can't afford them in the lower levels. By the time they get to the national team where they can get grips, they're used to not using them and choose to go without.

I'm not sure if I agree with you that grips are safer. All things being equal, it may be true, but grips can cover up not-so-desirable technique. Without grips, poor technique is harder to cover up. I suspect that those who do not use grips also have better grip strength.

There are also a few exceptions when it comes to safety. I think I mentioned one of my girls whose hands were very small. After peeling off and fracturing her elbow for the second time, the doctor said if she hurt her elbow again she'd probably be done with gymnastics. We had her stop using grips and she never peeled again.

 

[maddiekate]

I peeled the first day i used grips when i was working on tap swings, but i haven't peeled since breaking them in. I'm always nervous though on the upswing because i'm scared to peel. I'm more confident with grips than without though.

 

[Billy]

That's what led to my DD's problem in the first place. She peeled off the high bar on her jump. She didn't get hurt but it freaked her out and made her scared to jump with the grips. Without them she has no problem.

 

[LemonLime]

That's what led to my DD's problem in the first place. She peeled off the high bar on her jump. She didn't get hurt but it freaked her out and made her scared to jump with the grips. Without them she has no problem.

Yes, someone with new grips will have trouble when they first get them. That is the point of this thread, right?

It is harder to peel with new dowel grips than new palm grips, but it certainly does happen. Adjusting to grips is an awful process, but sticking with it is important because a gymnast is only prolonging the inevitable.

However, without question, a gymnast will peel more WITHOUT grips than WITH grips at the optional level of gymnastics.

 

[gymjourneymom]

Yes, someone with new grips will have trouble when they first get them. That is the point of this thread, right?

It is harder to peel with new dowel grips than new palm grips, but it certainly does happen. Adjusting to grips is an awful process, but sticking with it is important because a gymnast is only prolonging the inevitable.

However, without question, a gymnast will peel more WITHOUT grips than WITH grips at the optional level of gymnastics.

Shawn, the coach got grips for all of the girls on your DD's team correct? How are the other girls adjusting to them? When my DD was suppose to start wearing dowel grips(back in level 5) all of the other girls made the transition. My DD "didn't like them" and never broken in the dowel grips. So she competed level 4 bare hands, level 5 & 6 palm grips( b/c of getting rips). Now here she is training 7. Needing to wear the dowel grips to get her giant. It's a slow process for her to get used to the dowels. She can't do even a kip in the dowels. So for now she tap swings in the dowels & tries some minor skills. Then switches back into her palm grips so she can actually work some bigger skills. She's losing time & skills by having to get used to the dowels at this point. She's the 1st one to say "I wish I would have just did it when everyone else did". So if not now, when will your DD wear dowels? Will she be "ok" falling behind her teammates at that point? That's what my DD is experiencing right now. Let me tell you...she's NOT ok with it

 

[Billy]

Gymjourneymom- yes the coach ordered grips for the whole team. The other girls are all using theirs but there are several that "don't like" them. However, the other girls are all a couple years older than my DD and, for the most part, bigger than her too. I think if DD were older, she'd be better able to understand how to make the grips "work". But, the grips are really big on her, too. We've ordered smaller ones and when we get them, she'll start working with them, at least a little bit. She knows she's going to need grips sooner or later and she knows that sooner is better. But she's still so young, I'm trying to work within her comfort level.

 

[gymjourneymom]

Gymjourneymom- yes the coach ordered grips for the whole team. The other girls are all using theirs but there are several that "don't like" them. However, the other girls are all a couple years older than my DD and, for the most part, bigger than her too. I think if DD were older, she'd be better able to understand how to make the grips "work". But, the grips are really big on her, too. We've ordered smaller ones and when we get them, she'll start working with them, at least a little bit. She knows she's going to need grips sooner or later and she knows that sooner is better. But she's still so young, I'm trying to work within her comfort level.

I think the smaller(narrower)grips will be a better "fit" for your DD. But they will still feel odd to her. "Smaller" isn't a magic answer...they will still be a big adjustment for her. My DD has always been the smallest of her team(13yrs old now often mistaken for 8 or 9yrs. old). Our girls all started out with the smaller/narrower grips(Gibson Just Right). Even those are what my DD "didn't like" back then. They are what she trying to get used to now b/c she knows she 'has to'. She has them broken in by swinging. But she still isn't used to them enough to do any bigger skills in them. That, I think, will take all summer & into the fall at this point. Putting her way behind her teammates once the competition season starts She may not be able to compete level 7 bars in the fall b/c of this whole 'grip transition'Her teammates have grown & many are on their 2nd sets of grips, some have moved on to the wider ones. They are pros at grip wearing! All are getting their level 7 skill much quicker then my DD. My DD is being 'lost in their dust' all b/c of not switching to the dowel grips with the rest of the team All of this pressure & stress is much worse to deal with now...she admits she wishes she would have switch to the dowel grips back at level 5, with "everyone else". I know it's a difficult situation you are in. Have her keep swinging in the narrower grips once she gets them. Don't let her give up & pack them away...my DD REALLY regrets doing that. Best of luck to you & your DD as she progresses in her gymjourney

 

[gymdog]

In the moment the pressure and stress is a lot to deal with but you have to have faith that it will be okay in the long run and this is just another step in what will be a continuous challenges. Eventually you look back at one particular challenge and it will seem funny by then because you've moved on so far from that one. I had a horrible time with the bar transition from 5 to 6 to 7, but by the end of level 7 and all of level 8 I did better on bars than I ever could have imagined and didn't score below a 9 unless I fell. Now I don't really think about most of level 7, but at the time I know I was devastated when I was scratched from bars and failing almost repeatedly every day at what I thought I could do. There was a point in time somewhere along the line of those rough times where I just made up mind and then there was no going back. I had similar things happen with other skills...probably the biggest other one is when I randomly lost my back tuck on beam the summer after level 8, just wouldn't do it...somehow that became something like the end of the world at the time, but I got it back really in less than a month or whatever and I've rarely thought about it since. Certainly, I've done about a million back tucks on beam since then and then some. Then it was something else, but the giant months and back tuck months were the big ones.

When you try to keep it all in perspective, you have to really realize that by the time you hit optionals the field has been narrowed (this is true also for the lower competitive levels, from "class" levels). The girls who reach that point had something that generally made learning the easier skills, well, easier. But the skills get harder and the learning curve is steeper. Virtually no one is going to pass through optional levels "unscathed" without real trouble from certain skills, and for many or most it will be whole events. There will probably be an entire event where you might find you have to work harder, take more hits, encounter more frustration than others just to stay competitive in the AA, not even to be best at that event. It's okay to have trouble with these skills. It doesn't mean you've hit an insurmountable wall. It gets better. Even though there seems to be a moment where it "clicks", you also have to remember training day to day you are making imperceptible progress that enables the eventual "click." This, I think, is the hard thing for many gymnasts and families to deal with especially during big transitions like early competitive or early optional. If you keep working, it's happening, even when progress seems slow. Even losses or setbacks offer a chance to eventually make a skill and confidence better in the long run. What is the quote, there are no problems, only opportunities? Like that.

 

[gymjourneymom]

Thanks gymdog for the encouragement So good to hear you "stuck with it" even in the tough times. You should be very proud My DD knows she's in this for "the long haul" & she's really trying hard to get used to the dowels. She knows to take it step by step & not push herself into unsafe situations(my main concern). This is why we are prepared to face the fact, that she may not be ready to compete bars by the fall. I have complete faith in her! She has come through so much already & she always amazes me I'm just hoping her "story" can save someone else from having to go through what she is at this point. That's what I love about CB!!!! You can learn from so many people!!!! In summary....I guess the point I hope people take from my post on this thread...if the rest of the girls on your DD's level are switching dowels grips( I didn't think it was a big deal back then b/c DD didn't "need" them)... have your DD do it too...even if she "doesn't like them"...have her at least swing in them...keep her progressing with her teammates or you & her may regret it later. Hope this advice helps someone out there! Gymnastics is a journey

 

[ex-gymnast]

Something that no one has mentioned. Different brands of grips fit differently and feel differently on the bar. I prefered a narrower grip that had buckles instead of valco. I encourged my gymnast to buy their own so they had what they wanted. (We have several types in the gym that were broken in. They could hang from the bar in it. Tap swings were okay but nothing more.)

I personally did not care if they wore grips before they started doing gaints.

 

[LemonLime]

Yes, someone with new grips will have trouble when they first get them. That is the point of this thread, right?

It is harder to peel with new dowel grips than new palm grips, but it certainly does happen. Adjusting to grips is an awful process, but sticking with it is important because a gymnast is only prolonging the inevitable.

However, without question, a gymnast will peel more WITHOUT grips than WITH grips at the optional level of gymnastics.

Here is a good, professional explanation of how dowel grips help with circling skills, etc.

"Dowel grips can provide an advantage on circling skills (like front and back giants, stalders) on bars, especially for gymnasts whose hands are small and do not go all the way around the bar. The dowel provides a kind of clamp on the bar, which makes it easier for gymnasts to hold on to the bar. Dowel grips are designed with a wooden dowel positioned on the grips to help gymnasts have a better hold on the bar during circling skills and catching release moves."

 

[lannamavity]

Here is a good, professional explanation of how dowel grips help with circling skills, etc.

"Dowel grips can provide an advantage on circling skills (like front and back giants, stalders) on bars, especially for gymnasts whose hands are small and do not go all the way around the bar. The dowel provides a kind of clamp on the bar, which makes it easier for gymnasts to hold on to the bar. Dowel grips are designed with a wooden dowel positioned on the grips to help gymnasts have a better hold on the bar during circling skills and catching release moves."

Except that the dowels are made of graphite or plastic. I would highly suggest that no one buy grips with a wood dowel in this day and age. That description may have been from a few decades ago...but the rest applies.

 

[kvgymnast]

hi. i am a level 10 gymnast now and i didn't start wearing grips until my second year of level 8, when i was about 9 or 10 years old. and my hands hurt before that but my hands were so little that i couldn't grip the bar with grips! but eventually my hands grew and grips were necessary for level 9 so i think that your daughter can start using grips when she grows and gets comfortable with them....you don't wanna affect her bars!

 

[LemonLime]

Except that the dowels are made of graphite or plastic. I would highly suggest that no one buy grips with a wood dowel in this day and age. That description may have been from a few decades ago...but the rest applies.

It's recent, but surely you are correct about the materials used in the grips. The description on how dowel grips was the relevant part, however.

Dowel Grips vs. Grips

 

[gymjourneymom]

hi. i am a level 10 gymnast now and i didn't start wearing grips until my second year of level 8, when i was about 9 or 10 years old. and my hands hurt before that but my hands were so little that i couldn't grip the bar with grips! but eventually my hands grew and grips were necessary for level 9 so i think that your daughter can start using grips when she grows and gets comfortable with them....you don't wanna affect her bars!

kvgymnast, How was your transition when you started wearing grips? Did you lose skills while getting used to them?