Parents "Protective" gear

[reluctant]

Our gym does not allow braces, wraps, tiger paws etc unless accompanied by doctors note.

Our gym also recommends against Tiger Paws unless they are really needed. My daughters don't use them and don't have wrist pain as level 9s.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

My daughters don't use them and don't have wrist pain as level 9s.

Thats awesome. Unfortunately not everyone is built the same.

 

[raenndrops]

We are new to the gym so there must be some history behind it. Luckily we have not had to cross that bridge yet.

Most likely, one girl NEEDED a brace, then all of a sudden, half the gym was in braces. STILL a crazy requirement.

 

[raenndrops]

My L4 has been wearing the x-brace in the gym at all times since her first episode of Sever's. I wish I had insisted she start wearing them after an earlier overuse injury caused by flat feet, but at that time we went with the ankle brace recommended by the PT, who had never heard of the x-brace.

She will be in her Tiger Paws permanently the instant she complains of any wrist pain. She doesn't like the plastic inserts, though, and I'm not sure how much use the foam inserts are.

She doesn't have to use ALL of the inserts at once.
YG uses the narrow plastic insert and the foam one.
OG uses the wide plastic insert and the foam one. If she feels like she needs more support, she adds the narrow insert.
Tiger paws do still offer some support with JUST the foam insert. She can then determine how much more support she needs

 

[mommyof1]

She doesn't have to use ALL of the inserts at once.
YG uses the narrow plastic insert and the foam one.
OG uses the wide plastic insert and the foam one. If she feels like she needs more support, she adds the narrow insert.
Tiger paws do still offer some support with JUST the foam insert. She can then determine how much more support she needs

She has not tried putting the plastic one in with the foam--are they supposed to go together? She has tried either the plastic or the foam, but not both. Maybe adding the foam with the plastic will make them more comfortable.

 

[gymgal]

She has not tried putting the plastic one in with the foam--are they supposed to go together? She has tried either the plastic or the foam, but not both. Maybe adding the foam with the plastic will make them more comfortable.

when dd started using them, she didn't use any of the inserts. The brace itself was enough. She was only equivalent of an old L3/4 at that point and had broken her wrist. She is a L10 now and I honestly don't know how she uses them now. I *think* she uses just one foam insert. But she may not use any.

 

[LJL07]

I'm with @Committed re: tiger paws. This is after three of our girls developed wrist issues training yurchenkos. I don't think they need tiger paws til level 8, but I think they should be used from that point on. I wouldn't recommend for levels 3 or 4 unless there is some kind of issue.

 

[e'smum]

dd has never worn tiger paws. she's 10 going into lvl 7. i think they start wearing them in lvl 8/9 in our gym. the only time she's worn anything was when she was injured. meaning she taped up a sprained ankle after it was healed but wanted extra support. then KT tape on a bruised knee as done by the PT who looked at the injury. she wore those a lot last year. mostly as mental crutch both instances.

 

[raenndrops]

She has not tried putting the plastic one in with the foam--are they supposed to go together? She has tried either the plastic or the foam, but not both. Maybe adding the foam with the plastic will make them more comfortable.

Both of my gymmies use a plastic AND a foam. They are both now (as of Friday) using the small plastic insert with the foam. In her new, larger paws, OG said the wide one was "too much."

 

[3rd_time_around]

I think the reason they want to hold off on the girls wearing them is that once they start to wear them, they have to always wear them.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I actually expect my kid to always wear them. Not sure why I wouldn't. Its protective.

 

[duyetanh]

My kid gets that she wears them because she is darn tiny and they are for protection. She does big time exercises to strengthen her wrists also, which I love. LOVE. Yes, every gym is different. But I don't feel the wrists were meant to take a beating relentlessly both before and after puberty, so am thrilled the coach goes the proactive rather than the reactive route.
She has watched 3 girls at her gym who didn't listen to the coaches and "forgot" to wear them.....they now all have wrist issues....and they all now wear them. One mother is livid, because the child had them at practice, but didn't like how they felt....oh well.
Level 8 and up it seems to be more common than not....we have watched the higher levels at meets....level 9 it is the majority....level 10 we saw one girl....at the elite sessions we watched at one venue no one did not have them.
This doesn't mean there aren't exceptions. They are out there. But the higher the level? The less there seem to be.
FWIW, mine wears both the plastic and the pads. And now she loves them, feels they keep her safe, and they give her courage to "go for it."

 

[Ms.Pak-Man]

::This is my biggest pet peeve. Warning, I'm on my soapbox here. This is for anyone who will tolerate me , not just OP.::

Depends on level and age/weight. Always get an ortho evaluation for ANY wrist pain that does not subside in a week. A program that tells you pain is a part of gymnastics and give them some ibuprofen is a red flag. Of course after you have a doctor's (not chiro, or ped, but ORTHOPEDIST) clearance, then yes, it may be a "normal for my child" thing. But absolutely get it evaluated before ever getting wrist guards if your gymnast is lower than a level 8 or training 8. Once they are starting yurchenkos/tsuks, then they should wear them proactively for vault only. Once they are going thru the later stages of puberty and doing big tumbling skills, then they should wear them when training floor, as needed. If a lot of the kids are having wrist pain at your gym, especially at early levels, like level 3-5, ask questions about what their pre-hab program includes. Conditioning is the 5th event. Wrist pain comes from improper loading when it begins early. I freak out and want to scream when I see half a team of level 4s in Tiger Paws, usually half of them have visible gymnast wrist on xray. That does not happen in gyms that do "evidence based practice" in pre-hab. There is NO excuse for this and makes me so sad b/c really talented kids end up in so much pain and retire from gymnastics before they really got a chance to start. See a PT if your gym sucks at pre-hab. You can stay at your gym and do simple exercises at home to prevent issues.

 

[justanothergymmom]

Do you let your DD's wear wrist guards, ankle braces such things as preventive/protection or do you only use when necessary. I am curious

Not a doctor here...just another gym mom with tons of years under my belt....BUT, I have never heard of preventive ankle bracing except in the case of a repeat/previous injury or a known condition with ankle instability.

My girls are allowed to wear wrist guards and do so for Yurchenkos (foam inserts only). Many years ago, I read an article that talked about how many pounds of pressure are put on the wrists during the BHS onto the table while performing a Yurchenko, all of this while the wrist can be bent beyond 90 degrees during that entry! I don't remember the exact number of pounds of pressure but it was concerning. That information, along with the first complaints from my oldest of wrist pain while vaulting sealed the deal for me. She has worn them for over 7 years now...only for vault. She trains several D and E tumbling passes and has never needed them for floor.

I think the reason they want to hold off on the girls wearing them is that once they start to wear them, they have to always wear them.

I have heard this in the past from various coaches and am not sure why this is a problem, or why people would be concerned about girls wearing wrist supports for vault. The wrist simply wasn't designed to withstand that amount of pressure while hyper-extended during a Yurchenko vault. Sure, some girls' bodies can handle it, but we are not all built the same! I know plenty of girls who only use them for vault. I also know plenty who use them for vault and floor and have been very successful gymnasts

 

[gymnastmom05]

Our gym has been under a big change. New head coaches goal is to hopefully do preventative measures so all of these support things aren't necessary for everyone. He said one of his red flags he noticed when he walked into our gym were the number of girls in cheetah cups, ankle braces, knee braces, wrist guards etc. He has no problem for those that actually need it....but his overall goal is to strengthen these areas and limit overuse injuries as much as possible. Of course all bodies aren't made the same so he works with each kid instead of a "one size fits all" approach. My DD has battled severs and is going through a growth spurt again so it's rearing it's ugly head. He is taking proactive measures (alternating vault/tumbling days, icing during the time she is sitting out on vault or tumbling and doing injury prevention exercises) where in the past the girls were more or less told to push through or left on the side to figure out what to do during the rotation and feeling like they were disappointing their coaches. Other girls would have a minor injury years ago and are still wearing a brace (ankle brace on the one I'm thinking of) and never worked on regaining strength in that area. His goal is to strengthen so maybe the brace isn't necessary (and it might be which he's fine with but wants to help them not use it as a "crutch" if it's not necessary). I know a few girls wearing tiger paws but not many (I actually can't think of any of our Level 8's and up wearing them currently).

 

[profmom]

Better to prehab and strengthen than to brace, IMHO. I'd be concerned if my child were needing wrist support on just about every event before reaching higher levels and/or before puberty. This to me signals either that the child is not benefiting from whatever strength and conditioning is targeting the wrists or that the proper conditioning isn't happening.

 

[LJL07]

::This is my biggest pet peeve. Warning, I'm on my soapbox here. This is for anyone who will tolerate me , not just OP.::

Depends on level and age/weight. Always get an ortho evaluation for ANY wrist pain that does not subside in a week. A program that tells you pain is a part of gymnastics and give them some ibuprofen is a red flag. Of course after you have a doctor's (not chiro, or ped, but ORTHOPEDIST) clearance, then yes, it may be a "normal for my child" thing. But absolutely get it evaluated before ever getting wrist guards if your gymnast is lower than a level 8 or training 8. Once they are starting yurchenkos/tsuks, then they should wear them proactively for vault only. Once they are going thru the later stages of puberty and doing big tumbling skills, then they should wear them when training floor, as needed. If a lot of the kids are having wrist pain at your gym, especially at early levels, like level 3-5, ask questions about what their pre-hab program includes. Conditioning is the 5th event. Wrist pain comes from improper loading when it begins early. I freak out and want to scream when I see half a team of level 4s in Tiger Paws, usually half of them have visible gymnast wrist on xray. That does not happen in gyms that do "evidence based practice" in pre-hab. There is NO excuse for this and makes me so sad b/c really talented kids end up in so much pain and retire from gymnastics before they really got a chance to start. See a PT if your gym sucks at pre-hab. You can stay at your gym and do simple exercises at home to prevent issues.

Yes, 100%. Levels 3-5 should not routinely need tiger paws. Great post!

 

[duyetanh]

Better to prehab and strengthen than to brace, IMHO. I'd be concerned if my child were needing wrist support on just about every event before reaching higher levels and/or before puberty. This to me signals either that the child is not benefiting from whatever strength and conditioning is targeting the wrists or that the proper conditioning isn't happening.

Agreed. And even at the higher levels, better to start with one event if possible. Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule. But for the most part? Yes.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

You do not need to wait for an injury or irritation to wear tiger paws.

 

[duyetanh]

You do not need to wait for an injury or irritation to wear tiger paws.

This. Exactly.