WAG Growing gymnast flexed feet on giants

[Yuenling]

My DD is at the age where she is growing an inch every three months. Coupled with her arms also growing an inch while her legs grow, it is a gym mom's night mare.

She now does her giants with flexed feet when they are gliding past the low bar because she doesn't want to slam them into the bar. The coach doesn't want to change the bar setting because I think it forces her to "tap" better, according to my daughter, but my daughter is afraid of slamming her feet into the bar. The other girls on the team are all shorter than her.

It's only November. What's going to happen in May? I'm afraid to ask the coach.

Do coaches eventually adjust the bars for the girls, or do the girls eventually learn to straddle their legs in the giant? Even when the coach does adjust the bars, will it be hard for the girls to stop flexing their feet? How big of a deduction are the flexed feet?

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Simple, she needs to point her toes!

 

[Yuenling]

Simple, she needs to point her toes!

Won't her toes hit the bar if she points them?

 

[Deleted member 14190]

no, she needs to either straddle or shape to miss it. The olympic girls swing on a tiny setting and they point.

 

[Yuenling]

no, she needs to either straddle or shape to miss it. The olympic girls swing on a tiny setting and they point.

I see. So if it's too late for her to straddle this season, she should still be able to shape her body and keep her toes pointed, right? And the coach is probably keeping the bar setting closer together to force her to improve her shape.

 

[ZJsMom]

no, she needs to either straddle or shape to miss it. The olympic girls swing on a tiny setting and they point.

At least some of them do.

 

[Yuenling]

I realize this is going to be a useless question since my DD won't take my suggestions, and I surely won't be giving her coach any suggestions, but ... how can my DD learn to point her toes and have good shape without it being painful or damaging to her foot? Is this something she should just keep in mind while she's doing strap giants where there is no low bar? Or should she just determine to try it on the real bars and expect to whack her feet a few times? Is there anything she can wear on her feet?

 

[sce]

no, she needs to either straddle or shape to miss it. The olympic girls swing on a tiny setting and they point.

Yeah, flexing her feet is mental thing that she thinks she needs. Same reason my ds was doing some crazy sideways thing with his legs on his tucked flyaway, because he thought he might hit the bar. Learning to do the skill right means they won't hit. Flexed feet or not, if she's doing it wrong, she may hit the bar. I would imagine her coach is addressing it with her.

One thing you can do is have her watch some bar routines from worlds to see how it is something taller girls can handle even with the bars pretty close.

 

[gymjunkie]

If she's growing so quickly, she should be taught to straddle tap. She will still have to make up her mind to point, because many stubborn kids flex on the straddle tap too.

 

[Yuenling]

Sigh. Gymnastics wa so much easier last year when she was 4 inches shorter.

I keep on reminding myself that when she is an adult she'll be glad she is over 5 feet