WAG Competition Leotards

[justkeepswimming]

I don't think the coaches get involved at this gym. I did ask, and got the impression I was already a pain so really want to step back from them and let them just do the coaching. I really think they are AMAZING coaches, so all of this really is disappointing.

As for repair, we don't even have the leo in our hands - it was sent back for repairing the rips under the arm and are supposed to get it back this week. We leave town on Friday, for a competition so I don't think we have time. Maybe I will be surprised and it will actually come back bigger

 

[Jenny]

make sure you take a couple of nice leos with you in case she needs a spare at the meet -it might just rip again in warm up or half way through. Take a couple so the coach can decide which one is suitable.

Also I got another year out of one of my daughters competition leotards by hanging it on a strong hanger and putting a large tin of potatoes in the crotch over the off season. It worked a treat.

And good luck. Annoying that your dd will be thinking about her uncomfortable leotard rather than her routines!

 

[Mrs. Puma]

ave the coaches seen her in the leotard? Maybe they think you are blowing it out of proportion but will change their tune when they actually see the kid in the leo? We

This is a good point. Puma Jr is dead average height and weight for a ten year old (making her big for a gymnast lol) but she must have a long torso because they always want to order her comp leo at least a size smaller. She's in an AS right now and she still thinks it's too tight. I get her AM practice leos but tell her she has to wear the comp leo in the size the coaches say. But, OP, your DD's does sound a bit too tight! It would be great if they could see her wearing the next size up and see that it still looks nice and neat. I get that they don't want it baggy and sloppy, but it also shouldn't cause excessive red marks and be terribly uncomfortable. Good luck!!

 

[Tuppy]

Sorry. For our leo, I would put it on a big round stuffy before competitions. We may have had a pillow pet (something large and round) to give it a good stretch.) Maybe something in the sleeves to stretch to help a bit there too. That may help the tightness.

 

[ascarter1]

Hang it up and stick a couple of veggie cans in the crotch. It will help to stretch it out a little. Hanging it up wet with the crotch cans (haha) might help it stretch even more.

 

[duyetanh]

Drastic times call for drastic measures. I know you probably paid a lot, but here goes....
My dd got her leo a few years ago, and it was too small. The company, not the gym made a mistake and ordered wrong size. They also arrived late....no time to make it right. What i did i am sure most of you would think was crazy. But wow did it work. I soaked the leo and then literally pulled hung the arms on the door...and pulled the crotch down to UNDER the door and let it sit there overnight. It was very effective, better than a can of veg, and no it didnt wreck the crotch area or tear it, i just went very slow.

Once it was the next day, i stuffed a pillow in the darn thing for the width...again this was done slowly.

Call me cray cray. But it worked for us.

 

[justkeepswimming]

This is a good point. Puma Jr is dead average height and weight for a ten year old (making her big for a gymnast lol) but she must have a long torso because they always want to order her comp leo at least a size smaller. She's in an AS right now and she still thinks it's too tight. I get her AM practice leos but tell her she has to wear the comp leo in the size the coaches say. But, OP, your DD's does sound a bit too tight! It would be great if they could see her wearing the next size up and see that it still looks nice and neat. I get that they don't want it baggy and sloppy, but it also shouldn't cause excessive red marks and be terribly uncomfortable. Good luck!!

I am pretty sure their hands are strapped because a custom leo cannot be made in time for her season, which is over soon. I wish they would allow her to wear a different one than the team, but will not. If I can get it back soon, I do plan on trying to use cans to gently stretch it or try anything to make it fit better. I really do want this work, and hate that this is happening.

I did start to wonder if i was crazy, and all leos should be this tight....I feel based on these replies that is probably not the issue.

 

[justkeepswimming]

Drastic times call for drastic measures. I know you probably paid a lot, but here goes....
My dd got her leo a few years ago, and it was too small. The company, not the gym made a mistake and ordered wrong size. They also arrived late....no time to make it right. What i did i am sure most of you would think was crazy. But wow did it work. I soaked the leo and then literally pulled hung the arms on the door...and pulled the crotch down to UNDER the door and let it sit there overnight. It was very effective, better than a can of veg, and no it didnt wreck the crotch area or tear it, i just went very slow.

Once it was the next day, i stuffed a pillow in the darn thing for the width...again this was done slowly.

Call me cray cray. But it worked for us.

So I am trying to get a mental picture of this.... I am willing to try. I totally want this work for my daughter's sake and so I can stop being that annoying parent. We are in the same situation. They said they cannot order bigger in time, so their hands are strapped....

Where do I put the arms to make them stay..and the crotch? Is it on the corner of the door or what? If I get it back in time, I will try this.

 

[CoachAlex]

Leotard sizing (I'm a coach) is one of my least favorite things ever - yes, we get sizes from the company but I also stress out over whether or not a kid will grow - we have to size in the early summer to get them in time for season, or if the sizes are stretched out at all. I always have the girls try on multiple sizes.

Yes, a competition leotard should be tighter than a practice leotard, but definitely not so tight that it rips - if she can't move in it then it is the wrong size. I'm sorry that the gym is not being helpful - I would never scratch a kid because her leotard didn't fit, I'd let her wear something that was at least close to the team colors and call it a day.

 

[aerials]

I'm stuck. I've tried asking for help to resolve it and they just say I will never be happy. I will be happy, if my daughter has a leotard to wear that fits...I don't know what to do. It is so unfair to my child to face having to scratch and even switch gyms over something so stupid! They will not budge. I have been told she wears it ripped or repaired, but she will wear the exact one ordered, which they sized.

This is unbelievable! I'm just dumbfounded

 

[2gymkids]

We are having a similar issue- we moved gyms and her comp leotard this year is two sizes smaller than what she competed in for the last two seasons. She didn't shrink, either.
I think she'll manage ok for meets as long as she doesn't have to use the bathroom....she literally cannot get it off by herself, it's that tight. Fingers crossed she doesn't grow anymore!! It seems ridiculous that they want it this tight but I guess it's an ongoing issue....they want NO room to grow. On the bright side, they are very good about handing down used leos, warm-ups, etc for a fraction of the cost, so there's that. I didn't put up a stink because it was cheaper and we were new, but it's certainly not going to last her more than a season.

 

[raenndrops]

Leotard sizing (I'm a coach) is one of my least favorite things ever - yes, we get sizes from the company but I also stress out over whether or not a kid will grow - we have to size in the early summer to get them in time for season, or if the sizes are stretched out at all. I always have the girls try on multiple sizes.

Yes, a competition leotard should be tighter than a practice leotard, but definitely not so tight that it rips - if she can't move in it then it is the wrong size. I'm sorry that the gym is not being helpful - I would never scratch a kid because her leotard didn't fit, I'd let her wear something that was at least close to the team colors and call it a day.

My issue with sizers, in my experience, is that they are rarely the same material as the team leotard... and each material fits differently.
We used sizers ONCE at our gym. The GK rep actually came in. The sizers were a cheap material (possibly regular nylon lycra). They had both leg cuts (modified and high) on each one. When YG tried them on, the rep said CM. We buy team leotards to last 2 years, minimum. We only change styles when forced due to a discontinuation. We were going to be getting Mystique leotards. They fit tighter than nylon. YG was already wearing CL practice leotards at the time. I said I wanted her to get a CL. The rep had her try on the CL sizer. It looked ok... then the rep tugged it up (nylon stretches a lot) and showed the coach a 1/2 inch of fabric above the shoulders... so we were forced to go with the CM.
It did fit, but so would the CL. The next year, at order time, the CM still would work and the price had gone up (they made it a special order for that season with a discontinuation date of Dec 1), so I couldnt really afford to buy her another one. At the end of the season, she needed 1 extra "mock meet" in April to qualify for Y Nationals. I managed to get her into the leotard for the thankfully short meet. 30 minutes later, I peeled the leotard off her. For Nationals, she borrowed a leotard from an older injured teammate. It was an AXS and it fit PERFECTLY. If she had gotten the CL originally, she could have gotten away with it for both seasons just fine.
Now, we have AF leotards. The first season, HC took measurements and let the parents choose the appropriate size if the girl wasnt all firmly in one size. Ever since then, we have old AF team leotards in each size that the girls can try on to confirm their size. It works much better that way.

 

[sce]

I agree about packing a spare. Also when she puts it in, help her to get the sleeves pulled up enough. I have seen some kids have trouble by nit getting the sieves in right. It is tough with it being too tight but scorch it up as much as possible so the shoulders are on the shoulders and not pulling too much in the armpit.

 

[sce]

My issue with sizers, in my experience, is that they are rarely the same material as the team leotard... and each material fits differently.
We used sizers ONCE at our gym. The GK rep actually came in. The sizers were a cheap material (possibly regular nylon lycra). They had both leg cuts (modified and high) on each one. .

The GK sizers we have used we’re mystique but yes they have both leg cuts and both sleeve lengths. Our rep was always clear that the new leaotards would be a bit tighter a d if there was a question we went with the larger size. I found a lot of girls did not feel comfortable with sleeves at all. I had to teach a lot of them to pull them up enough at the shoulders.

 

[raenndrops]

The GK sizers we have used we’re mystique but yes they have both leg cuts and both sleeve lengths. Our rep was always clear that the new leaotards would be a bit tighter a d if there was a question we went with the larger size. I found a lot of girls did not feel comfortable with sleeves at all. I had to teach a lot of them to pull them up enough at the shoulders.

You had a good rep. Ours didnt even tell the HC that the leotards would be tighter... she made it sound like the sizer fit would be the leotard fit. HC figured they made the sizers smaller to account for the fabric differences. And, of course, this was a little over 6 years ago. Before that, we always had a velvet bottom on our leotard, so they were more forgiving.

 

[CoachAlex]

We got mystique for our sizes too - and with both GK and AF when we ordered sizers they asked us what material we would be purchasing because velour fits differently than nylon which is different from mystique. What I like about AF is that they have sizers with mesh sleeves. And yes, I assume that the sizers are possibly stretched out a little which is why I have the girls try on the size I think they are and then the next size up - if the size up isn't huge and baggy we go with that one. Sometimes if we really aren't sure we double check it with a previous competition leotard (we have used both companies).

 

[Ali'sMom]

Drastic times call for drastic measures. I know you probably paid a lot, but here goes....
My dd got her leo a few years ago, and it was too small. The company, not the gym made a mistake and ordered wrong size. They also arrived late....no time to make it right. What i did i am sure most of you would think was crazy. But wow did it work. I soaked the leo and then literally pulled hung the arms on the door...and pulled the crotch down to UNDER the door and let it sit there overnight. It was very effective, better than a can of veg, and no it didnt wreck the crotch area or tear it, i just went very slow.

Once it was the next day, i stuffed a pillow in the darn thing for the width...again this was done slowly.

Call me cray cray. But it worked for us.

OMG - I LOVE THIS!!!

 

[duyetanh]

So I am trying to get a mental picture of this.... I am willing to try. I totally want this work for my daughter's sake and so I can stop being that annoying parent. We are in the same situation. They said they cannot order bigger in time, so their hands are strapped....

Where do I put the arms to make them stay..and the crotch? Is it on the corner of the door or what? If I get it back in time, I will try this.

I will pm you in a bit.

 

[bookworm]

I used to order the leos in out original gym and I agree, the sizers to try on were useless, unless you were looking for a plain lycra leo. I used to start the process right after the state meet so I'd have plenty of time to reorder if needed. We always ordered from GK.

One year, we had a custom leo that was pretty expensive and , early in the process, I ordered 3 demo leos in child medium, AM and AL, that the gym would keep for emergencies , and this worked out so well because it was the actual leo. The younger kids would try on the CM and based on the fit of the demo leo, go up to CL or down to CS. The older girls were mostly AM but if it was snug, the AL was there to try, and guess what, when our 150 leos came in, they all fit! After that, we always used demo leos to size the girls.

 

[raenndrops]

I used to order the leos in out original gym and I agree, the sizers to try on were useless, unless you were looking for a plain lycra leo. I used to start the process right after the state meet so I'd have plenty of time to reorder if needed. We always ordered from GK.

One year, we had a custom leo that was pretty expensive and , early in the process, I ordered 3 demo leos in child medium, AM and AL, that the gym would keep for emergencies , and this worked out so well because it was the actual leo. The younger kids would try on the CM and based on the fit of the demo leo, go up to CL or down to CS. The older girls were mostly AM but if it was snug, the AL was there to try, and guess what, when our 150 leos came in, they all fit! After that, we always used demo leos to size the girls.

That was what we discovered after switching to AF. Even when we changed designs, since it was the same materials, the old ones worked perfectly as demo leotards.
We have girls in sizes from CXS to AXL… and we happen to have old ones (some people who left just gave them to HC… and others were trying to sell them, but it is hard when we were getting a different leo) in all the sizes except AXL… SO if AL is too tight, they order AXL.