Parents Bars and Rips

[Avasmom]

My daughter, Ava, age 7 recently started competing (November) and everyone else started in May learning their routines. Ava wasn't able to catch on to bar routine as fast as the others due to her late start. She competed in all the other events though a few weeks ago and did pretty well for her first meet. 13th overall with tons of amazing competitors. I was so proud of her but she was disappointed in herself.
She wanted us to buy her bars to practice at home because she realizes this is her weaker area so we did. She got her first rip a week before her competition and got her second rip last week. She is usually a tough girl but gets tore up about these rips. I have tried to explain it's a part of gymnastics. She since will not hold on to the bars with that hand tightly to practice her routine. Is this normal? Her coaches don't baby her and neither do I.
Her coach told me that she will be moving up next year to a higher level (xcel bronze). She already knows the routines but I am afraid these rips are going to hold her back. Any advice for a mom new to competition and team?

 

[GYM0M]

You need to 'condition' her hands. Preparation H is fantastic for healing rips. A little dab at night before bed and boom all better in the morning. To keep her from ripping, buy her a pumice stone (the ones for feet) & have her rub the calluses after she's gotten 'pruny' in the tub. If she doesn't have calluses yet, just have her rub her palm. Follow up once she's out of the tub with a good moisturizer (we use extreme hand repair by beauticontrol). Pumice on nights after gym, moisturize every day. This has worked well for us. DD is an 8 yo L7/8, been in gym for almost 6 years, does NOT wear grips, and has ripped TWICE in her journey.

 

[Avasmom]

Thanks so much! Will definitely get some preparation H, pumice stone, and good moisturizer. She is peeling too so that will help with that. I just don't want her to give up on bars but I understand it's painful. I would probably freak out if my skin ripped open like hers.

 

[sce]

Thanks so much! Will definitely get some preparation H, pumice stone, and good moisturizer. She is peeling too so that will help with that. I just don't want her to give up on bars but I understand it's painful. I would probably freak out if my skin ripped open like hers.

Her hands will toughen up and she will get used to working with rips.

Does she cover them with tape when they are raw? Like this: http://www.crossfitvirtuosity.com/articles/ive-got-to-hand-it-to-you-part-3/

Also what level is she, as you say she's moving up to Xcel bronze?

 

[Avasmom]

She is currently in Level 2 (Novice). They only compete 1 meet per year to show them how competition works. My daughter loves it though. We changed gyms in November so we were late to the competition world. She lost her sparkle at the other gym. Now that she has it back I want her to keep it.
We covered them last time at practice when she had a rip but she didn't compete bars so it wasn't a big deal. She just recently got her Xcel Bronze routine on bars and she kept practicing it over and over until this last rip. She always holds her tears until she is away from her teammates and coaches. I told her to work on her beam and floor routine until it heals a little more.

 

[sce]

I told her to work on her beam and floor routine until it heals a little more.

Let her coaches guide this. She does need to learn to work WITH rips. Her hands will toughen up, but not if she avoids bars every time she has a rip.

Xcel bronze is not moving up, more over. It equals level 2/3 JO and is a different competition stream altogether.

 

[lovemygymnast]

I'm not sure how your gym reacts to rips but I'll never forget how my dd reacted with her first rip, "look mom! I got rips!! It means I've been working really hard!". So, they brainwashed her well. lol. I was sure she would be sobbing the first time but she didn't. Eventually, they callus & all is fine. I try to keep resinol, sports tape & scissors in her gym backpack in case she needs them during practice.

 

[raenndrops]

I'm not sure how your gym reacts to rips but I'll never forget how my dd reacted with her first rip, "look mom! I got rips!! It means I've been working really hard!". So, they brainwashed her well. lol. I was sure she would be sobbing the first time but she didn't. Eventually, they callus & all is fine. I try to keep resinol, sports tape & scissors in her gym backpack in case she needs them during practice.

At our gym, the girls get congratulated on the first rip... as long as it's not AT a meet, in Warm-Ups. Then it's more like "You're a 'real' gymnast now... time to tape it up and compete."
We had a meet Saturday, and their bars were TERRIBLE!! 6% of the girls who competed got rips and there were more scary falls than usual (slippery bars no matter what the coaches tried).
Luckily, the 12 girls (only 3 were on our team) that ripped at the meet Saturday had gotten rips before... but it DID slow the meet down for a few minutes when our FIRST to compete ripped in the final seconds of warm-up. Got her all taped up and she competed... was less than 0.5 off her best ever bar score (our L5 average was 0.825 off their best).

 

[Avasmom]

Let her coaches guide this. She does need to learn to work WITH rips. Her hands will toughen up, but not if she avoids bars every time she has a rip.

Xcel bronze is not moving up, more over. It equals level 2/3 JO and is a different competition stream altogether.

 

[Avasmom]

We have a bar at home. She will not use the bar at home with her rip. She will do whatever her coaches ask her to do. The parents at our gym were told that excel bronze is moving up from novice. I have no clue I just know she gets to compete more than once so she is happy. If she is happy I am happy.

 

[Avasmom]

UH oh! From reading stuff on the boards it looks like I probably shouldn't have gotten her bars to practice at home. She also has a beam and mat too.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Working out with rips is very important, because failure to do so results in a child who cannot function SAFELY with a rip. The last thing you want is a child who shows up to a meet, gets a rip during warmups and will not hold onto the bar, resulting in an even bigger injury. So the only way to deal with it is to,,,, Tape it up and get back up. After a couple of days they get accustom to it. By the time a kid gets to state that first year they should have already worked out with rips several times, so it is a non issue.

 

[roll123]

We have found using a tea bag and an all natural product called Joshua Tree gymnastic salve to work the best. Her hands are usually bar ready the next day!

 

[3gymgirls]

Rips are a source of pride in our house, and we tape them or use tape grips when they get bad. My oldest gets them more often than my middle daughter. My four-year-old in rec looks forward to getting her first rip.

 

[gwenmom]

Agree with the others. Tips are a right of passage. And if it isn't rips its blisters.

 

[Avasmom]

Ava had class today and did her bar routine numerous times with no complaints so yay! The complaining is just for me at home! As long as she does what her coach says then I am happy.

 

[Granny Smith]

Ask her coach if coach would make her tape grips. Some kids are just "rippers" and nothing really helps until they get into real grips. Then there are some coaches that won't let them wear real grips until a certain level. Talk to parents who have higher level girls on team and see how your coaches handle grips.

 

[mommyof1]

My daughter had a coach who treated rips as a rite of passage that made a kid into a "real" gymnast. She was so sad that she was the last one in her group to get a genuine rip, and so excited when it finally happened. She demanded tape grips for several weeks afterwards, though.

 

[kaloss]

At dd's gym, it's a right of passage. High fives and tape grips for one practice, then back at it.

 

[Avasmom]

Ava got another rip yesterday and she didn't even tell me until this morning. She is learning to toughen up!