More Giants!!!

[lakshmi369]

I was just wondering how old other gymnasts were out there when they (you) started doing Giants? Did you learn them with a strap bar, harness or "old school" with gravity as your only friend? LOL! There appears to be a school of thought among some coaches out there that girls need to have Giants down by a certain age but I am not sure that is actually true? Thoughts?

 

[jes.the.gymnast]

i think i was arounf 13/14 when i started doing gaints i was always scared of them though so girls in my level were doing them a little before then. we only ever doing them in staps because we didnt need to compete them. i now coach at an australian national club and ther are girl in grade 5 so about 10/11 doing perfect gaints i think the youngest one in that group is about 8 and she has perfect shape in them.
i know other people who have never done them, or maybe only done them afew times in straps and have become state champions.
it all depends on the gymnast and what thier strengths are

 

[hunde2]

My daughter learned giants when she was 8.I think they mostly trained on the regular bars( non strap)with there coach spotting them.They first started doing them with bend knees.They also did strap bars but not as much.There is no certain age in our gym but they like the gymnasts to do giants as a level 7.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I think I was 11 when I got my giants.

The youngest girl I coach who can do giants is 11 (though I have one 9-year-old who may well be doing them by the end of the summer)

 

[Aussie_coach]

We don't tend to tie it to an age, more a level. I mean you can be 12 years old and be a totaly beginner, or 12 years old and an elite level gymnast. There is no ideal age in gymnastics.

Our girls start to work giants from around level 5, strap bar is the prefferred method. I deally we like the girls to be competing giants by level 6.

 

[Granny Smith]

In dd's gym, it's not an age, but a level. In order to compete Level 7, you must do giants - no giants, no compete. Dd got her giants when she was 10.

 

[kvgymnast]

i was in level 6 while learning giants because i skipped level 7 and one of the things i needed to do to be in level 8 were giants. so i was about 8 years old. i learned them just by myself on the par in the pit where i started by doing baby giants (like in the level 6 routine) and then just kept getting further away from the bar and FINALLy i did it one day!

 

[hammy]

I was 6 when I learned giants--Kips, giants, and flyaways were the first three tricks my coach taught me on bars. He didn't want us to be afraid of swinging on the bars. We didn't use straps--we just learned them on the regular bars with spot.

 

[gym law mom]

Both gyms we've been at, they've learned giants based on level and not age. My gymmie was introduced to giants as a L5, but then really started to work on them during her L6 meet season. They used a trench bar with a coach spotting then progressed to doing them by themselves on pit bar and then to double set.

 

[kristilyn73]

My DD has been doing Giants for 2 years now, so she learned at 10. She did them first on a strap bar. She then moved right to Double bars without a spotter. Some of our girls go to the single bar above Pit before moving to double bars.

I agree it is a level thing, not an age thing.

 

[hammy]

To answer your question a little better--yes, it usually depends on level not age.

 

[tumblerK]

I'm sixteen and just barely starting them and at my gym we onlly have one set of bars... coachie wants to take a field trip to neighbor gym to go on a strap bar though... I know at that gym to move up to level 4 you have to do giants on the strap bar

 

[GymnastRaeRae87]

I started giants when I was about 12 I think. We worked them on the strap bar first. We started out with big swings and then went onto being spotted on the full thing and then moved on to doing it by ourselves. Now we can do them by ourselves no problem. As for learning them on the regular bars, my coach told me to have my other coach help me with them on the single bar we have (So I can work on the form without hitting my feet and breaking my toes)

 

[lakshmi369]

Seems like sound advice to me Rae Rae! My DD had a run in with the bar a few times learning flyaways! Certainly woke her up for awhile!!! LOL

 

[gym monkeys mom]

My daughter has been working giants since Level 6. She is now a level 7 12 yrs old who competed a whole season without a giant. She was very close 1 year ago had a big fall and got scared. The season came and went no giant. It is now the number one goal of DD, and her coaches get this girl a giant. So we hope it is not far away. She is closer now than ever and then hit her feet on the bar. Oh well timing is everything. I know giants are a big deal just like kips for Level 5 and flyaways for level 6. each level seems to have its challenge Someday DD will be able to overcome this tto and be a help and insipiration to others who struggle with the same skill. So I think it is a level thing as well. Thanks for listening. I will be the first to post when she does them by herself no spot. Hopefully before summer.

 

[a_gymnast_forever]

I think I was like 9 when I started doing them. I did them on the single rail bar first. then I did them on the strap bar and stuff. I started competing them when I was 10ish maybe 9. lol I don't remember. I was a level 7.

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

Giants are my life.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

My oldest is 11 training level 8. She has been working giants ernestly since her L7 season ended in January. They train on the regular bars or high bar (over the pit). They don't use the strap bars too often. She is not confident enough to put them in a routine yet. The 3 other girls who were L7's with her are 9, 11, and almost 12. The 11 yr old has competed them recently, while the other 2 have not. Of the 2nd yr Level 8's they are 9, 12, 14 yrs old. The 9 yr old competes them. At our gym it is not a requirement to have giants.