Parents Grips while learning kip

[StephensMom]

For those with more experience, what are your thoughts on getting grips before or after girls get their kip? Last fall, my daughter’s training group were told they could get grips and my daughter chose not to. She was barely 7 and has small hands. She only competed level 2 so really didn’t need them. Now, she’s in upgrade season and very close to getting her kip. She is the only girl in her group not using grips. Do you think this helps or hurts her? She is not in a hurry to get them because she saw friends struggle to adjust to them.

 

[ORgymmom]

Our gym’s rule is Kips Before Grips. Depending on when girls get their kip, they may or may not compete level 4 with grips. Girls who got kips late before comp season did not get grips until training 5 because of having to relearn everything with grips on a short timeline.

If the coaches aren’t saying anything and she doesn’t have crazy bad rips, let it be.

 

[ORgymmom]

Our gym’s rule is Kips Before Grips. Depending on when girls get their kip, they may or may not compete level 4 with grips. Girls who got kips late before comp season did not get grips until training 5 because of having to relearn everything with grips on a short timeline.

If the coaches aren’t saying anything and she doesn’t have crazy bad rips, let it be.

Just wanted to follow up to my post and say that the shopping links are chalkbucket’s addition apparently, not my own! Wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m out here monetizing my procrastination time.

 

[StephensMom]

Our gym’s rule is Kips Before Grips. Depending on when girls get their kip, they may or may not compete level 4 with grips. Girls who got kips late before comp season did not get grips until training 5 because of having to relearn everything with grips on a short timeline.

If the coaches aren’t saying anything and she doesn’t have crazy bad rips, let it be.

I’m not planning to say anything. Just curious to see responses and if people think they generally are helpful or harmful before girls get their kip. I have another daughter coming up through the pre-team too so will have to go through this decision again. My older daughter is so close on her kip that I wouldn’t dare change anything up at this point.

 

[ORgymmom]

I’m not planning to say anything. Just curious to see responses and if people think they generally are helpful or harmful before girls get their kip. I have another daughter coming up through the pre-team too so will have to go through this decision again. My older daughter is so close on her kip that I wouldn’t dare change anything up at this point.

Not a coach but what I was told was that if they get their kips before they’re in grips, they can better understand shifting their hands vs. after.

 

[NYGymfamily]

Kips before grips, but get the grips when her coach says its time. My daughter has a teammate who waited too long before wearing grips, started doing giants and release moves without grips, and is now struggling to adjust.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

I'm just a gymnast but I learnt my kip with grips. And having had my kip for a few years, I still don't think I can make one without grips. I kind of wish I had learnt it without grips to understand the wrist shift motion as that has caused me some trouble learning circling skills (because I don't know how to shift very well). There definitely is an adjustment period for grips though in which you may lose skills.

 

[AlexandraU16]

I don’t have much to add except my 7 year old is kipping, jumping to high bar, doing fly aways, starting to work clear hips, giants on strap bar, all without grips. She was told she could get them when she got her kip but didn’t and hasn’t been told anymore about it. I feel like I see golds and up in grips unless they’re really young/small. My daughter would like to delay it as long as possible and I’ve heard it’s good for them to really know how to swing etc before introducing grips.

 

[GymDadWA]

Grips won't be the magic pill that makes them get their kip.

 

[&bs]

Agree with everyone else, kips and strong tap swings before grips unless you have an older heavier gymnast who is shredding their hands without them. We generally have kids compete a year of kip in their routine before getting grips (Level 5 in Australia) and even another year for those with small hands. Personally I feel that if your hands aren’t big enough for 00 then you should wait. I’ve coached one kid in 000 but she was 11 and level 7, so when she was desperate I relented.

 

[Scream4IceCream]

At my daughter’s gym, they put the girls in grips before they get their kip. My daughter got her grips in 2020, so it’s been awhile, but I think they told us that they didn’t want the girls to have to relearn their kip with grips.

 

[StephensMom]

Agree with everyone else, kips and strong tap swings before grips unless you have an older heavier gymnast who is shredding their hands without them. We generally have kids compete a year of kip in their routine before getting grips (Level 5 in Australia) and even another year for those with small hands. Personally I feel that if your hands aren’t big enough for 00 then you should wait. I’ve coached one kid in 000 but she was 11 and level 7, so when she was desperate I relented.

I like your point about small hands. It seems like we are seeing more and more girls using grips earlier in competitions even though so many on here say to wait. In the fall, when a lot of the girls at our gym were getting their grips, I talked to her coach about this. It seems like the gym just basically told all the girls from level 2/3 on up that they could get grips. That was kind of the blanket gym policy but I asked her coach if my daughter specifically needed them yet. She said no AND my daughter has small hands and they were unlikely to fit well. I am glad we didn’t get them for her then.

 

[StephensMom]

Grips won't be the magic pill that makes them get their kip.

Did you think that was the question I was asking? Did you read the whole thread before you responded?

 

[StephensMom]

At my daughter’s gym, they put the girls in grips before they get their kip. My daughter got her grips in 2020, so it’s been awhile, but I think they told us that they didn’t want the girls to have to relearn their kip with grips.

We have only ever been a part of two gyms but both seem to put the girls in grips before kips. That’s kind of what prompted my question. I feel like we are seeing a lot of lower level girls with grips from other gyms at competitions too but I also have heard multiple coaches and athletes say that it “used to always be kips before grips.” It made me wonder if people are seeing an advantage to having grips before kips. Maybe the relearning thing is the main reason.

 

[StephensMom]

It’s nice to see so many still saying Kip before grips since that is the direction we have gone. Hopefully, she doesn’t have a hard time relearning after she does get them. I do wonder why we are seeing so many gymnasts getting them before kips though.

As I mentioned before, there’s no way we would get her grips right now as she is so close to the kip and we don’t want to mess her up. Her coach is expecting her to get it any day. Kind of interesting, I guess, is that my daughter is the only one without grips and was the first to get the front hip circle in her group. It also looks like she might be the first to get the kip. So maybe not having grips is helping? Maybe it has nothing to do with it?

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

Kind of interesting, I guess, is that my daughter is the only one without grips and was the first to get the front hip circle in her group. It also looks like she might be the first to get the kip. So maybe not having grips is helping? Maybe it has nothing to do with it?

Did the rest of the group get grips recently? It took a while for me to trust my grips enough to go a 100% on them. (I still sometimes don't trust them, especially if I'm not allowed to chalk between turns)

 

[JBS]

Don't forget about this article...

Article 'Gymnastics Grips Guide: Buying Tips From A Coach'

Many sports have personal equipment that the athletes either wear or carry to help them play the sport. Gymnastics is no different. Let’s get into the details of one of our most important pieces of personal equipment, gymnastics hand grips. ALL ABOUT DIFFERENT TYPES OF GYMNASTICS GRIPS...

• JBS
• Dec 22, 2023
• 10 min read
• Reaction score: 6
• Comments: 1
• Category: Gymnastics Articles
• grips

 

[StephensMom]

They got them in October. I didn’t realize everyone was getting them because we missed the time when the coaches sized the girls for them and I thought her group wouldn’t need them yet. I was surprised when the grips order came in and everyone else got them. That prompted a discussion with her coach about how none of them really needed them yet but the gym was “letting” them all get them. My daughter was the youngest and smallest in her group and her coach felt like it would be hard to get her grips that fit so we decided to wait until she got her kip. Lately, I’ve been wondering if that was the right decision. Kind of seems like it was.