Giants on the Low Bar?

[GetaGrip]

I've seen some younger gymnasts do giants on the low bar with a spot because they don't need to bend their legs, but now I'm starting to see them in competition:

YouTube - Taylor Allex Level 10 Bars - Peppermint Twist
(right after her shoot half to the low bar)

[video=youtube;EtNqX0U15t4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtNqX0U15t4[/video]

Is this normal? Wouldn't they get a deduction for bending their legs so they can't hit the ground?
Personally, this almost seems lazy to me. It's much harder to planche over and control your kip then to just swing around into a giant.

Opinions? Comments?

 

[gymdog]

It's allowed if the legs straighten at the top of the giant. I think it is useful in some cases, there are some neat transitions like tuck flyaway 1/2 to grasp high bar. In some cases it's just a cover up for dangerous high to low transitions and I hope the kid doesn't catch the bar with their face some day...

YouTube - gymnastics - straddle back to forward giant on low bar This was neat, though she didn't actually do a giant, I'm not sure what she did in competition, I can't guess she did but since swings to 3/4 are okay I guess it's allowed, I'm really not sure...they might have taken uncharacteristic element on that, I'm sure a judge could weigh in.
[video=youtube;1rFOuD1agmE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rFOuD1agmE[/video]

I didn't think I was going to be able to pull this video up, but I found it: gienger on the low bar (and straddle back+giant). I'm pretty sure there were more youtube videos of this floating around but they may not still be up: YouTube - Turchin, geinger on low bar
[video=youtube;0VneuKxSdRo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VneuKxSdRo[/video]


Great little gymnast who later qualified elite but I don't think she is still competing.

 

[GymCoachSara]

I have seen this a lot, being from Minnesota there are a few clubs in the cities that have problems with their gymnasts holding their legs up on release moves, thats one of the reasons this is done. You can see with Taylor she can't hit the handstand position and has so much force foward she is able to a pretty decent giant with getting a minimal deduction.

I have also seen one other gymnast in Minnesota do one out of a pak salto that looked very nice. Other than the two I think its very hard to do this skill correctly, without hitting the floor and hitting the handstand.

its a cool skill though

I also saw that geinger on the low bar-crazy stuff!

 

[bookworm]

I don't think it's actually supposed to be a giant..

When I watched the video of the "giant on the low bar" and also read in the comment section that it was this girl's first Level 10 meet, what it seems to me is that her overshoot is basically not to handstand and is relatively uncontrolled but she does catch the low bar and has that swing down that appears to be "a giant" but would not be a giant if she actually did her overshoot to handstand....I have actually seen a giant on the low bar by a really short gymnast and she did some funky move to the high bar out of it...

 

[3rd_time_around]

A tiny/young girl did this at our gym. She did freehip to hs, giant, something to a squat on. kip cast flyaway from high bar. Feet did not touch the ground, no bent knees.

 

[JBS]

I think giants on the low rail can be really cool, but only if they are nice and controlled. The bending of the legs reminds me of one of my favorite skills...check the video below.

[video=youtube;3CfXQLP3a40]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CfXQLP3a40[/video]

 

[3rd_time_around]

I've seen some younger gymnasts do giants on the low bar with a spot because they don't need to bend their legs, but now I'm starting to see them in competition:

YouTube - Taylor Allex Level 10 Bars - Peppermint Twist
(right after her shoot half to the low bar)

[video=youtube;EtNqX0U15t4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtNqX0U15t4[/video]

Is this normal? Wouldn't they get a deduction for bending their legs so they can't hit the ground?
Personally, this almost seems lazy to me. It's much harder to planche over and control your kip then to just swing around into a giant.

Opinions? Comments?

My dd does a shoot-over, and this girl in the video just didn't keep her legs from bending/dragging I guess. It is a deduction, as my dd has gotten it for doing her legs the same way. Just curious if this routine scored well.

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

I don't know about the girl in the video - my computer's being a little funky right now - but several girls at my gym do giants on the low bar. It's safer for the little ones and less scary to be doing it on a low bar...and they don't have to bend their legs. They don't do it with perfect form...but they're just learning how to, so.

 

[gymdog]

It's a giant guys - it's not, for example, a kip with bent legs. I'm not saying it wasn't done because she needed to rather than kip out of it, but you definitely don't really "accidentally" drag and do a giant or something. It's a shootover to giant swing, and would be evaluated as such in the value parts. I don't understand the comments that this is a not a giant...?

 

[gymkat]

Yeah, she bends her legs deliberately, and a bent leg giant on low bar is not a deduction as long as she straightens her legs immediately and doesn't hit the mat.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

It's a giant guys - it's not, for example, a kip with bent legs. I'm not saying it wasn't done because she needed to rather than kip out of it, but you definitely don't really "accidentally" drag and do a giant or something. It's a shootover to giant swing, and would be evaluated as such in the value parts. I don't understand the comments that this is a not a giant...?

i think what they are saying is that if you perform a crappy bail that goes long is arched and the feet are above the hips with bent legs when they catch, and if they have practiced "covering" out of that crappy bail, that it is better to just giant swing than it is to let the crappy bail/feet slam in to the mat for the glide. it's more likely than not that this is why they do it.

for me? you're going to practice the bail until you get it right.

 

[gymdog]

i think what they are saying is that if you perform a crappy bail that goes long is arched and the feet are above the hips with bent legs when they catch, and if they have practiced "covering" out of that crappy bail, that it is better to just giant swing than it is to let the crappy bail/feet slam in to the mat for the glide. it's more likely than not that this is why they do it.

for me? you're going to practice the bail until you get it right.

I agree, largely because I think it's dangerous, and the peeling risk is higher than I think is necessary. I've seen (and I've done this myself, anyway) girls peel to their backs out of pak saltos when they intended to kip. Just not attempting to control momentum does not seem like a good plan, particularly on a pak.

I'm just confused about posts that are putting giant in quotes or saying she is just dragging her legs. As gymkat said, whether it's done to cover technical deficiencies or not, it is of course a giant and will be given value part credit as such. Issues I see with this is overuse of skills in the routines, you're breaking from the C release (if you hit handstand) which seriously limits your potential for bonus in a basic routine like this, safety risk, technical issues (flying over the low bar might be a good way to do a giant, but it isn't a good way to do the skill if you ever want to connect the toe hecht out of it). But it still gets credit as an element, and as far as I've been told, there isn't even a deduction for bent legs as long as they straighten them on kick (shown). I see other execution deductions, though, of course.

 

[gymcoach34]

...I think a giant on the lb is an A- am I correct?? I used to have a little gymnast who did her 1st L7 routine w Giants on the LB, and her clear hip on the HB (she was tiny, and not confident quite yet on the high bar). The judge looked at me and said-"Hey, that routine was upside down!" It was really funny- she got a good score still, bc the judge said there was no deduction for what she did...she did her giants on the high bar her next meet however!

 

[B Gymnast]

Sometimes my coach raises the low bar a little and she spots the smaller girls on giants, but thaat's only to get the feel of them. I've seen them at a few competitions and I think they can look pretty cool
Dunno - Wow that geinger on low bar was awesome! Haha That's a pretty good idea - It would probably be a whole lot less scary!

 

[GetaGrip]

i think what they are saying is that if you perform a crappy bail that goes long is arched and the feet are above the hips with bent legs when they catch, and if they have practiced "covering" out of that crappy bail, that it is better to just giant swing than it is to let the crappy bail/feet slam in to the mat for the glide. it's more likely than not that this is why they do it.

for me? you're going to practice the bail until you get it right.

actually, in this routine i think she did the giants purely for a cover-up. in another video she does a much better bail and can glide-kip out of it.

i get that this is a skill, but to me it just seems like practicing the glide swing is so much more helpful for high to low bar release moves or even in pirouettes and clear hips. it's a control thing.