WAG Giants without good Baby Giants?

[MileyDylan]

I want to improve my baby giants so that I can get giants, but I was wondering if anyone on here got their giants without good baby giants. I want to attempt giants above a pit, but I just can't seem to figure out how to shift my wrists at the right time in my baby giant. So, has anyone here got their giants without good baby giants?

 

[flips123]

Personally, I didn't get a good baby giant until I learned giants. I think it is because giants taught me how to swing bigger and be less afraid of the down swing. I wouldn't move on to giants until your coach thinks you're ready though.

 

[stxrdusty]

Ideally a baby giant essentially is a giant until the gymnast is upside down and circling around the front side of the bar. From their all they have to do is create a shoulder angle to bring their hips back to the bar and go into the under swing. For this reason a baby giant also teaches a shift similar to that of a giant (personally I think a baby giant shifts a little late but I could just be doing it wrong...).

I personally got my giants after having rather decent giants. That being said, most of my teammates merely scored out of old level 6 with poor-mediocre baby giants and started working giants for level 7. They all competed giants as level 7s as well, so I'd say it's possible.

The shift is one of the most important parts of a giant. If you don't shift there's no way you can get over the bar. Moreover, I don't even know how you could swing high enough to fall safely without shifting, though that could just be me.

If you have access to a strap bar start practicing giants in there and work on your baby giants a little longer until you figure out the shift. If I'm not mistaken the shift happens as you come over the top of the bar and is what gets your wrists from the bottom/front of the bar around to the top to start the next giant. Keep doing baby giants until you don't have to pike too much (or at all ideally) to get back to the bar and can back hip circle straight out of the baby giant OR you can clear the bar entirely. If you can do either of these things proficiently you're probably shifting at the right time for a giant and can start working them.

I hope some of this helped, good luck.

 

[MileyDylan]

Thank you! These comments really helped! I'll work baby giants a bit more and do backhipcircles out of them.

 

[DefiniteMaybe]

Our coaches have the girls continue working on baby giants once in a while even years after they are doing giants. I think they practice baby giants to improve form and shape on their giants maybe?
Also, I've heard from a coach that monkey giants/toe circles can help with learning giants.

 

[Quadqueen]

My DD never had amazing baby giants, and still got her giants. It was just not my DD though - none of the girls at her old gym could really do them correctly, so I think it had something to do with the way they were taught. When we went to meets, we always said, "aha - that's what they're supposed to look like!" when we saw other teams doing them. But DD switched gyms after L6 states and never had to do them again.