make or buy a beam???

[whiddend]

We would like to have a practice beam at home...here's the thing.

my husband is handy and thinks he can make one, but the covering seems to be quite pricy.

has anyone made a beam? or is it better just to buy one? also, is an 8ft beam ok or should we do the full 16 ft beam? low to the ground? or a little bit higher? thanks

denise

 

[addicted2gym]

my dad made me a beam. he started out 2 inches off and each time i got better and did better tricks he would make it higher so i could do fun dismounts and such. when i practiced a backhandspring on it i would start low then rise it up. thats probably what you could do.

 

[addicted2gym]

i forgot to say that an 8 foot beam is ok if u can though a 16 foot would be better but both are fine just as long as she doesnt do combination passes! then u want 16 feet!

 

[T.Gymnastics]

my dad also made me a beam also it is 8 foot i believe and is just on the ground but it works for me because i only use it for turns and jumps leaps cartwheels handstands etc... b/c i dont feel safe doing tumbling on beam outside the gym.

 

[flipandtwist]

I bought a beam for cheap on ebay and I would keep it low ALL the time since at home even with mats it is dangerous where in the gym its safer. I have a 12ft beam. And for me its perfect cause I can connect skills but its not too big.

 

[cher062]

I guess if your really handy you could make one but I couldn't even consider that without hurting myself LOL.

I would check to see what it would cost to make one and then what it would cost to purchase one. There are some really great buys out there on used equipment so I don't know if it would be cost effective. My DD has an 8' practice beam that actually fold in half for storage and sits on the floor this way I don't have to worry about spotting her or her straddling the beam etc. at home on the floor I think is best.

She doesn't really practice the hard passes she uses it more at home to work on the dance moves and perfect them then at the gym she focuses more on the tumbling. its a good balance.

 

[Caligirlzz]

We just got one for our daughter from www.thebeamstore.com . The price was right and they are reputible so you don't have to worry about the saftey of the beam itself. We are off for almost 2 weeks because of school, they give the kids the first week of school off. So it will be interesting to see if it makes a difference when they go back. (just got the beam on Thursday)

My little girl picked out the pink poka dot beam..soo cute!

 

[allforyoungs]

My husband made a beam for my dd a long time ago. He used a very good 4 X 4. For the legs he used metal plumping parts because you can get them in "t" form, and works great for the legs. etc. It was about 12 inches from the ground. We covered it with indoor carpet, the type that you would use in your basement or outside room. Home depot has this kind on a roll that you buy by the length very cheap. We also bought mats from a sports store to put on each side "just in case". my dd used the beam for handstands, cartwheels, leaps, jumps, back walkovers. No backhand springs or dismounts. We found it great for lower level gymnastics 3-4-5-6 - some 7 stuff. If made right they do last.

 

[canadiangymnast_eh]

i got this beam:
9' Folding Practice Beam - Resilite Sports Products, Inc.
for $55 as a gift off ebay. its great for basic skills and is very light and easy to store.i also like how low it is to the ground because i feel it is safer when doing harder skills.

 

[whiddend]

thank u!

Wow! So many replies! I am going to check out some of the sites you guys told me about. Then we will make the decision from there. I get what you all are saying about having it lower to the ground at home.

Thanks so much!
denise

 

[cher062]

i got this beam:
9' Folding Practice Beam - Resilite Sports Products, Inc.
for $55 as a gift off ebay. its great for basic skills and is very light and easy to store.i also like how low it is to the ground because i feel it is safer when doing harder skills.

That's the one my DD has too

 

[gym law mom]

I got one from ebay like 5-6 yrs ago made by a coach. He did put the actual covering on the practice beam that is on the regular beams in the gym. Price was very reasonable. Its 8'(doesn't fold) and just a few inches off the ground. Its still holding up quite well. Gymmie uses it for leaps, jumps, dance moves---absolutely no acro stuff.

I saw the beams that are higher on one of the links and they make me nervous. I would never have 1 in the house, but if you got one, then you would need to find a way to anchor it and buy some mats.

 

[eeyoretumbles]

If your husband is handy I would have him make it. My dad made mine, and instead of normal covering, he used carpet. This has helped a lot with practice at home, since there are no matts at home the carpet helps me not kill myself haha

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

We purchased a floor beam that looks similar to the folding one, but it doesn't fold. We bought it used on Craigs List

 

[Flippers Mom]

We made dd a beam that is in our living room. I bought cheap upholstery fabric and wrapped it around and around and around. That is enough to provide a bit of padding. You could put a bit of quilt batting around the wood before wrapping the velour fabric to add a bit more cushion. Many of dd's friends have insisted their dad's make a beam for them after working on our beam. It was never supposed to end up in the living room, but. . . you know how things like that go!

 

[gymnast16]

WHen i was little, i got a beam, and i still use it today, but it is just made out of wood. it is a square bloock, long, and it is considered as a low beam, raised, maybe ionly a couple inches of the ground. no cove r tho, not big tricks.

 

[gymnafreak]

Well, my dad made me a beam. He just glued and screwed two 2 by 4's together. It just sits on the floor pretty much and dad put some carpet padding on it and some carpet. I still use it for jumps and stuff sometimes. Nothing spectacular though.

As for length, if you are buying one, the 16ft ones are super expensive, but the 8 ft ones are really tiny. Some places sell a 10 or 12 foot beam. It all depends on how high of a level your gymnast is. If they are going to do series like back hand spring back hand spring, you want the 12 or 16 ft beam so they can practice that at home. It just all depends.

 

[NotAMom]

We have an older style (I think regulation) beam that I can part with. It doesn't have the wrapping because back in those days (not that long ago I was told) beams were just plain bare wood. OUCH!!!

When I first bought it used, I looked into getting the wrapping like you're doing. I just never got around to it. In fact, the family that sold us this beam had another later model full competition one that came wrapped but wife never approved the purchase.

PM me if you're interested. We can discuss more.

 

[Summit-09]

I got a pretty good home made beam from a garage sale this summer!
It was only 5 dollars!

 

[lilmonkeymom]

My husband made a beam for my daughter. He used a 4x4 that is 8ft long. We put carpet padding on it and then wrapped it in microsuede. It is about 8 inches off the ground. She loves it and says it feels just like the ones she uses at the gym. Total cost was about $40.00 a a few hours of labor.