Giant

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

My grand daughter seems to be struggling with her giants. She does fine over the pit with a spot (even when the spot is not touching her) but has a fear of doing it on the actual parallel bars for fear of hitting her foot/feet on the lower bar. How can she overcome this fear? Is this a common fear?

 

[GetaGrip]

I've had to deal with this problem recently also. Giants are a very fun, yet scary skill to perform. If she is doing it just fine over the pit, then that means that there is nothing wrong with her form/technique. So that means that she's just afraid of falling off the bar. Don't worry, it's perfectly normal to be at least a bit scared. To take away the fear of peeling off the bar, I'd tell the coach (if it's okay) to maybe hold onto the gymnast's wrist while they circle around the bar, so just in case they'll be ready. Also, even if the gymnast doesn't need it, the coach should and probably will spot her very heavily on her giants. Eventually, he/she should be able to ease away, but it's always reassuring to have the coach holding on to you. In time, she should be okay

-GCG

 

[Optionals United]

i agree with gym cat girl maybe the coach could stand on a block next to her?thiss is a common fear. good luck!

 

[gymchika]

if the coach stands there she would feel more comfortable. good luck!

 

[bswagger]

when she goes over to the actual bars, have her do big taps swings and to find out where the low bar is in her swing. also have her do kip hand swing down as if she were to do a giant to find the low bar . but dont do to many of those.. and as said before, have the coach either stand on a block and spot, or just stand down below for like 'moral support'.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

most gyms have a single bar or a set of bars over the pit with a "fake" low bar. the low bar is pre-wrap or velcro. when the gymnasts hit this no harm is done. they figure out when they need to hollow and then drop their feet in 'front' of the low bar. when they master this the coach will then send them to the regular bars and there will be no fear issues.

possibly, they are doing this and you don't know it. it's a process.