WAG Giants

[skschlag]

profmom-that must be confusing! LOL!! Our boy learn without bending legs. They start on strap with big swings, and then with a spot to get the motion. When those are solid, they move to the bar with spot, then to the pit bar, then to the high bar. That works for both sets of giants.

We do have one boy that seems to have a kick in one leg at the top. I have seen some girls do that too, but I am not sure what it really does

 

[aileenmaryf]

Thanks. So I guess from the posts above it is part of the progression. Bent legged giants are certainly not common at meets. But I've seen a few. What I found more common when first learning giants is the arch when getting around. I wonder which one is harder to get rid of, the arch or the bent legs.

It really depends on your gym and what kind of gym you go to, who your coach is, etc. When I was in gymnastics my club did not do USAG gymnastics or any gymnastics with "levels". Instead, we did MAGA (Midwest Amateur Gymnastcs Association) which used the Minnesota high school rules. In MAGA there is more of an emphasis in skill development than there is on complete perfection (no compulsory routines), and what I mean is that yes it was still very important to have good form, but sometimes it was worth doing a certain skill even if it was a little sloppy. Personally, when I learned giants they were HIDEOUS- I was arching and bending my legs because I felt like I was slipping off the bar, but the more I did them, the better I got. When I started competing them (I don't remember exactly how long but probably about 8-12 months after I learned them), they were still a little archy and had bent legs, but they definitely improved my score by around a point (1.0). However, I have no experience when it comes to USAG rules, my guess is its better not to have sloppy giants. My point is, it really depends, in my opinion its better to work them with a little bit of form issues to get the feeling of them, than it is to try to have them perfect from the beginning.