Parents (Spin off : grips thread) Why not start learning in them?

[gymbeam]

The other thread about gymnasts having difficulty adjusting to grips made me wonder- why don't they just start off wearing them sooner instead of getting so used to being without them for so long?

 

[mumoftwogymnasts]

At our gym girls get grips at around level 4 - mind you they train in them, but don't always compete in them, by level 5 they compete in them.
Why not earlier? According to our coach a couple of factors, the main one being cost - Gymnastics stuff is expensive in Aus. Rec girls don't need them and even a lot of our team girls do not progress beyond level 3 or 4 - why make parents fork out $80 plus for grips until it is really necessary.

Took my dd about 3 months to get used to grips - there was a certain amount of "re - learning" of skills required but after that she was fine. DS however got grips as a level 3 and hated them, went from never falling off the high bar to being unable to stay on it - took him at least 9 months to adjust.

 

[raenndrops]

My OG just can't stand grips... she has tried a few different ones. She CAN do her routine in her current ones, but says she FEELS like she is going to fall off the bars... and is afraid to catch the high bar from a jump (in grips, she basically FALLS to the bar, losing her momentum).

As mum said, it is cost prohibitive to start them in grips... unless we are talking $10 palm grips - just to get used to the feel of something between the bars and their hands... but even transitioning from those to dowel grips can be hard for some girls... My OG had palm grips that she used occasionally in training for old L4 (week before a meet if her hands were sore so she could still work bars). Then, in old L5, we got her Pixie Grips. They are dowel grips. She tried them out... and hated them... could only occasionally kip in them, most of the time, she went flying instead.
After she outgrew them while they sat in her locker, she wanted grips for old L6. We got her a pair of bigger grips (properly sized), but she never liked the feel of them. She was too big (hands were too big) for the ones with narrow palm. She would leave them in her locker for months at a time, then try them again. She finally decided it was the dowel she didn't like... so she asked for pre-dowel grips. BEGGED for them, in fact. She has done 2 complete routines in them (with the aforementioned "falling" to the high bar), but hasn't grown to LOVE them... or even use them enough to make it worth the money I spent on them, lol.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Training without grips initially is a good idea as it gives kids the opportunity to learn to feel the bars and feel that they have the correct grip while they are developing basic swinging and support skills.