WAG Dressing during practice

[Mish]

Leo and booty shorts. Except during meet week, when it is leo only. Hair must be out of the way in a secured fashion.

Same here

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Leo’s, gymnastic shorts, hair needs to out of face, pony, bun, braid doesn’t matter

No bras except under Leo.

Leo’s, no glitter and such that will end up all over the place

My daughter has never not worn shorts unless it’s a meet and if it was up to her she would wear them at a meet too.

 

[tucktwisttumble]

I never understood how practicing in shorts would affect performing without shorts - with that logic I would say, girls should practice with their tight long-sleeve comp leos as opposed to a more relaxed fit sleeveless leos. - Just my opinion.
I almost always wore shorts to practice - never had an issue on competition day to perform in just a leo.

 

[raenndrops]

Hair out of the face.

Team girls are supposed to be in leotards (or full length tight sports tops and shorts), and shorts are allowed, as long as they are not loose. Some of the younger girls wear biketards. Leggings are also allowed if it is cold.

It is ok if sports bras show at practice. (And as long as they match the color of the team leotard, they can show in competition.)
At practice, it is acceptable, if wearing a sports bra, to pull a leotard down to put on a shirt. This is NOT acceptable at meets, unless they are in the bathroom.

We have a "no spotting" rule IF the girls are in a baggy t-shirt or inappropriate or loose attire due to safety. It makes it more comfortable for our young male coaches too because everyone knows the rule and they dont have to say anything about taking off or putting on clothes.

Rec girls can get away with 2 piece leotards or shorts and a t-shirt or a leotard - with or without shorts.

Sometimes, girls on the high school team will practice in sports bra and shorts (leo at the waist) at the beginning of practice - when it is only high school team there... but they pull the leotards up when others start arriving.

 

[raenndrops]

I never understood how practicing in shorts would affect performing without shorts - with that logic I would say, girls should practice with their tight long-sleeve comp leos as opposed to a more relaxed fit sleeveless leos. - Just my opinion.
I almost always wore shorts to practice - never had an issue on competition day to perform in just a leo.

ONE time, we had a girl that had a little issue with that - but she was 5'9" tall and had been wearing basketball shorts over her leotards every day (before we changed the rules). After the first meet though, she got some booty shorts and started wearing them at practice and the leotard at competition didnt bother her anymore.

 

[jennyj]

I never understood how practicing in shorts would affect performing without shorts - with that logic I would say, girls should practice with their tight long-sleeve comp leos as opposed to a more relaxed fit sleeveless leos. - Just my opinion.
I almost always wore shorts to practice - never had an issue on competition day to perform in just a leo.

Agree. Also, the boys wear pants for comp and it doesn't seem to bother their performance at all, I don't understad why girls can't wear shorts type of leos like the boys' unitard too if they want to. I wish it all was optional, not all girls like to show so much of their upper thighs or more if the leo doesn't stay put properly.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Our girls can wear a leotard on its own or with bike pants (called Booty shorts in the US I think) or leggings. Or they can wear a crop top with shorts or leggings. In Australia (at least where I live) crop tops are very common in gyms, all the kids wear them. It's hot year round here so it works.

Boys wear a fitted singlet with gym shorts or longs (pommel pants).

 

[CoachAlex]

Team kids:

Leotard with or without shorts (must be gymnastics shorts) - yes they can also wear leggings/capris - again, have to be tight fitting athletic leggings, as sometimes the gym is cold in the winter. They can wear long sleeve shirts/sweatshirts/etc if it is really cold for warm up only.

No sports bra only with shorts (when I trained we were allowed to do this in the summer for heat reasons, same thing when I was in college - as a coach though, I like the "team kids must wear a real leotard" rule), but YES they can obviously wear one under their leotard.

It depends on the coach/team, but sometimes we do a "no shorts" the week before a meet.

Hair just has to be up.

Rec kids:

We prefer a leotard, however, as long as they are comfortable, clothes are no baggy, no dangly jewelry, hair out of their face that is ok. They are allowed to wear crop tops (I hate this but whatever).

 

[raenndrops]

Agree. Also, the boys wear pants for comp and it doesn't seem to bother their performance at all, I don't understad why girls can't wear shorts type of leos like the boys' unitard too if they want to. I wish it all was optional, not all girls like to show so much of their upper thighs or more if the leo doesn't stay put properly.

Some teams do have biketards as competition leotards - it is just rare.

 

[jennyj]

Some teams do have biketards as competition leotards - it is just rare.

It'd be great if it was always an option to get either a leo or a biketard of the same style or even some sort of "pommel pants" for girls I mean like it would be a personal choice for each gymnast, just as long as it was all the same style... But you know, prob never gonna happen

 

[raenndrops]

It'd be great if it was always an option to get either a leo or a biketard of the same style or even some sort of "pommel pants" for girls

Technically, it is possible to get a matching unitard for someone on team (doesnt need to be for religious reasons anymore).
AND... any team that wanted to do it could allow the choice of biketard or leotard - but then the girls dont all look the same, so most coaches wont allow it.

 

[Jumpygymnast]

Leo only, shorts or leggings during conditioning only, hair in bun. Girls that wear bra's must make sure no part of the bra shows - yes at regular practice.

What!? The bra can't show?! Why? That must be very annoying. I understand that you can't show your bra during a meet, but come on! While you're training, I personally feel that racerback bras give more support than a regular bra. Does everyone actually follow this rule?

 

[coachmolly]

No specific rules which is a pain. Lots of team kids don't even bother with a leotard at all and I hate it. I do ask that whatever they wear be tight fitting for safety reasons, but they have gotten a little relaxed about that and I'll be talking with them tomorrow.
I can definitely see why gyms have strict attire policies, I have seen how easily "leotard or tight fitting workout top and spandex" can warp into a slightly looser fitting workout top here, a t-shirt there, slightly baggy pants or shorts when they feel like it, etc. And when one kid does it, the others usually decide to try it too. Leotard with or without shorts is definitely my preference.
We do have a few kids (rec. and team) who will wear a crop top/sports bra with shorts during the summer. It's not my first choice, I can't imagine it's comfortable on bars and I'm always afraid I'll scratch them. Plus reaching in to spot and grabbing sweaty skin isn't exactly pleasant.

 

[raenndrops]

No specific rules which is a pain. Lots of team kids don't even bother with a leotard at all and I hate it. I do ask that whatever they wear be tight fitting for safety reasons, but they have gotten a little relaxed about that and I'll be talking with them tomorrow.
I can definitely see why gyms have strict attire policies, I have seen how easily "leotard or tight fitting workout top and spandex" can warp into a slightly looser fitting workout top here, a t-shirt there, slightly baggy pants or shorts when they feel like it, etc. And when one kid does it, the others usually decide to try it too. Leotard with or without shorts is definitely my preference.
We do have a few kids (rec. and team) who will wear a crop top/sports bra with shorts during the summer. It's not my first choice, I can't imagine it's comfortable on bars and I'm always afraid I'll scratch them. Plus reaching in to spot and grabbing sweaty skin isn't exactly pleasant.

When you talk to them, you could do like our coach did... It is a safety issue. Not properly attired = no spotting = only doing skills they can safely do on their own.
Then go over proper attire again.

 

[JessSyd]

In my bit of Australia, gyms are big unairconditioned tin sheds that are freezing in winter and steaming saunas in summer.

The girls wear long sleeved leotards and leggings in winter and most wear crop tops and shorts in summer, although some girls wear leotards and shorts. Only the rec and pre-team girls wear leotards without shorts or leggings. The only time team girls do not wear shorts is for skills testing, displays and competitions.

I asked a coach about the bare sweaty skin factor once and she said it is less gross than spotting a child with a sweat soaked leotard and that the crop top girls tend to be slightly less sweaty anyway as it evaporates better from bare skin.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Team kids (starting with the developmental preteam) can wear regular cut leos only (no biketards). No booty shorts, no leggings, nothing. During the winter we will sometimes allow the girls to wear some sort of pants only during the cardio portion of warmup (the gym can be pretty cold, especially at 8am saturday morning!). Our Xcel team has more relaxed rules, which is appropriate for our gym. Rec can wear pretty much whatever they want.
ETA: no 2-pieces (bra tops/booty shorts) allowed at all, even in rec. Sportsbras are fine on team girls, doesn't matter at all if they show for practice. Boys generally practice in tees and basketball shorts.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I will say that several of our Xcel girls who always practiced in shorts or biketards had a really rough time competing in their leos only. They felt really self conscious, and in my experience that could have been helped at least a little by making them wear only leos at least some of the time. I see several of them that I can imagine will have a hard time this year too... just a personal observation. The JO girls have never had any problems since by the time they compete even L3 they have been allowed only leos for at least a year!

 

[SMH]

Leotards only, shorts/sweatshirts can be worn during warmups. Hair needs to be out of their face- so my kiddo wears hers in a bun because it’s long enough that in a ponytail it can still touch her face.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

In my gym there are no official rules but there are unspoken rules that the girls learn to follow watching the older girls follow them.

So basically team kids (and rec team) has to wear a leotard. That is a must. Gymnastics shorts are allowed. Hair must be up.

During the warm up and conditioning you are allowed to wear a T-shirt and leggings over your leo (leo on or rolled down to the waist).

In morning workouts before school the girls are allowed to wear tight fitting tops and shorts. I think this is because it's faster to change the clothes after the practice when they have to hurry up to get to the school on time. And they don't usually need spotting in the morning practices when they mostly just condition and do basics.

 

[coachmolly]

I will say that several of our Xcel girls who always practiced in shorts or biketards had a really rough time competing in their leos only. They felt really self conscious, and in my experience that could have been helped at least a little by making them wear only leos at least some of the time. I see several of them that I can imagine will have a hard time this year too... just a personal observation. The JO girls have never had any problems since by the time they compete even L3 they have been allowed only leos for at least a year!

I have an Xcel Bronze kid who always wears shorts with her leos. The other day she wore just a leo and it was painful. She kept tugging it down so it looked like a swimsuit from the 1950s (maybe even lower) which doesn't create a great look. We will probably stop allowing shorts a few weeks before our first meet just for her to get used to it and hopefully see how to wear a leotard correctly from the other girls.