grips or no grips

[gymgurl]

Well i am a 16 year old girl who has just competed level 4 and is now working on getting my kip. My bars are not my strong point and i am perfectly aware that grips won't change that. I rip really easily and again i know they won't prevent rips but will they lessen them at all?? I may not be doing gym next year even though i would love to i am scared the work load of year 11 (first year of HSC (i think equivalent to SAT testing not sure but are our leaving school exams which determine what course we can get into.

so i have a few.....ok maybe a lot questions

1. I sound like such a noob saying this but what benefits does using grips give you

2. Will they help reduce amount of rips

3. Should i get them now (just after competition season) even if i am not sure if i am continuing

4. Could i get them around march/April next year and have them ready to compete with by june?

5. How long do they take to break in?

6. Did you see any benefits to bars after getting them?

7. What brands are good? i have heard resi sport is good

8. Are skills hard to re - learn with grips

I am sooooooooo sorry for the horribly large number of questions

 

[gymnastjess]

hi answers to your questions...
1. easier grip to the bar, they look cool LOL
2. yes they do reduce rips.
3. if you are not sure then i wouldnt as you may waste 50-60 dollars on something you wouldn't use :/
4. yes you could
5.grips take about 4-6 weeks to break in
6.i don't use grips only palm guards because i get NO rips LOL but no real benefits i would think just being able to stay on longer(grip better)
7.yes resi sport is the brand most people use and they are good so are baile grips. if you want an aussie website let me know as i think you live in aus cause we call them the HSC lol
8. no skills wouldn't be but when first getting your grips you have to break them in with very easy skills ex. glide swings pullovers ect.

GOODLUCK
-Jess-14-lvl 4-airborne gymnastics-AUS

 

[gymgurl]

Would love to hear a coaches opinion on this

 

[bogwoppit]

YOu really do not need them, they will not help a lot with rips, they will not help getting your kip and they are very expensive when you might only use them for a year or less.

THe brand you are talking abour is REISPORT, good grips, but I would wait until after you have your kip and whether you will continue in gym when you are older.

 

[cher062]

The best answer to your question is to ask your coach and see what he/she thinks. but if you do get them then plan to use them all the time as they are expensive and would be a waste of money if you only used them once and then said No not for me. There will be breaking in time too where you get use to them on your hands and get them to conform to your hand. You might want to see if someone would let you try their grips just to see how they feel for a move or two (yes I know don't share grips but a one time try won't harm anything)

 

[jdf]

In my daughter's former and present gyms every girl wears grips.

 

[lilgymmie7]

DD has trained level 5 for over a year now and she still doesn't wear grips. I don't know what the coaches mentality is about why she doesn't wear them. She has had her kip since she was 5 yo. She will officially compete level 5 USAG starting after her birthday in January. She does cast to HS, etc. yet still no grips. Her hands are very rough. Rips are really no big deal to her now. A more experienced gym parent told me that was why the bar coach perfers no grips for DD. Roughing up her hands now as a little one will definitely help her as she progresses in the levels. I have trusted the coaches before, I better not not trust them now. DD is okay w/out grips. We have bought them, but she tells me she will only wear them if coach D will let her. Hence, if her hands grow, I wasted money. Ask your coach what he thinks in your case.

 

[flipandtwist]

Grips only need to be bought when you start working on lots of swinging skills. Usually when you start training free hip handstands and giants. Before then they are not needed because they are expensive and do not help prevent rips. Especially if you do not know how long you will continue gymnastics.

 

[bogwoppit]

Just to add, only 3 girls in my dd's gym wear grips, they do just fine! My oldest only began wearing them when she was about L6 and 11 years old. THey can choose to wear them or not. MOst parents don't want to buy them as they are so pricey.

 

[BlairBob]

Seeing as you are older and more than likely have a lower strength:weight ratio than many young gymnasts they can be helpful. However, I would prefer gymnasts to wait on getting grips until as long as possible.

Grips will make you rips in new places but after your hands get conditioned enough, you will rip far less anyways (though grips can help a bit). Taking proper care of the hands is more important ( rip treatment and watching how beat your hands get up [this is done by coach]).

 

[All Chalked Up]

You should talk to your coach about getting grips before you buy some, and they will also be able to answer your questions.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Well i am a 16 year old girl who has just competed level 4 and is now working on getting my kip. My bars are not my strong point and i am perfectly aware that grips won't change that. I rip really easily and again i know they won't prevent rips but will they lessen them at all?? I may not be doing gym next year even though i would love to i am scared the work load of year 11 (first year of HSC (i think equivalent to SAT testing not sure but are our leaving school exams which determine what course we can get into.

so i have a few.....ok maybe a lot questions

1. I sound like such a noob saying this but what benefits does using grips give you

2. Will they help reduce amount of rips

3. Should i get them now (just after competition season) even if i am not sure if i am continuing

4. Could i get them around march/April next year and have them ready to compete with by june?

5. How long do they take to break in?

6. Did you see any benefits to bars after getting them?

7. What brands are good? i have heard resi sport is good

8. Are skills hard to re - learn with grips

I am sooooooooo sorry for the horribly large number of questions

The main reasons that coaches expect girls to wait until higher levels to get grips are that if you wear them too early it can mean the gymnasts never learns to really grip the bars properly but this is more of a problem for gymnasts with small hands. At your age you should be pretty much fully grown so this shouldn't be an issue.

Also it is damaging to the developing bones to get grips too early but we are talking kids under the age of 8 mainly. You should be quite safe.

1. Advantages of grips. They help you grip the bar better especially for skills like clear hips and giants, they do reduce the rate of rips you will get significantly, they will mean you can work out longer on bars.

2. Do they reduce rips, yes significantly. As a gymnasts I got regular rips before getting grips and never got another one ever after getting grips.

3. Should you get them now? Yes now is the best time to get grips, you will have plenty of time to wear them in and get used to them before next comp season.

4. Could you get them next year and be ready to compete by June. Probably. It shouldn't take this long to break them in unless you are one of those gymnasts who wear them sometimes and then don't wear them sometimes. For those gymnasts it can take a year. Once you decide to wear them wear them always.

5. How long do they take to break in? Not that long really, when i started wearing them I could do all skills as normal straight away. If you wear them consistently it should take a month or so to be very comfortable in them.

6. Yes, less rips, longer sessions better grip.

7. The only brand we really use down under is reisport.

8. You don't have to re learn your skills, you should still be able to do everything you did before.

 

[gymgurl]

The main reasons that coaches expect girls to wait until higher levels to get grips are that if you wear them too early it can mean the gymnasts never learns to really grip the bars properly but this is more of a problem for gymnasts with small hands. At your age you should be pretty much fully grown so this shouldn't be an issue.

Also it is damaging to the developing bones to get grips too early but we are talking kids under the age of 8 mainly. You should be quite safe.

1. Advantages of grips. They help you grip the bar better especially for skills like clear hips and giants, they do reduce the rate of rips you will get significantly, they will mean you can work out longer on bars.

2. Do they reduce rips, yes significantly. As a gymnasts I got regular rips before getting grips and never got another one ever after getting grips.

3. Should you get them now? Yes now is the best time to get grips, you will have plenty of time to wear them in and get used to them before next comp season.

4. Could you get them next year and be ready to compete by June. Probably. It shouldn't take this long to break them in unless you are one of those gymnasts who wear them sometimes and then don't wear them sometimes. For those gymnasts it can take a year. Once you decide to wear them wear them always.

5. How long do they take to break in? Not that long really, when i started wearing them I could do all skills as normal straight away. If you wear them consistently it should take a month or so to be very comfortable in them.

6. Yes, less rips, longer sessions better grip.

7. The only brand we really use down under is reisport.

8. You don't have to re learn your skills, you should still be able to do everything you did before.

Thank you Aussie_Coach

i think i might get them because i rip like crazy (when i was learning my Swing pullover i had 8 rips and was still working and then i finally got it ) money isn't really an issue for us so even if i used them for two terms it wouldn't be a huge deal.

I think if it reduced the number of rips even a bit it would be advantageous

 

[Optionals United]

If you are going to get grips to prevent rips. You should try the palm grips. (the ones without any dowles in them.

 

[gymgurl]

Yeah but recently i have been finding it harder to grip the bar so it only makes sense to get them