WAG No grips?

[mimi]

We know somebody who is training for 7 and still isn't using grips. I'm just wondering how common this is. I know that the vast majority of kids in usag use them but I'm curious to hear how the coaches feel about this topic. Do you insist that all of your gymnasts wear grips by a certain point or are you open to letting kids go without them? What are the benefits/risks of not using them? My dd said she can't imagine working giants or clear hips without grips, so it just got me curious about this topic.

 

[ollieblueeyes]

My daughter never used grips even though she had them training old level 5 skills. Her coaches require use of grips to advance. She now wears grips.

 

[Gymsanity]

I work with a lot of girls from other gyms, and I'm blown away at all the stories of no grips. This gym says 'no grips till you get your kip,' this one 'not until level X,' another says 'not until your hand is this big,' or 'until you are this age.'! Are you kidding me? I have young 5 year olds in grips! (palm gaurds of course) Not too many things are fun if they hurt, and that is especially true with bars. Little girls with big rips=little girls who don't like bars! :0 Good bar workers need to spend lots of time on bars doing lots of circling and swinging, and that takes it toll on their hands. I want them protected as much as possible, so we can get as much done as possible! I started at a gym that had a policy "if you don't have a least 3 bloody rips, get back to work!' Sorry, I could never get behind that when there is such a simple and effective fix.....

 

[ilovegymnastics454]

I know I don't live in the USA and we don't exactly follow USA gymnastics rules ( in my province we took USAG rules from the new code, but we changed them a little bit) but I do know at my gym if you are provincial (optional ,which goes from levels 5-9 ) then it is mandatory but if you are not it's your own choice but most of the kids do at my club. in early may I went to watch Canadian nationals for a week and there were national level kids not wearing grips. I do know that one of the Canadian Olympic gymnast didn't wear grips until she was second year international elite. so I guess what I'm getting at is that it's up to the gym and if the gym doesn't for them the it's up to the gymnast.

 

[Dolphinbooty21]

In some places they don't even wear grips! Most coaches require grips at some point in time. It actually might be better if they start early so they get used to them and don't have to relearn all their skills with grips.

 

[Mama2JLN]

Our gym starts using grips around new L4, but it is individually based. For example, DD recently went to see the pediatrician for an unrelated matter and when the dr saw DD's hands, she gasped. I explained that she is a gymnast. The dr is a former gymnast and the mother of a gymnast. She insisted that DD get grips. I trust DD's coaches, but I told the dr I would mention it to them. Coaches said that they don't like to put girls in grips until they have sufficient hand strength and they don't feel DD is there yet. So, they have made her some tape grips which she now uses. DD can't wait to get grips. She's one of the few L4s not using them yet.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Our gym is one of those gyms.... you get your kip, you get grips. This is for kids who intend to enter the provincial stream. Then you relearn the skills you have with the grips. So you might be 7 or you might be 10. Having said that, some of the older girls who do inter-club (so levels 2-4 approaching their teens) often get grips although they may not ever get their kip - just the practicality of it. My daughter's hands are a mess with the grips - my mother was horrified a few weeks ago when she saw DD's hands. But it seems that a lot of bar work does that regardless - she constantly has rips even with her grips.

 

[Empowered]

If you watch this gymnast Emma Level 7 West Valley Spirit of the Flame 2012 - YouTube (this is a publically posted video on YouTube), you can see she is competing a pretty fantastic level 7 bar routine without grips. She had a teammate who was equally as tiny who also competed 7 without grips.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

We allow kids to wear grips after the first year of new Level 4. Yes they rip and yes they workout with rips, compete with rips, win with rips. And finally, they all seem to love bars. Each gym has it's own philosophy, we have ours and it works for us. I certainly wouldn't belittle anyone for sticking to a philosophy that works for them.

 

[BlairBob]

I was going to say the Chinese haven't used grips in the past but they also tend to be tiny. And here we have a tiny asian gymnast from San Jose (which have lots of asians).

That's about the only way I think it's gonna be possible. Tiny gymnast strong as monkey.

 

[kitkat]

My daughter wore grips in level 6, then they took them away because they said her hands were too small. Then they gave them back to her in level 7. I really just think it totally depends on the coach and the child. Yah she got rips but she still gets rips (not often) in grips.

The other thing I wanted to mention. We also noticed that most competitions have the bars "set" for gymnasts in grips and it could be dangerous not wearing grips with the bars all chalked up. (the ones we have been to)


Here's a video of a very good Canadian Gymnast (her utube is public) not wearing grips. I think she only just started wearing them. If you look at her videos you will find many video's up to National Novice of her not wearing them. She is an amazing bars gymnast.



2010 Nationals - Bars.mp4 - YouTube

2009 WAG Tour Selection Bars - YouTube

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Ah, Sabrina Gill. Great bars/gymnast. I hadn't realized she didn't wear grips.... Seems to be a change between 2010 and 2011. By Gymnix 2011 she seems to be in them consistently.

 

[mommyof1]

Out of curiosity, what's the reason for prohibiting grips until a girl has a kip or has reached a certain size? My guess on the latter point is that maybe smaller girls don't need grips as much because they don't generate as much force, but is there another reason for keeping them out of grips?

 

[Bajanswife]

That's about the only way I think it's gonna be possible. Tiny gymnast strong as monkey.

That's my DD. Her coach says don't get them yet, her hands are a bit small. She does giants without them.

 

[kitkat]

That was the same as my daughter. It was when she started to do giants that her coach felt that her hands were too small. It wasn't that the grips were too big. It was that her hands with the grips couldn't grip the bar well enough.

That's my DD. Her coach says don't get them yet, her hands are a bit small. She does giants without them.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Out of curiosity, what's the reason for prohibiting grips until a girl has a kip or has reached a certain size? My guess on the latter point is that maybe smaller girls don't need grips as much because they don't generate as much force, but is there another reason for keeping them out of grips?[/QUOTE
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You would probably have to ask your coach, but in my opinion, here are a few reasons.
Developing hand strength, and the understanding that it is your hands that hold on to the bar, not the grips (safety). I find it easier to get kids to kip, kip cast, jump to from the low bar to the high bar and front hip circle. We do not base grips on the size of the child but the ability. I have some microscopic kids in grips,,, and I mean micro, all of which have already completed a year of 5 (new 4).

 

[Gymmie118]

My daughter doesnt use grips. She is a level 8. Had endless trouble with getting used to them, still ripping but in different places like wrists and edges of the grips. She didnt like the feel and couldnt get used to them. We tried 3 different brands but her bars got worse and she was to scared to do her giants so her coach recommended she go back to without, for now.
We are in Japan and so many girls dont use them even at the top level. (Koko Tsurumi olympic medalst)
they do need to learn how to grip the bar properly with their hands. If you take care of your hands filing off any callouses and clipping skin after ripping, moisturising etc its really not bad.
Of course you can practise bars much longer if you have grips though.

 

[xo_the_Gymnast_xo]

I don't wear grips because our training bar is Woden and I just got used to not using grips. Quite frankly, I think there a bit uncomfortable but that's just because I use wooden bars at practise

 

[Aussie_coach]

The reason for not allowing girls to wear grips until they get their kip is so that they learn how to grip the bar properly and swing properly first.

The reason for waiting to a certain age is that grips too early can damage the immature growth plates which can cause premature arthiritis when the kids get older.

 

[profmom]

We were told that hand strength and developing proper swing skills were the issues -- girls usually get grips after two years on team (so after two years of old L5 or a year of old L5 and old L6). DD had to wait an extra year because she had a broken arm and couldn't do anything for three months. For her group, relearning skills with grips actually took very little time. The boys, who got them after about a year on team, seemed to have more trouble getting the hang of them, especially on still rings.