Parents Bar shorts, a yes or no?

[cbifoja]

At our gym, once you make team, there is a stricter dress code. Our coaches expect leotards rather than unitards, bar shorts but not casual shorts, never leggings, and one time when a team girl showed up in a sports bra – shorts combination, she was sent back out to the car to get a real leotard.

That being said, one day a week, the coaches require all team girls to practice without their bar shorts. The older girls hate it of course.

 

[tooootsie]

1. Your hips hit the bar when you practice so depending on how low the shorts are it could scratch them. 2. Coaches spot and it seems a little inappropriate to not be covered on the mid section. I know at my kids gym it is an absolute no to wear something like that.

Not a gymnast here, but I bet it would hurt tremendously should you accidentally hit the bar.

 

[Quadqueen]

Nothing but a leotard allowed at DD's gym. No shorts, ever.

 

[l.c.o]

DD keeps a pair in her gym bag. If she needs them, she uses them, though that's not very often.

On days they work a lot of baby giants/giants, she'll wear them. Otherwise she bruises/burns/scrapes easily without them.

 

[raenndrops]

We are in the bar shorts are allowed camp. No pockets. Tight fitting spandex or velvet.
They can wear tight fitting leggings when it is cold and warm up pants are permitted during warm up only, but they gotta go before the first event of practice.

 

[munchkin3]

Girls wear shorts at old and new gym...........and personally think fitted bar shorts should be mandatory after a certain age.
The week before a meet, shorts off........the girls who have been competing for a while have no problem with this set up. Usually the younger ones could care less either way.

 

[Pea'sMom]

Gym doesn't care what the heck you wear Oldest tend to wear tee's knotted with bar shorts. Pea's group are bar shorts all the time. Little's depends on the kid but mostly leos or unitards. There is one girl who has such texture issues she would sometimes where what appeared to be a blouse Now that the weather is cooler the only requirement from the gym is you MUST come and go in sweats or PJ pants and a top.

 

[Gymmom826]

Our gym permits them.......I have friends at other gyms where they are not allowed except for the older girls.....
We have a large gym with many boys and girls, and a lot of traffic.......

My DD wears them, and I have told her to keep wearing them for practice.....I can't imagine working out everyday for hours with basically a bathing suit on..
Before meets, the girls usually do a few practices with just their leotard.

What do your gyms, and girls prefer?

My dd's gym does not allow them. The reason they gave is that it is necessary to see proper form from being in a leotard because that is what they compete in.

 

[Committed]

Bar shorts are allowed in the off-season. When they are in meet season, it's a no. DD is a bit younger, so it hasn't been an issue; she doesn't like them. However, I'm sure her tune will change as she "matures."

 

[gymdog]

Not sure why they're called bar shorts because bars is probably the worst event to wear them on, lol! That said we don't have problems as long as they're the well fitted nylon ones.

I pretty much require my kids to wear shorts/Capri leggings preferably for some things because I think it is more appropriate. I don't have a problem with a plain leotard for event work. We don't really have issues at competitions. As a former gymnast, I also don't remember having issues at competitions. There's so much going on and you're just focused on competing. Not everyone has problems with it. I wouldn't over think it.

Bare midriffs on the other hand, I do not allow. I also don't allow tank shirts or underarmour shirts, although 90% of the time they work fine, I don't want that one time where the shirt gets caught or comes up or something.

 

[txgymfan]

I have to admit the leotard obsession is one thing I find strange about the sport. I understand wearing a Leo the week before a comp to get used to showing so much skin but I would argue that it's almost more of an odd of a feeling to wear long sleeves vs a tank as it is to wearing little bar shorts vs no shorts. Frankly, after living in the south, I find I don't like the heavy clothes I wore growing up in the Midwest.

I think a two piece tight outfit ( like a tankini swimsuit with a longish top ) or tight leggings or even tummy showing tight Dance shorts and tops are cute, more wearable outside gym and show the same amount of "line" and are appropriate to practice in.

Other sports even some gyms have practice clothes, pre comp clothes ( warm up Leo's for some teams, skating dresses to wear at official practices) and official competing clothes.

I get that it's part of the culture, I just don't think the only thing safe or appropriate to practice in is a leotard. As long as it's tight, safe and shows line I think it should be allowed, especially when there is more than one week between comps.

 

[duyetanh]

You can at our gym, but my dd would never do it, she is one of those kids who wants practice to be like meets...I don't care;for me it is one less thing I have to buy, woo hoo!!!

 

[txgymfan]

Testing the site.

 

[JessSyd]

A crop top and gym shorts is the unofficial uniform around here for girls in summer. Boys often train shirtless. Gyms here are furnaces in summer and freezers in winter. The bit of extra sweat evaporation that comes from having a bare midriff makes training possible when it is very hot. Leggings in winter stop the girls from turning blue.

There are a few girls who train only in leos though, through choice. They don't seem to have any sort of advantage at competition from what I have seen so far.

 

[z2akids]

DD is allowed to wear bar shorts 2 of her 3 practices a week. One day a week, they aren't allowed. Nor are they ever allowed on bars. Most of the girls wear them. They are all required to wear leos. No sports bras or other top/shorts combos.

 

[gymdog]

I have to admit the leotard obsession is one thing I find strange about the sport. I understand wearing a Leo the week before a comp to get used to showing so much skin but I would argue that it's almost more of an odd of a feeling to wear long sleeves vs a tank as it is to wearing little bar shorts vs no shorts. Frankly, after living in the south, I find I don't like the heavy clothes I wore growing up in the Midwest.

I think a two piece tight outfit ( like a tankini swimsuit with a longish top ) or tight leggings or even tummy showing tight Dance shorts and tops are cute, more wearable outside gym and show the same amount of "line" and are appropriate to practice in.

Other sports even some gyms have practice clothes, pre comp clothes ( warm up Leo's for some teams, skating dresses to wear at official practices) and official competing clothes.

I get that it's part of the culture, I just don't think the only thing safe or appropriate to practice in is a leotard. As long as it's tight, safe and shows line I think it should be allowed, especially when there is more than one week between comps.

Well, it does cause an issue for spotting when the kids are sweaty. So we don't allow it. We are a gymnastics school and there is a certain dress code. If kids don't go to school in their underwear, it's not that different. A sports bra is underwear to me and not a gymnastics outfit. Two piece tanks are fine for rec but I've had problems with them for team bars so we don't do those either. That would be fine in a pinch though, I've had to do it for forgotten leo or there some kind of sunburn or other issue like that where the tight elastic is irritating for a short term.

Some very good coaches disagree. Cassie Rice for one lets her kids wear two piece workout outfits and I think a lot of her optionals do. It works for them. But I would say the majority of gyms nowadays are moving away from this and that doesn't have as much to do about the functionality of the outfit itself as the appearance it might create of the culture or certain spotting issues.

 

[JMACAZ]

Shorts are allowed. No half tops, only leos

 

[Ausi_poppet]

1. Your hips hit the bar when you practice so depending on how low the shorts are it could scratch them. 2. Coaches spot and it seems a little inappropriate to not be covered on the mid section. I know at my kids gym it is an absolute no to wear something like that.

Not a gymnast here, but I bet it would hurt tremendously should you accidentally hit the bar.

My daughter only trains in crop tops/sports tops and gym shorts because their gymnasium is tin shed that gets really hot most of the time, except in the dead of winter. Most of the girls in the gym only wear this year round, with maybe a t-shirt or tank top over it if it's cool and then they pull legging over the top of the shorts if it's really cold. Our girls only wear leotards for competitions and state training events, and they all know the drill and don't complain about it, nor spend all their time plucking their leo out. The younger girls wear their training leo one day a week to make sure they are comfortable in them.

Our kids do all sorts of crazy skills and I've never heard them complain or get more scratched that if they were wearing a leo, particularly once they move on to only doing clear hip circle around the bars. And the coaches continue to poke them in the belly if needed to get their form right - it's all seen as very normal here. I would think that if a girl felt more pain hitting the bar in shorts rather than a leo and let it bother her, then gymnastics probably isn't the sport for her long term anyway!

 

[skschlag]

Our girls have to wear leos. They can wear shorts, but are discouraged. I like this. Our first gym, the girls wore pretty much bras and booty shorts. Way more revealing than a leo!

our owner is into modesty as much as possible. Leos for the girls, compression shirts and shorts/ pommel pants for the boys. Boys cannot remove their shirts until there are NO females in the gym. If you have it off, and girl walks in, you put it back on.

 

[raenndrops]

Not sure why they're called bar shorts because bars is probably the worst event to wear them on, lol! That said we don't have problems as long as they're the well fitted nylon ones.

I pretty much require my kids to wear shorts/Capri leggings preferably for some things because I think it is more appropriate. I don't have a problem with a plain leotard for event work. We don't really have issues at competitions. As a former gymnast, I also don't remember having issues at competitions. There's so much going on and you're just focused on competing. Not everyone has problems with it. I wouldn't over think it.

Bare midriffs on the other hand, I do not allow. I also don't allow tank shirts or underarmour shirts, although 90% of the time they work fine, I don't want that one time where the shirt gets caught or comes up or something.

We have only ever had two girls that had trouble adjusting to just a leotard for competition... but one was 5'10" tall and almost 14 at her first competition. She usually wore a leotard and basketball shorts at practice. She just put her warm ups back on after each event - no big deal. The other one was smaller, but her mother didn't realize that the team leotard would "make mountains out of anthills" ... and the girl was "not properly strapped in" if ya catch my drift . It was too late for mom to go shopping that day, so she just wore her jacket between events and avoided standing up tall unless she had to.

After the taller girl's first meet, HC changed the shorts rule to tight-fitting spandex or velvet (bar shorts or biker length... but most girls, including the taller girl went with bar shorts).

There are some girls (mostly on Jr High and High School team) that will wear tight fitting tanks and bar shorts/ dance shorts. They are supposed to have a leotard underneath. If they expect to be spotted, the spotting coach can tell them to remove the inappropriate clothing article or they will not be spotted (which means they cannot attempt the skill). They learn quickly.