Wrist supports ( more questions?)

[livelifetumble8dx]

Ok so my mom ordered wrist supports last week prior to this I went to the doctors and he said that he couldn't find anything wrong but recommended wrist supports to ease pain. I just got them today and i haven't said anything to my coaches about it .

1) Its really hard for me to approach/talk to people, my coaches included. I get really anxious and nervous that i will either say the wrong thing, they won't like me or they will be mad at me. If i do say the wrong thing, it will haunt me for the rest of the week.. It's completely irrational but nonetheless it still gets to me. 2) I'm scared they will be mad that i ordered wrist supports without talking to them. I have tried talking to them about my wrist pain but they just tell me its my backhand spring which is probably true. The problem is i can't work on backhand springs without an immense amount of pain shooting through my wrist. It also is difficult to do handstands, handstand walks and hurts a bit to tumble.

Do i just approach them tommorow, tell them that my wrist have really been bothering me and that my doctor recommended wrist supports? Can i use wrist supports on beam ?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes and yes.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Doctors' orders should always trump coaches' orders, in my opinion.

 

[Kiwi]

Has your doctor recommended anything else as well as the supports? If you are in an 'immense amount of pain', it may be that there is an injury, and supports generally don't cure injury, they tend to be more preventative. Seeing a physiotherapist could be worthwhile, especially if you can find one who understands gymnastics. Also, have your coaches checked your technique? My DD was getting some wrist pain on BHS and she was turning her hands out. When she remembered to turn her hands in a little, the BHS didn't cause her wrist pain.

 

[BlairBob]

Wrist supports aren't really preventative, they are a stop-gap solution to allow you to continue to train.

If you turn your hands out, externally rotating your shoulder, your shoulder is effectively in a weaker position as is your elbow and wrist. It's a trickle down effect that works downstream and upstream.

Do other girls in your gym wear the supports? If they do, it shouldn't be a big issue.

If you are hitting the ground with your hands at a back angle in your backhandspring, it will hurt because your wrists will be flexed too much. Basically if you BHS low. Of course if your wrists and arms are weaker to begin with, it doesn't help the issue much either.

 

[livelifetumble8dx]

Its slowing my progress on beam as there isn't much for me to uptrain because i have all my level six skills and a FWO. I don't really know the problem in my BHS other then that my hands hit the ground lengths ( vertically) apart from each other. I have been trying to solve the problem for atleast a year. I really don't know what else to do. I try to take their advice but "Get your hands together" Is getting a tad old.

Other girls wear ankles supports (3 girls in total.) but none have yet to seek out wrist supports.

I tried them on tonight and i did some handstands, handstand walks etc. The pain is completely gone, which is nice. They feel weird, but i guess i will just have to adjust. I would rather be slightly uncomfortable then in pain any day. I think i will just have my mom talk to them about it on Wednesday.

Thank you for the suggestions and help! xx

 

[SuperGirlmlm]

Doctors' orders come first, not coaches'. About wrist supports on beam, yes, you can...Though, be careful at first with adjusting to the feel of your palm not completely touching the beam. Also, some people say they can get slippery, I have Tiger Paws, and I use them on beam, and they are fine.

 

[Kiwi]

I got Tiger Paws and at first they felt really weird and I wondered how on earth I would be able to use them. But once I started using them I got used to them very quickly. I believe they are preventative because they slow down wrist extension and restrict extension range, so your wrist is not being rapidly forced into an over-extended position which can cause injuries. It's great that your pain is already gone. There are wrist exercises that can help to improve wrist strength particularly into extension (eccentric contraction), I have a bunch from my physio! I think that gymnasts condition many muscles, but some parts of the body tend to get forgotten that could benefit from strengthening.

 

[shelovestoflip]

My only question would be what type of dr did you see? Was it your regular pediatrician or a sports doctor?

My daughter was having some wrist pain. We see an ortho regularly and they xrayed first to see if there was a problem on the growth plate (apparently called gymnast's wrists) Her wrists were fine.

They said they did not want her wearing Tiger Paws as they can create a dependency and in her situation they didn't want that to happen. They said that she should go for PT to learn some wrist exercises.

Additionally, they want her to wear wrist supports that are flexible. They are the type you can get at Target etc.

These seem to have helped her.

Just wanted to put that out there.....if your regular pediatrician is the one that suggested it, they might not have as much experience as a sports dr. Just a thought.

BTW, my daughter does wear them for all events except bars (where she has her grips)

 

[iwannacoach]

You spoke of your hand/wrist position, and that some changes need to be made. Here's a bit of advice.......

Gymnastics learning depends on making changes to what you're doing when the skill needs improvement. No change = no improvement, unless you just want to perfect the wrong technique. Change in how you visualize or imagine how a skill is most easily done is important too. You probably stuck your head way out the first time you tried a handstand, and did that because you thought it would be easier that way. You changed it to the correct technique when you accepted that keeping your head in would make sense, or when you accepted the idea that your coach knew more than you about handstands. Making the emotional/mental change is as important as making the physical change.

Gymnastics gets easier once you resolve to make those changes and put that resolve into action. Putting change into action is easier when you know what specific things you need to do. You can't hear a correction to keep your arms straight unless you know what needs to happen to keep them straight. Asking for more information is a big step, and if you want to take an even bigger step, you can try to figure out what needs to happen to make the change.

It may seem to you that I'm speaking in some kind of code here, so I'll give you the correction as I would give it for straight arms. Let's pretend I'm working with Suzie, who still hasn't learned her kip (you tube, when will my Suzie start kipping), to help her keep her arms straight on a back hip circle......

Me.........Suzie, your still bending your arms on your back hip circle.

Suzie.....Thinking duh, I know.

Suzie......I wish I could keep them straight, but I just don't know how to make that happen

Me.........Lightbulb in thought bubble.

Me.........Thinking duh, makes sense since she's never experienced straight arms in this skill

Me..........Suzie put your arm down with your hand by your hip and make a bar size fist like your holding a bar. Now straighten your arm and keep it straight while I try to bend it....

Suzie..... Starts out right but lets it bend after first resisting my effort to bend it.

Me.........Right, keep trying...get it straight, c'mon don't let it bend....yeah that's right, just like that.

Me.........Ok, so did you feel what your arm muscles had to do to keep your elbow from bending.

Suzie......I think so

Me.........So...I want you to get up on the bar and cast, and when you get to the top of the cast I want you to make your muscles do the same thing you just made them do while I was trying to bend them.....nothing else matters but that feeling, so concentrate on that feeling and make it happen.

Suzie ......Gets up and gives it her complete concentration, does the hip cirlce with straight arms, gets off the bar with a smile on her face.

Suzie.......Wow. that felt kinda wierd, and a lot easier too.

Me..........Smiling with a big DUH" in my thought bubble

Try this with your coach, but ask for the muscle cues to keep your hand placement and position. Private message me if you two can't figure it out.