WAG El grip

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sjm2b3

Proud Parent
Can someone help me understand el grip? Do all men do it on high bar? Why? What's the advantage for girls over normal grip?
 
In MAG it's one of the element groups so required to be shown in routines. It's not an advantage, it's a different type of skill. In WAG, the requirement is just to show different grips on bars. I don't think that's required in JO though. Not that many women do el-grip skills. Gabby does and Nastia used to. It's seen more in Chinese uneven bar routines.
 
Reverse OR el grip is required in elite and JO, but it's only a small composition deduction in JO not to have one. As ZJsMom says, el-grip is rare in WAG elite. Not everyone is genetically cut out for it and it can cause serious shoulder damage in those who are not. Also, under the proposed code for the next quad, el-grip circles and giants have been devalued from E to D. If I remember correctly, in this quad, .2 connections were changed such that E non flight connections only get .1 connection value. All in all, el-grip is not as valuable as it once was in elite and has almost no value in JO and never did.
 
Is that the same as eagle grip? My daughter does eagle grip, but has been told that she's probably the only one at the gym that they'll get to do it, because of her particularly flexible shoulders. I hate watching it. It looks so wrong.
 
I think the only advantage it has for girls is that most can't do it, so it is therefore a unique thing that some can do. It's something that sets them apart as different. But just like other skills that some can do and others can't, it's just one thing. While my daughter can do it, there are things that others can do that she can't. For example, others will always be better than her at tumbling.

My daughter likes the fact that she can do it, while others can't. It makes her feel unique. But if she couldn't do that, she would probably be proud of something else she can do instead.
 
I think this is the next thing on DS's agenda after he finally gets his vault catch, though that puts it pretty far off into the future, based on how the drills are going. :eek:

For the guys who can do it well, it looks really cool, but yeah, it's not easy to do unless the shoulders are really flexible. Very rarely seen in girls around here as well.

Is it possible that, even given what I would guess is on average a little less shoulder flexibility for teenage guys than teenage girls, male gymnasts' work on rings in particular makes them retain a little more shoulder flexibility on average than the average girl? (Said by the person who is hoping that DS's shoulder flexibility will keep him kinda in the game on rings until he finally gets stronger . . . )
 
I think this is the next thing on DS's agenda after he finally gets his vault catch, though that puts it pretty far off into the future, based on how the drills are going. :eek:

For the guys who can do it well, it looks really cool, but yeah, it's not easy to do unless the shoulders are really flexible. Very rarely seen in girls around here as well.

Is it possible that, even given what I would guess is on average a little less shoulder flexibility for teenage guys than teenage girls, male gymnasts' work on rings in particular makes them retain a little more shoulder flexibility on average than the average girl? (Said by the person who is hoping that DS's shoulder flexibility will keep him kinda in the game on rings until he finally gets stronger . . . )

Yeah..as D has grown this past year..shoulder flex was the first thing to go. He is fighting hard to keep it....but his shoulders/neck have gotten so, well, thick! I know it will help on somethings. He is working el grip now, and can get the pirouette into it, but is just tapping the bar right now. He isn't trying to grab it. And he is swinging some in el. I think the hope is to have it by state. sigh.
 
So if they have to do a different grip, and this el grip is so hard and rare, what are others grips that most gymnasts do?
Reverse grip would be the most common. I thought mixed grip fulfilled the second grip requirement for girls too, but based on LemonLime's post, I might be wrong about that. My dd left gymnastics about 3 years ago, so I'm not really as up on the girls' side.
 
Types of grips - this is my understanding.

Put your hands out in front of you, as if there is a bar in front of you that you're going to grasp.

Fingers away from you, over the bar. This is over grip or overhand grip.

Now bring your thumbs towards you as you turn your hands so that the thumbs are now pointing outwards. Fingers are now towards you. This is under grip, underhand grip or reverse grip.

Now, turn your hands back to over grip, but KEEP turning them, until your thumbs are pointing outwards again. Your arms *are* twisted. Fingers are again towards you.This is eagle grip, el grip, or L grip. Imagine you're swinging like that and you can see why so few people can do it.

Mixed grip is one hand with fingers towards you, and one hand with fingers away.

This is based on my daughter's explanation to me of the different grips. I'm very happy to be corrected if it is wrong.
 
Types of grips - this is my understanding.

Put your hands out in front of you, as if there is a bar in front of you that you're going to grasp.

Fingers away from you, over the bar. This is over grip or overhand grip.

Now bring your thumbs towards you as you turn your hands so that the thumbs are now pointing outwards. Fingers are now towards you. This is under grip, underhand grip or reverse grip.

Now, turn your hands back to over grip, but KEEP turning them, until your thumbs are pointing outwards again. Your arms *are* twisted. Fingers are again towards you.This is eagle grip, el grip, or L grip. Imagine you're swinging like that and you can see why so few people can do it.

Mixed grip is one hand with fingers towards you, and one hand with fingers away.

This is based on my daughter's explanation to me of the different grips. I'm very happy to be corrected if it is wrong.

Ugh...ow! What the what? No! Just no!
Gymnastics is crazy!
 
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Yes el grip is the same as eagle grip.

no. it is not. eagle grip finds the hand under the bar hanging from the dowel from start to finish.
L grip or "invert" finds the pad of the wrist on top of the bar...start to finish.
 
no. it is not. eagle grip finds the hand under the bar hanging from the dowel from start to finish.
L grip or "invert" finds the pad of the wrist on top of the bar...start to finish.

Did not know this! I thought they were the same thing.

Any tips for getting this? D is pirouetting to it or something like that....right now just tapping the bar as he goes...
 
Did not know this! I thought they were the same thing.

Any tips for getting this? D is pirouetting to it or something like that....right now just tapping the bar as he goes...

getting which?
 

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