WAG Need advice from experienced hair masters!

[2G1B]

For doing that style... I have tried it with my dd when she was 8. For her hair it is best to start the process wet from the shower so the hair doesn't set in the other direction. So, out of the shower, brush down, head upside down, from the nape. Then hit with the dryer just a bit, so it isn't dripping wet. Add a good bit of gel. French braid using a fine tooth comb as you gather sections and adding more gel as needed. My advice on the bun would be to not use a donut or sock bun. They are too big and are like a speed bump on the back roll. Instead, separate the pony tail at the top into two sections and then do a two strand "braid"/twist with each of those sections. (Now there are two twist braids out of the pony tail ). Tie those in a knot at the bottom, then again at the top. Tuck ends in and bobby pin. Use hair pins and bobby pins to secure the bun. Out a hairnet over the bun and pin it in some. Spray like heck with hairspray.

Now. .. My opinion. I'm pretty good with hair. I have been amazed to learn that many, many parents of girls can't French braid. This particular braid is not easy to do and to get it tight. My dd insisted on never doing it again because it wasn't comfortable to get done and then didn't make it through practice. I would not be happy doing this hair style for an 8:00 am meet. My dd would have a melt down over me doing it and getting it tight enough. She mentally would likely not be in a good place when I handed her off to you due to the fight that would have happened over hair (no matter the meet start time). I'm also not sure that I could promise it wouldn't be messy by mid meet. And again, I'm good with hair. I can only imagine how some of the other girls would do.

If you like the braid to a bun look, I suggest a side French braid to a bun. The side will be a smaller braid, so better at managing those fly always. It is still a problem for the moms who can't braid; but is easy enough that a mom like me could help with 2-3 other kids before the meet.

 

[gymdog]

If you want a uniform hair style I think you need one that is a little easier and more versatile and doesn't require French braiding. This one will just be too hard. Some meets require you to be there at 7:45 am.

 

[HoldThePhone]

I'm with the majority here, and I'm good with hair. For the last couple meets, I've done the upside down braid, but at an angle into a side bun, and made it even more complicated by adding a headband braid and the front of the head. Both braids are dutch braids (similar to french, but a little harder to do for most people), because dutch braids tend to hold tighter. There is not another mom on the team who could do it, so requiring something like it would be a big stressor for most of the moms. I actually ended up doing a few of the other girls hair for the last meet, and they were just very simple things! Some people are just not hair people.

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

Easier could be just simple plaits going around the head(maybe two on top, one on each side, then two in back). Comb the remaining hair into a high pony, then make a simple bun.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

You can't do the same thing with Ms. Scandanavia's hair that you can with Ms. Kenya's hair. Some kids have thick hair, some have thin, some have super fine that moves more like a liquid than actual hair!

I would also add to that the kid with the weird head shape ! P&F's bestie has a square head, its a nightmare plaiting her hair.

 

[COz]

You've received heaps of great tips on amount of wetness, product etc to put in the hair. A couple of other practical things:

• It's lucky that gymnasts spend a lot of time upside down as they'll have to be upside down to do this with any neatness. This also makes it more difficult for the plaiter.
• French plaits stay neat when there is tension in the same direction as the plait. Side braids are still OK into a ponytail, because the ponytail provides enough tension, particularly if there is gel in there, but anyone who has done a braid around the side into a small plait and let it dangle with the rest of the hair out knows that it kind of bulges and doesn't stay flat to the he do without a lot of effort as the tension is not in the same direction to the braid. The upside down braid will be significantly harder to have even vaguely neat than one on the top of their heads.
• When buns get knocked about and are not really really tight, they droop. This will in addition to losing neatness for the droopy bun, will reduce tension to the upside down braid so it will automatically loose worse.
• Last time you posted about this, I challenged you to go and do a simple French braid in a girl's hair. Did you do this? it's hard to ask parents to do some difficult hair style without making an effort to at least try yourself. If you think you just don't want to even attempt that, then think how the parents who aren't good at doing hair will feel. Yes, other parents can help do hair, but it still makes a lot more morning time necessary.
• What happens if someone's hair starts to fall apart during the day. Are you willing to try to fix it? Or are there girls who are skilled enough to help?
• My kid prefers buns for training, but she's unusual in this. If the bun isn't high enough or the girl doesn't tuck enough on a forward roll and on backwards rolls, the bun will cop a lot of force, loosen The girls have to get used to this feeling or learn to adjust for the bun and the parents need practice and to get used to the idea of exactly how much gel is necessary to keep things neat and in place with just a bun itself. Make them do this several times beforehand. If they complain that there's not enough time to do hair before training, they will complain also before the meet.

This one you'll like:

• It's highly likely that if you use enough gel, it would be possible to do the braid part the day before and tie the rest into a high ponytail and have them sleep in it. Do the bun part in the morning. Get the girls/parents to try this more than once beforehand.

 

[Seeker]

Come on Ladies, Aero asked for help! Not for us to be naysayers!


To do a nice tight French braid, hair needs to be "out of the shower wet". You cannot spray it wet enough. Lots of gel, I like Dippity Doo. It comes in a big tub. You also need a Rat tail comb, with a metal end and wide apart teeth ( get at Sally's Beauty Supply store).

Your victim, er gymnast! needs to lay face down on the floor or on the bed and you need to be at her head ( facing towards her). Brush the hair down AWAY from the nape of the neck and use clips to keep the parts you are not braiding out of your way while you are braiding.

I would suggest a trial run at a practice. If the moms can get it done and it can survive a practice, it will be fine. I have done lots of different (complicated!!!!) hairstyles on my DD for meets over the years, but I always make sure I do a trial run at a practice first. Good thing, too. I have tried some real losers over the years! I can just imagine if I'd inflicted them on my poor DD at a meet!

I guarantee you 4 out of 6 families of DD's optional team last your could not/would not do this hairstyle. It just isn't suitable for all types of hair.

As a male coach, not accustomed to doing long hair, I would like to know the stress and anxiety this would cause so that I didn't have 1/2 my gymnasts show up at a meet already completely stressed out. Hair is important, but gymnastics is the real point here. Maybe have 2 preferred styles and a team ribbon or scrunchie to accommodate all.

 

[veganmami]

http://www.princesshairstyles.com

Has lots of neat different hairstyles AND tutorials for what you are looking to achieve. I'm the go to "hair mom" but my DD also has super thick hair down to her waist and it has been necessary to learn how to do it appropriately since she wants to keep it long. I don't care how bad you are at hair, if you want to learn how to do it, you can learn. It takes patience AND practice and a willing participant to practice on.

 

[seoulmama]

No offense, but I don't want to learn-ponytails can also look lovely, IMHO!

I don't care how
bad you are at hair, if you want to learn how to do it, you can learn.

 

[cazoon]

Our gym requires two French braids, and you can either bun the bottom or combine them into one bun, it just has to be above the shoulders. I personally like team hairstyles. They make the team look neater and more out together. At my old gym we had a specific hairstyle that was very complicated. What they did was have a meeting where all of the moms came to the gym and were given a detailed tutorial on how to do the exact hair style. A list was given out of specific brand hair ties and hair sprays and everyone had to buy those brands. It was hard at first, but most parents got the hang of it or asked other parents to help out. It ended up looking very nice! As for hair bows or ribbons, usually it is a parent that will make it for the team. Good luck this season!

 

[Aero]

This thread has been very helpful, and I thank all of you for your opinions, whether they are for or against the idea. I really am not opposed to abandoning this style, I just want to see how the parents do with it first. If I get half the moms telling me it is too difficult, then I will gladly change it to an "as long as it is neat and tight and stays out of the face" rule. To those of you who have given detailed walkthroughs/tutorials of how you would conquer this style, thank you so much! I will certainly forward this to the parents to aid them in their hair adventures.

As I mentioned before, One of the moms mentioned a style that she liked that worked for her. She showed me by throwing her daughter's hair up into the style real quick at a recent practice. Here's some pictures of it:

I actually do like this style, and she told me it was easy and quick. She proved it, too, by doing it quite quickly with her daughter's hair. My only concern is how would this be able to be "bunned" at the top/back of the head? I really want the bun because the girls' hair differs in length and the bun is a good way to make them look more uniform. Plus, I like the look. Any ideas on this style? Any ways to make the remaining hair into a bun? Do you think this style would be better or easier than the style I had in mind?

 

[Sari]

I don't know if it's my browser or something you did, but I can't see the new pictures!

 

[COz]

This is similar to the style described by @cazoon above. Instead of a true braid down each side it is as described beautifully in the "Keeping hair up" thread that is around right now http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/keeping-hair-up.48858/unread In that thread, the braid is across between the ears like a headband.

I would go for proper French plaits rather than the style in the photos you have. Their hair will stay better with less fluffy flyaway bits and it's easier to do it neatly. Then one or two buns as suggested above. This will hold better than the original style you suggested and won't involve inverting them to do their hair.

I would also suggest that you might have found a 'volunteer' mother to do the hair of other kids who might need help. Do encourage her to do the hair slower though rather than showing how wonderfully fast she can do hair and you'll find it substantially neater. She will still need to put gel through the front section before plaiting it too.

 

[COz]

@Sari, it's a parted hairstyle with each side in a partial French plait (not collecting hair from the side nearest the part) joined into a low ponytail.
There is also a weird twisted section of hair kind of going down the part in the middle of the back to the ponytail, but I can't tell if it's deliberate or it's just a messy bit that got caught.

 

[Sari]

Never mind, I figured it out!

A lace rope braid, as seen in the pictures, can be pretty (I've done it on myself a lot) but unless it's done much more neatly and tightly, it wouldn't stay in for an entire meet. It's relatively easy to transform this style into a bun, no question. It wouldn't securely tuck away those darn flyaways in the front though! I second the "braid more slowly rather than trying to impress coach" philosophy!

EDIT: Thank you, COz! The hair in the middle looks like a messy bit to me!

 

[COz]

Oh. @2G1B also suggested the same style as @cazoon way back there.

Don't get too fancy. Go with something tried and true that works. My vote is with them too.

Yeah, @Sari summed it up. It's a pretty hairstyle for a party, but not for people who are perhaps not already happy to braid and not used to keeping hair in place during rolls. I wouldn't get sidetracked into styles by that mother, but I would be really really nice to her and tell her how much you value her hair plaiting skills and convince her to help do hair.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

Not that it makes a huge difference, but the style in Aero's photos doesn't look like a partial braid to me, but a partial twist - this is super fast and easy to do, but very unlikely to stay neat for any length of time without fairly serious spray and gel.

 

[COz]

Ah. I did wonder, but gave it the benefit of the doubt and just thought it was a bit messy. Yeah. Don't do the twist. Fine for ballet, into a bun, not for gym.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I can't see it, all I get is a little icon , stomps off mumbling about its not fair.....

 

[COz]

I still want to see @Aero 's first attempt at a braid and I do mean this in a good natured way and I think he's a bit of a good sport. Please try one and take a photo. Pretty please? Pretty pretty please??