WAG Tiger Paws or tough it out?

[SweetSecrets15]

Sorry I've been posting so much haha! Anyways, some of you may know already I recently just moved up to my gyms Xcel Platinum team. I went from training 2x a week with 2.5 hour practices to 3x a week with 4 hour practices. I just finished my second week and my wrists feel broken. Everything that requires weight on my hands is painful and becoming hard to do. Last week it was mainly vault and floor, but this week my beam is being effected. I couldn't do a walkover without shaking my wrists out and feeling pain. Also, I've been using tape every practice. I should mention our conditioning and warmups require a lot of bounce straddle handstands. So, I was considering buying tiger paws but I wasn't sure if my wrists are just adjusting to the extended gym time and more demanding exercises/skills or if I really need the support. I've heard once you get them there is no going back so I don't want to hinder my wrist from getting strong.

Btw, I'm 17, 5'5, and weigh 130 lbs. I've been a gymnast for 3 years now and had minor wrist problems in the beginning.

Thanks!

 

[tegan_tegan]

This is what is happening to me.
My coach said no to tiger paws as he does not want that level of support as it is a phase.
So he tapes each wrist before training and it works for me. He told me that he doesn't want me to become dependant on the tiger paws and my wrists to become weaker.
I hope this helped

 

[raenndrops]

Talk to your doctor, but I would say that since you came in with minor wrist problems, you may want to invest in them... but I would suggest Golden Hands Seconds instead of Tiger Paws (same thing, just as good ... less expensive version). That way, if they don't help or you decide you no longer need / want them, you didn't blow $50 on them
http://www.ten-o.com/Seconds-Golden-Hands-Wrist-Supports,1099.html

My OG has these and they helped immensely. We went with the tan and you can't even tell that hers are "seconds." They look perfect.

Good luck.

 

[munchkin3]

Wrists were not made to do gymnastics. Get tiger paws.
There is NO way that all that force and repetitions could possible make wrists weak. All tiger paws do is prevent wrist impingement and keep your wrists healthy AFTER gymnastics....

 

[Faith]

My understanding is tiger paws stop your wrists from hyperextending. They don't support or weaken wrist strength in any way.

Get them. It will stop your wrists damaging themselves until they are strong enough to control the hyperextension.

Tiger paws prevent injury, not cure it.

 

[lhmom]

My daughter is extremely flexible. She developed tendonitis not long after moving to 20 hr a week practices (and doing way more back step outs on beam). Her orthopedist had her move to Tiger Paws which helped tremendously! She doesn't wear them all the time either.

 

[profmom]

Tiger Paws, and if they don't make it 100% better, you need to rest them. Stress fractures in your wrists will lay you off for at least three months. You've just jumped up a lot of hours, and that is a classic recipe for getting stress fractures. Give your wrists (and probably your shins as well) time to adjust to the increase in training hours and do fewer reps, focusing on making each one the best quality you can make it. Do be careful!

 

[Seeker]

Toughing it out is not really even an option when you've got pain in both wrists. It's not like you're sore from a tough work out -- its a sign that you need to alter something you're doing. Icing may help (be consistent), supporting them during practice should help, maybe some strengthening exercises. But toughing it out will likely only result in a real injury that requires time off, which I presume you'd like to avoid.

 

[GymCMLA]

1. make sure you don't have a stress fracture already
2. do wrist strengthening at home (huge wool tube socks folded in a ball and do squeezes) there are more online or meet with PT once to get the home program
3. tiger paws can help I have heard things like it is time if you are working yurchenkos or int he gym more than x # of hours a week (12 hours if a common x)

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Tiger paws of course! It's a no brainer.

 

[Vivianflips]

Tiger Paws, and if they don't make it 100% better, you need to rest them. Stress fractures in your wrists will lay you off for at least three months. You've just jumped up a lot of hours, and that is a classic recipe for getting stress fractures. Give your wrists (and probably your shins as well) time to adjust to the increase in training hours and do fewer reps, focusing on making each one the best quality you can make it. Do be careful!

I second giving your wrists and shins some rest! When I jumped from a one hour a week rec class to 6 hours a week for L3 my shins started to suffer a lot! With rest they've gotten better though!

 

[SweetSecrets15]

Talk to your doctor, but I would say that since you came in with minor wrist problems, you may want to invest in them... but I would suggest Golden Hands Seconds instead of Tiger Paws (same thing, just as good ... less expensive version). That way, if they don't help or you decide you no longer need / want them, you didn't blow $50 on them
http://www.ten-o.com/Seconds-Golden-Hands-Wrist-Supports,1099.html

My OG has these and they helped immensely. We went with the tan and you can't even tell that hers are "seconds." They look perfect.

Good luck.

Thank you so much! The price was really making the decision harder but these are much more affordable.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Seems like most coaches I talk to in real life don't like them, and most coaches I talk to online do. Perhaps it's a generational thing.

I say get them. It's been a good 4 million years since our wrists were adapted to holding any of our weight -- and they've never been adapted to carrying our entire weight, let alone withstanding repeated impacts of our entire weight. Better to protect the body however we can.

 

[raenndrops]

Thank you so much! The price was really making the decision harder but these are much more affordable.

I have 2 gymmies and a fixed income, so I look for economical options whenever I can Good luck