Parents Bars Advice

[Ex member]

My yongest dd is struggling with the bar due to her small size, she cannot hardly reach as the bar has to be set to suit the average height of the group, the girl closest to dd in size is still head and shoulders taller.

For example they have to work pullovers into front support and do casts, dd still cannot do a pullover as she is always in a hang with her toes barely touching the floor, she can pull up and just about get her kness to the bar but is still not strong enough to pullover, the other girls can do it as the bar is a head height for them and they just do a little jump and go over, dd has managed to do a few pullovers at gym when she could stand on a small spotting stool with the bar just above her head, she just does a little jump and goes over. They are expected to do the pullovers on their own as a side station while the coach is spotting a different skill on another set of bars.

I have asked dd to ask the coach if she could use a spotting stool but she said she doesn't want to disturb the coach who is busy with the girl she is working with, I have tried explaining to my dd that she is intitled to ask the coach for help as that is the coaches job, but dd just say's if I try and talk to the coach then the girl she is working with will fall and hurt herself, I have just explaining to dd that she can wait until a safe time to speak to the coach but dd just doesn't quite understand.

I haven't seen any of the stuff dd is talking about as I wasn't watching but we do have a week coming up when they open up the upstairs viewing area so we can sit and watch the classes progress if we like.

Do you think I should speak to dd's coach or just leave it and see what happens during the class where we can watch?

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

My DD and many others could do a pullover when the bar was way over their head without jumping into it. She called it a "chin up- pull over" and she stood on the floor, held on to the bar, pulled herself into a chin-up and then brought her legs around. Your DD will get there. Try a chin up bar. Have her practice chin ups at home. Height (as long as her hands can reach the bar) should have nothing to to with it at all. She doesn't need to stand on a block- just get stronger. IMO

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Ideally there should be no jump on the circle up, just chin then legs over, when her condition improves she will be able to do it. I must say the first gym P&F went to never changed the bar settings, so she learned to squat on and catch on the same setting as the big girls would giant on - I was amazed when we moved and they altered the settings for different gymnast groups !

 

[Frase]

Our gym also doesn't change the settings of the bars. Even when the little 7 year olds are learning to jump from low bar to the high bar it is at full Olympic width. If the girls can't reach the bars to say chin up they either get lifted by the coach or shimmy up the side post and monkey swing along.

I personally wouldn't say anything at this stage. I have a tendency to be a bit mamma bear over my cubs so I've set myself a rule - leave everything for at least at week - if it still bothers me after that time then I will look to address it - most of the time I've forgotten about it!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

My yongest dd is struggling with the bar due to her small size, she cannot hardly reach as the bar has to be set to suit the average height of the group, the girl closest to dd in size is still head and shoulders taller.

For example they have to work pullovers into front support and do casts, dd still cannot do a pullover as she is always in a hang with her toes barely touching the floor, she can pull up and just about get her kness to the bar but is still not strong enough to pullover, the other girls can do it as the bar is a head height for them and they just do a little jump and go over, dd has managed to do a few pullovers at gym when she could stand on a small spotting stool with the bar just above her head, she just does a little jump and goes over. They are expected to do the pullovers on their own as a side station while the coach is spotting a different skill on another set of bars.

I have asked dd to ask the coach if she could use a spotting stool but she said she doesn't want to disturb the coach who is busy with the girl she is working with, I have tried explaining to my dd that she is intitled to ask the coach for help as that is the coaches job, but dd just say's if I try and talk to the coach then the girl she is working with will fall and hurt herself, I have just explaining to dd that she can wait until a safe time to speak to the coach but dd just doesn't quite understand.

I haven't seen any of the stuff dd is talking about as I wasn't watching but we do have a week coming up when they open up the upstairs viewing area so we can sit and watch the classes progress if we like.

Do you think I should speak to dd's coach or just leave it and see what happens during the class where we can watch?

leave it be...

 

[Ex member]

Thanks for confirming what I suspected, that it will come with strength, she is getting stronger amd will continue to improve now she is doing two sessions a week.

I think my issue it that I am expecting too much from her too soon and I really shouldn't expect her to be the same as the same as the older girls in her group, I think the fact that she is still on trial for another 3 months slightly worries me and that they might not let her continue with the group after the trial but that is just nuts on my behalf as she is making progress in all other areas but struggles with the bars a bit and also the vault a bit.

Dd can do a few hanging chin ups and does well in her conditioning and does 40 of what dd calls v ups where they lay on the floor and lift their upper body and legs up at the same time, dd can do sit ups and keep her feet on the floor and do push ups in front support shape and get close to the floor, dd loves do rocks in dish amd arch shape and she also does something where she lays on the floor and sits up with her legs still on the floor in a pike and reaches forward to touch her toes ,they do concentrate a lot on core strength during conditioning and dd has got a lot stonger and more flexible.

Dd has a chin up bar at home, any ideas of what we can do to help her build up to a pullover, she tries leg lifts but doesn't do them very well, she can lift her toes to the bar but her legs are not pefectly straight, she can hold her self in a chin up and swing with legs bent and legs straight. At the gym dd can do 3-4 chin ups from a hang.

 

[Ex member]

leave it be...

Thanks, I will.

 

[munchkin3]

My DD is the smallest on team. She would have to REACH up for the bar always! She did the same thing GymGirlsMom does, chin up/pull over.
I would sometimes get a bit irked because this was a big issue for her, while for everyone else, they just walk up to the bar and pull over!

NOW, DD can do the most chin up hollow pullovers in her group. (conditioning)
She does not need to worry about the pullover anymore because she is kipping now...

Dont worry, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

 

[Frase]

My DD is the smallest on team. She would have to REACH up for the bar always! She did the same thing GymGirlsMom does, chin up/pull over.
I would sometimes get a bit irked because this was a big issue for her, while for everyone else, they just walk up to the bar and pull over!

NOW, DD can do the most chin up hollow pullovers in her group. (conditioning)
She does not need to worry about the pullover anymore because she is kipping
now...

Dont worry, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

I'm now going to have Kelly Clarkson in my head all night... stand a little taller ;-)

 

[Frase]

My DD is the smallest on team. She would have to REACH up for the bar always! She did the same thing GymGirlsMom does, chin up/pull over.
I would sometimes get a bit irked because this was a big issue for her, while for everyone else, they just walk up to the bar and pull over!


NOW, DD can do the most chin up hollow pullovers in her group. (conditioning)
She does not need to worry about the pullover anymore beca
use she is kipping
now...

Dont worry, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

I'm now going to have Kelly Clarkson in my head all night... stand a little taller ;-)

 

[Kiwi]

Bar settings are hardly ever changed here, I think I've seen it maybe once, for a very tall girl. All our WAG girls have to learn to do a chin-up pullover from the start, they are not supposed to jump. (I mean in competitive streams, in rec they are allowed to do kickovers). If she keeps trying and doing all the conditioning you mentioned, she will get it eventually, so don't worry.

 

[HoldThePhone]

Our girls don't get the bar settings changed either, and on my DD's team, there are girls literally over a foot taller. My DD has to stand on her toes to reach the bar, and do a long hang pull-up to get her pullover in meets. Strength is the key, even our little shorties can do it

 

[Quadqueen]

She will get it...just be happy she's not too tall for bars...that creates another whole host of problems .

 

[2gymkids]

She'll get there, I promise. And it will be when you least expect it.
Funny story- My DD was similar with her pullovers but getting more consistent when she couldn't reach the bar from standing but always on the low bar. Then we were at the park last week and there is this bar that's high up (IDK- maybe 7-8 ish feet?) that she's always kind of jumped up to from another part of the equipment, then swung, then jumped down. I look over and she's up over the bar in her front support and I'm all "Um, how did you get up there?" and she looks at me like I'm the dumbest person ever and says "I did a pullover." Right. Guess you can do it from a dead hang now.
Like I said, she'll surprise you someday.

 

[2gymmies]

It will come full circle and those bigger girls will be complaining when kips are hard because the bar is "so low" that they have to hold their feet up and your dd will have no problem. Little ones figure it out and get stronger as they do it because every time they get on the bar is conditioning for them! Tell her to keep trying, even if she doesn't make it, she is working the right muscles as she tries.

 

[Ex member]

Tell her to keep trying, even if she doesn't make it, she is working the right muscles as she tries.

That's what dd says, she is quite smart when it comes to gymnastics, she watched a you tube video the other day and saw one with 4 year olds flipping and doing back walkovers, she says they shouldn't be doing those at that age and that it is dangerous and what was the coach thinking of for letting them do it.

I guess you guys are right, dd is trying to do it the right way, the older girls either kick over or jump and pullover (which dd can do), they will suffer when it comes to doing it on the high bar if they are required to pullover.

 

[gracyomalley]

DD was always the smallest - and even with changing bar settings it did hold her back initially - I don't think she could touch the low bar until she was 9! However, once she got the strength she had the skill solid - with proper technique. She's a very strong bar worker now training L8. And now can use Olympic settings no problem (although her coach does still set bars for each group of girls - after all - some of her team-mates are still a foot taller than she is at age 11 - and when they seem to just lean over from low to high bar it makes me laugh - as DD launches herself through the air!).

In any case, relax. Sounds from what your DD says that she has taken the coaches words to heart about not interfering when they are coaching other girls - and that shows respect and a great sense of the importance of each girl in the gym - maturity you should be proud of. A good attitude and hard work will take her farther than the step stool!

 

[Ex member]

Dd has got her chinup bar set where she can reach it from the floor at arms length, she can do a pullover from that position, she bend her legs and pulls herself over in one motion, she doesn't do a bounce but I think she does use the floor a little, is that ok or is it still the wrong way to do it?

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Mine always had theirs at the top of the door, but that was mainly to stop daddy cracking his head !

 

[Ex member]

I take down dd's bar when not in use, that way she is supervised when she is on it, I have told her that I will be moving the bar higher once she was able to pullovers from standing on the floor, that way she still do chin ups and practice leg lifts and the odd pullover (she will need to be able to do those from hanging from that height) and not be tempted to try anything more than pullovers.