Body type for future or current Elite Gymnastics

[Geoffrey Taucer]

only when skill selection comes in to play.

shawn could never perform an ono.

nastia could never perform a double double on floor.

alicia could never perform an ono or most of nastia's skill set.

skill selection is everything.

Agreed completely -- body type certainly comes into play when selecting which skills to train.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

me too! and i used to have one of those also...a long time ago.

 

[marie83]

It's funny isn't it? When I was 8 I applied for an audition with the Royal Ballet. They needed to know my parents, grandparents and siblings heights and weights! If they weren't the right shape and sizes I wouldn't have got the audition. No idea what they were looking for because my parents are fairly short, dad's parents were tiny, mum's parents were quite tall. One of my brothers is tall and thin, the other is tall and fat! However, I believe this is how things are done in gymnastics in Romania and China - I know it used to be.
However, it doesn't mean that people with different body types cannot do elite gymnastics - this has already been proven.
I think there are physical differences in humans which DO make a difference. Hyperextension in joints isn't ideal, a lack of ability to point toes, or straighten legs, slow twitch fibres, lack of flexibility, lack of ability to build muscle etc. These are some of the things coaches look at in the very early stages.
However as others have stated, for the most part, it's hard work and determination which pay off!

 

[lilgymmie7]

me too! and i used to have one of those also...a long time ago.

I never had one, hence why I WANT one...If only to start all over again!

 

[sally]

What is the ideal height for an elite gymnast min and max.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

honestly, who knows. we don't ever see the kids that are too tall for gymnastics. elite or otherwise.

 

[sally]

ok everybody always talks about gymnasts being too tall, what about being too small, is there such thing?

 

[MaryA]

It's funny isn't it? When I was 8 I applied for an audition with the Royal Ballet. They needed to know my parents, grandparents and siblings heights and weights! If they weren't the right shape and sizes I wouldn't have got the audition.

Geez... I'm pretty sure that, if family history was taken into account, nobody would have predicted that my kids would be good at their chosen activity (gym and dance). Not that either of them are going to go pro, but I'm constantly amazed by both of them (mainly because I could never imagine doing what they do).

I took my dancing DD to see a ballet over the weekend and the local youth symphony played. First chair clarinet, with a very impressive couple of solos, was the son of my former music theory professor (and I'm pretty sure his mom was on the music faculty as well). That kind of things always makes me wonder about the whole nature vs nurture thing. If he had been switched at birth with a child with non-musical parents, would any child that grew up in that household become musical? Would that child born to musical parents and raised in a non-musical household have excelled in music? Of course stuff like height and body type are certainly genetically determined (a person born to very short parents will not grow up to be any taller if he is raised by tall people). I guess, as a mom of twins, the whole nature vs nurture thing fascinates me. Though I may have digressed from the topic more than a little...

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

ok everybody always talks about gymnasts being too tall, what about being too small, is there such thing?

Being smaller is an advantage, generally speaking. A shorter body requires less angular momentum to achieve the same rotational velocity. A lighter body will put less stress on the joints, decreasing the instance of injury.

But there are no "limits.". Gymnastics may be slightly harder for taller gymnasts, but this is certainly not an impossible obstacle.

 

[sally]

Well my dd is really short and she struggles a lot with her tumbling trying to get the height so she can vault. Are you saying though when kids get older that is when the smaller ones come through? Because as I see it the taller ones seem to do better then the short ones talking young age though.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Yes, short girls have a slight advantage as they get older and reach the higher levels, assuming all else is equal.

But all else is never equal. Height is rarely if ever a make or break factor.

 

[2gymmies]

What about handsize, especially for bars - my dd's both have incredibly small hands and really struggle to hold onto the bars on certain skills?! Is there a certain point that it will no longer affect them?

 

[NGL780309]

Yes, short girls have a slight advantage as they get older and reach the higher levels, assuming all else is equal.

But all else is never equal. Height is rarely if ever a make or break factor.

I always imagined short was an advantage, but I can say that right now being short and very light seems to be a disadvantage for my DD.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

What about handsize, especially for bars - my dd's both have incredibly small hands and really struggle to hold onto the bars on certain skills?! Is there a certain point that it will no longer affect them?[/QUOTE]

yes.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[lilgymmie7]

Well my dd is really short and she struggles a lot with her tumbling trying to get the height so she can vault. Are you saying though when kids get older that is when the smaller ones come through? Because as I see it the taller ones seem to do better then the short ones talking young age though.

I think what helps my DD is her shorter stature. She seems to be quite power packed as well. That certainly helps her tumbling. For being so little, she can really fly and gets a lot of height. She constantly adds a high rebound-bounce-out of each tumble. What I find interesting is that she seems to have an easier time on vault where she has learned to really use/hit the spring board hard enough to get some flight. My older DD struggled on vault, but I think with her it was a lack of confidence. Do coaches in the U.S. really still look at body type? At DD's gym it seems like there are many different body types. They all seem to do pretty well. Elite?

 

[wandrewsjr]

Referencing something a little far back in the thread, but it always cracks me up when I hear Nastia called "tall". I am 5'11", I guess that makes me a giant?

 

[sally]

I think what helps my DD is her shorter stature. She seems to be quite power packed as well. That certainly helps her tumbling. For being so little, she can really fly and gets a lot of height. She constantly adds a high rebound-bounce-out of each tumble. What I find interesting is that she seems to have an easier time on vault where she has learned to really use/hit the spring board hard enough to get some flight. My older DD struggled on vault, but I think with her it was a lack of confidence. Do coaches in the U.S. really still look at body type? At DD's gym it seems like there are many different body types. They all seem to do pretty well. Elite?

Yes well it depends on how short she is. My dd is shorter then most short people lol. My dd is 7 but looks like a 5 year old maybe even 4. She isn't a power pack though very lean and extremely flexible. She is getting stronger in her legs but really has trouble doing like front faults etc. Backflips are ok because the round off seems to give the power before. But I am wondering how she is going to once they add a backsault to it. That is why I was wondering if you can be too short for gymnastics.

 

[NGL780309]

Yes well it depends on how short she is. My dd is shorter then most short people lol. My dd is 7 but looks like a 5 year old maybe even 4. She isn't a power pack though very lean and extremely flexible. She is getting stronger in her legs but really has trouble doing like front faults etc. Backflips are ok because the round off seems to give the power before. But I am wondering how she is going to once they add a backsault to it. That is why I was wondering if you can be too short for gymnastics.

My DD sounds like yours sally. I don't think my DD's problem is her shortness, but more her size. She's very petite and small. She doesn't have the powerful legs. We met a girl at our gym who is exactly her age and they are about the same height, with DD being maybe an inch shorter, but this little girl is much thicker around. DD is not only short, but slight.

 

[MdGymMom01]

I think as the gymnast gets older, size doesn't really help or hinder the gymnast. For instance the 12 year old Level Bs (equivelant to USAG 5) were all different sizes and all had their strengths and weaknesses. My dd is small for her age and very lean (think Nastia) and can have a really good vault sometimes. She can be very technically correct but she lacks the speed and power of her bigger and stronger teammates. I think coordination has a lot more to do with gymnastics success at an early age as opposed to size. Some kids have a better body-awareness at a younger age. I have seen some really amazing vaulters that were very tiny and also some that were much bigger (in comparision).

 

[NewtoGym]

How do 7-year-olds with a lean body and a baby buddha belly do? ;-)