Height in gymnastics

[momocay]

As a parent of a gymnast, I was once concerned about these topics and did do a little research. First, like many parents, I didnt enroll my daughter in gymnastics because she was short. I enrolled her bc she was a toddler swinging from my canopy and attempting any move on the furniture that may have simulated flying. I gave no thought to how tall she may grow to be. In many studies that I have read, delayed puberty only occurred in gymnasts that were training more than 30 hours a week. This is not your general USAG kid. This is the schedule of an elite or maybe future elite athlete, and I beleive you would find the same delays in elite swimmers and other athletes of that level. I have seen taller than average (5'8-5'10) high level gymnasts in the USAG program, and they are succesful. I think they must have a really strong work ethic and a determination to overcome the obstacles that face them because of their height.

 

[Granny Smith]

My dd is a level 9 gymnast and turned 14 back in September. She is under 5' and weighs about 92#. She is very petite and this has nothing to do with gymnastics. She was small well before starting the sport. There was concern from when she was a toddler - requiring blood test and such to determine that there wasn't any problems. She had her 1st bone age scan when she was 5 and her bone age was that of a 3.5 yr old. She then had her 2nd bone age scan at the age of about 11.5 and her bone age was that of a 9 yr old. Puberty was going to be delayed regardless of if she did this sport or not. She didn't have the pre-pubescent growth spurt like most 11 yr olds and then she fell off the "government" charts. Her pre-pubescent growth spurt came between 12.5-13.5 yrs old when she grew 3 inches to 4'10 and gained 16# which brought her up to 88# at the time (this was all measured the Summer before she turned 14.) I will accredit this sport with her being the weight she is, she is very fit and lean which could be why she still hasn't had her period yet but then again knowing her body is actually younger than her actual age I can see it still holding off a yr or 2 still. If she makes 5', she will be estatic. Basically her diagnosis from the Endocrinologist was genetic short stature - from short parents (dh 5'6" & me 5'3"), comes short kids! Of course my ds will be the tallest in our immediate family, he will surpass dd in height no doubt! ha-ha-ha!

The tallest girl at dd's gym is one of her good friends and she is 5'5". She looks like an amazon in the gym, but not in real life. She is a gorgeous gymnast, her lines are absolutely breath taking!

 

[kristilyn73]

My DD is 15 and a L9 as well.. She just went through a massive growth spurt (We figure approx 3-4 inches in 1 year) She is 5'5" pushing 5'6".

The major difference I have noticed with her, is just learning to adjust to the height. She is probably the tallest in the gym now (by about 1/4 of an inch). She is doing several skills this year that she did last year but is struggling a little bit. For instance her Tsuk Pike. She was Landing them nice and tall last year but now having a hard time figuring out when to 'open up'. I Don't so much think it is her height that is affecting her but the growth and learning her new body.

 

[Optionals United]

Im around 5'5" 5'6"ish with really long legs!! Which are killer in two different ways. First it is really easy to see when they are bent but when they are straight they are killer gorgeous!!! LOL. They are sometimes hard to manage. SOmetimes it make getting new skills kinda difficult,because my legs and height is so much bigger than everyone elses. Im the tallest people on my team and the second youngest. My coach and I always joke that I dont get taller my legs just get longer because my toso is kinda small for my height. When my aunt was taller than me by a couple inches my legs were longer than hers... It is different for everyone. Sometimes I get skills easier because of my legs, it just depends on the person.