Parents no more grips . . . .

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JessMom

Proud Parent
well, DD was SO excited about them and worked with them all summer . . . broke them in and got use to them

This week she face planted twice. two different days, same move. They were bad slips off the high bar and the coaches decided no more grips until her hand grows a little more.

We'll have to see what happens to her bars at the next practice. She hasn't been grip free in almost 3 months.

I know there has been conversations about little ones in grips and I thought I'd share. :rolleyes:

:bars:
 
Not fun.... I hope she adjusts well to being grip less. DD goes back and forth with her grips. She only practices once a week with them and it has worked well.
 
Tell her in advance that her hands will probably be sore after bars for a few days(maybe longer, but don't stress that). The hands get "soft" when the girls start with grips and they need to get that tough alligator type skin again. It will probably feel a little strange to her too.

Make sure she knows this is nothing she has done wrong. The coaches just need her hands to get a little bigger and for her to get a naturally stronger grip. My guess is the coaches are saying no grips until this upcoming season is over? Switching back and forth can really throw them off.

When she's ready, you have a pair of grips waiting that are broken in.
 
My dd tried grips too and her coaches took her out of them. It wasn't the kips but the swings on high bar that were the problem. As I understand it, their hands are so small that they are not contacting much of the bar even without grips. Put them in grips and there is even less contact. This causes them to either peel off or severely restrict the height of their swings for fear of slipping off. I'm sure Jess will quickly get used to not having the grips. There may be a short period where she has sore hands, but it won't take long to toughen them up. Tell her she's not the only little gymnast out there competing L5/L6 without grips! :D
 
Sorry to hear about your daughter having some wipe outs. It's a real confidence shaker even if they're not hurt.

Bean told me her coaches wanted her in grips shortly after she got her kip. Her understanding was that it was to extend the grip of her tiny hands so she could start swinging "bigger"

Strange how different coaches have such different approaches!
 
yep, it was the swings that she wiped out on. She slipped off the high bar and face planted. I think it was a good idea to pull the grips. She actually came close the second time to hitting the low bar on her way down. I think both slips may have taken a few years off the coaches life LOL. She gives those swings her all - she's dying to turn them into up rights? I think they're called.

We'll see what happens tonight - she can't wait to give it a shot
 
I think she will be fine without grips. Lots don't use them until L6 or after. Hope her hands toughen back up quickly and she has fun swinging with bare hands. :) So glad she didn't get hurt.

I swear I think coaches must age fast with all they see. My heart stops when I see a fall or coach save and that isn't on a daily basis.
 
My DD had some trouble when she first got grips, too. And she also peeled off the high bar. Turns out that those grips were just way too big for her. We changed brands and sizes (she's now in Hot Shots size 00) and they've been just fine. Is there a possibility of a different brand and/or size?
 
YIKES! You're making me nervous now, LOL, my DD started using her grips June and loves them. Hasn't peeled off yet, and I thought that now that she has the hang of it she won't, but now...ugh!

Sorry you're DD has to go grip-less now. My DD also has small hands (sad I can't remember the brand or the size) but one brand we were looking at were the Pixie Grips? Have you tried those...I thought they came a little smaller then most.
 
Her grips actually fit fine. they stay on . . . she's comfy in them . . . but her hand isn't big enough, I think, so that the dowel actually hinders rather then helps?

Anyway . . . like I said, she's excited to try without. She hopes to get her free hip back (the only skill she lost with the grips that she was having trouble getting back)

they didn't do bars last night, it was a dance night, but she can't wait to give it a try tonight LOL.

Thanks everyone:D
 
She'll do fine without grips. My youngest cannot stand them and does flyaways and baby giants no problem. Oldest has only worn them for a year, before that she was working giants and layouts with no issues. Hands harden up after a while.

When she is ready for them again her coaches will let her know.
 
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My daughter (who's been a level 10 for several years now) has always used Hot Shot grips since she started wearing grips at Level 5. She always felt that she could feel the bar around the middle strip on her hand and likes that feel. I've tried to slip a few other brands by her (Reisports: "what are these mom? Boxing gloves"; Gibsons: "are these the boxing glove type again?" ; English Bulldogs: ditto again) as they made a bigger size grip but it wasn't worth it because she loves the Hot Shots and I ended up sending the others back. So now I special order them (in a thicker leather because of the level she competes) in pairs so she has a back up pair ready to go.
 
We had a difficult time finding grips small enough for Flipper at Level 5 - and they are hard to get used to. We recently ordered a slightly bigger grips, but ended up sending it back. Those tiny, narrow hands are hard to fit and she is VERY particular about her grips - they must be buckle - not velcro. Once she got used to using grips, she isn't comfortable on bars without them. Your coach probably knows what is best, but it's got to be hard on a gymmie to go back and forth between using them and not using them. Flipper, like others here, uses the very narrow Bailie's.
 
FINALLY! They did bars tonight. DD came out and I asked "so? hows it going? " She responded with a loud AWESOME! The free hip is almost back and no slipping.

Eventually her hands will grow and she'll have to re-adjust to the grips . . . but one season at a time. The important thing is she is safe and happy :)
 
At our gym the rule used to be no grips till Level 6 but in the past 2-3 yrs some of the older girls who were L4/5 decided they WANTED them, and they got them.

Little Monkey was just told this past week that she can/should get them now because she will need to dowel grips to start working giants. She was so excited, we ordered them on Sun and arrived on Tues. I asked if she was going to take them to gym, and she said no she wants to wait until after Sun (first L6 meet) and then "we'll see".
 
Great news for Jess! Lily is doing pretty well with her free hip, though she ripped last night - all that circling I guess. I worry that it will be hard to re-learn with grips. Guess we too will cross that bridge when we come to it.
 

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