Women Tallest on the team - Bar Settings?

[H.J.]

DD just hit 5 feet and is the tallest on her team (L7) by at least 4 inches. She’s been struggling on bars (can’t seem to get straight legs on glide before kip) and keeps saying it’s because the bar setting is too low but is afraid to ask coach abt it. Might she be right or is it something in her shaping that she needs to adjust? If the bars are really not set well for her it seems like the coach would notice and adjust? Or not? That’s why I wonder if it’s more of a technique/shape issue. Thoughts?

 

[raenndrops]

DD just hit 5 feet and is the tallest on her team (L7) by at least 4 inches. She’s been struggling on bars (can’t seem to get straight legs on glide before kip) and keeps saying it’s because the bar setting is too low but is afraid to ask coach abt it. Might she be right or is it something in her shaping that she needs to adjust? If the bars are really not set well for her it seems like the coach would notice and adjust? Or not? That’s why I wonder if it’s more of a technique/shape issue. Thoughts?

Honestly, some coaches are lazy. They want all the girls to use the same bar settings. Other coaches will adjust the bar settings for "groups" of gymnasts, but NOT just one. And still others will allow separate settings (as needed) for any gymnast.
In our gym, we currently have 4 different bar settings, 2 narrow and 2 wide, a "taller" and a "shorter" setting for each). It works out well.

Also, some gyms want the girls to practice and compete on "FIG" no matter how tall they are ... but it isn't pure laziness, in their case - it is that they are preparing the girls to compete Elite, whether they ever will or not.

All that being said, it is possible for a gymnast to do a good kip on bars that are too low (as long as she can hang on the low bar in pike without touching the mat) ... it is just hard to do. It takes a lot of strength.

Good luck.

 

[&bs]

In Australia you can only raise the bar if your feet hit the ground while hanging on the high bar or if your bottom touches the ground on the low bar. Unless they have super long arms this isn't usually until they hit about 1.70m (5'7). At 5 foot if she can't keep her legs straight she needs to work on her core and hip flexor strength as this shouldn't be an issue. If she has grown recently she might not have had to activate these muscles before to do the glide but the technique flaw and lack of strength is now catching up with her. Or if her legs have gotten longer and heavier it might just take a bit of time and extra work for her strength to catch back up.

 

[Flipfloppy]

In Australia you can only raise the bar if your feet hit the ground while hanging on the high bar or if your bottom touches the ground on the low bar. Unless they have super long arms this isn't usually until they hit about 1.70m (5'7). At 5 foot if she can't keep her legs straight she needs to work on her core and hip flexor strength as this shouldn't be an issue. If she has grown recently she might not have had to activate these muscles before to do the glide but the technique flaw and lack of strength is now catching up with her. Or if her legs have gotten longer and heavier it might just take a bit of time and extra work for her strength to catch back up.

This isn't true for U.S. JO, which the system the OP's daughter is in. On FIG, someone who is 5' should be able to keep their legs straight, sure, but it's entirely possible in the U.S. JO system that the bar settings aren't working for her. It's also possible that it's a strength problem - or a combination, I don't know enough!

 

[gymdog]

Unless there's no room for her legs under the bar, she needs to get stronger and adjust to her growth. It is unreasonable to change the settings for one kid unless the bar is truly too low for them and they can't hang. It takes a lot of time during workout to adjust the settings and it is NOT common for coaches to change them for one gymnast so she can do everything, which would mean resetting the bars every time it was her turn. Unless your daughter wants to warm up by herself at every meet she is going to have to go on the same setting as her team anyway. Some gyms may have the opportunity to have two bar sets which they can leave on different settings, but if that isn't possible and the coach designates the FIG setting for instance, then the whole team commonly goes on that.

I am not against changing the bar setting by height, by the way, and will try to accommodate as necessary (operative being necessary) but just because the OP's daughter went through a growth spurt and bars is suddenly hard for her does not automatically equal the coach being lazy. Nor is it the best mindset for her daughter unless she truly can't do a glide on the low bar.

 

[H.J.]

Thanks, all! Glad to know that height of gymnast and bar setting don't go hand-in-hand. I totally get that a coach wouldn't want to (and shouldn't have to) change bar settings all the time. And I do suspect that part of it is a strength issue (or maybe a knowing-how-to-harness-the-strength issue). If you had to guess, would you think it's more abs or hip flexors? Or both or something else entirely? Again, thanks! Appreciate the responses.

 

[gymdog]

Honestly it could just be timing from the growth spurt. But abs and hip flexors are involved in the glide. This is common after a growth spurt.

 

[GymLife]

DD was always the tallest in her training group. Her coach made her use the lower bar setting. It was frustrating to watch, but 3 years later she is a better gymnast because of it.
She’s still the tallest and has struggled on bars off and on for years due to growth spurts. She does a lot of lower body and ab work.