WAG L7 without giants?

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wgymmom

Proud Parent
Does anyone have video of a L7 bar routine without giants (preferably one that scored decently)? My DD is getting down to the wire here. And YES, her HC said she "could" still do 7 without giants, so I'm just trying to see what that might look like.
 
No video, but I have been told if casts are to a handstand and free hips hit 45 degrees there is no reason the routine shouldn't score reasonably well. An example is kip, CHS, free hip to 45 or +, kip to squat on, jump to high bar, Kip, CHS, free hip to 45 or +, flyaway. I think not hitting either handstand means a .2 deduction each, not hitting at least one cast to 45 means an extra .5 (on top of the .2's). Low free hips I think get .2 if not 45 degrees, and even worse stuff happens if any of this stuff is not horizontal.

Free hips are just a very inconsistent skill for a lot of gymnasts too - my DD can sometimes get hers pretty high, but sometimes they are low too. I can see where a routine that depends on two of them being good could turn into a really low score if the gymnast is off that day.
 
It has been a couple years, but I definitely saw some level 7 routines that scored even high 8 or low 9 without giants. Many more that scored at least 8.5 without giants. Free hips were the primary replacement skill. Unfortunately, I don't have any video.
 
As long as she has handstands after every skill...then it won't be an issue not having giants.
 
We had a girl without giants go between 9.15 and 9.6 last year. The 9.6 was pretty surprising but she was usually still around 9.45. She did kip cast handstand, clear hip handstand, Kip, squat on, Kip cast hs, clear hip handstand, flyaway.
 
8.5???? So I looked up our state scores from last year and an 8.5 top finish was 15th place on bars. Just trying to put things into perspective. I have seen routines in 7 without giants and typically they are low because the child just isn't ready and it shows in all the other skills (which need to be added to replace the missing skills). Level 6 was created for kids like your DD.
 
My daughter scored in mid to high 8s with no giants her first year old level 7. And she's just an average bar worker. She did her first giant in competition at level 7 state's that year. Her clear hips weren't to handstand. I saw bar routines with no giants that had hit cast handstands and clear hip close to handstand score mid 9s.
 
DD scored low 9s without giants for 2 years of L7 - also medalled at most meets - placing 5th at state and 4th at state. Small state, but she was 10 and 11 so competitive age group and at least 20-25 kids in it...the only video I have of her bars, however, is one where she was trying the giants, and fell out of the second, so not helpful for you....

Kip cast handstand, free hip to about 60+ (not to handstand), squat on, kip cast handstand, free hip to 60+, flyaway. Her biggest deduction came from the flyaway, which was a little low at times...the few times she didn't hit both handstands and hold, though, her score dropped significantly - as if the judges were over scrutinizing her because of the lack of giants...

yes, most kids that can do that routine well can giant - yes, she could giant with great form off and on for 3 years - yes three sets of coaches tried to "reconstruct" her giants - even an inexperienced set that tried to get her to just do "bad giants" but compete them. One coach was drilling her with freehips and other things and I truely think her giants would have finally been consistent (she was doing them beautifully again on pit bar) had he not been let go.

Level 6 was brand new her first year of L7 and it would have been a perfect place for her - although she was rock solid in all other l7 events including BHSBHS series on beam - but had I had any say in it, hind sight being 20/20 - I'd say a year of L6 would have helped - IF she'd had a coach who had the experience to get her tap fixed without destroying the rest of her bars....

If your DD has a good bars coach who is working on the proper drills to do proper giants, and its the only event she's off on, AND she's ok with having to be spot on perfect with her other skills, then go for it - OR if your gym is not one that expects all 9s when they start a level (sometimes on CB you get advice from coaches who come from programs with such expectations, which I'm sure work in their own way, but isn't the norm for most gyms), then it can certainly be done.
 
I also saw plenty of routines with giants that scored low (and we're outscored by routines with no giants) because the giants were not pretty or the overall routine was not up to par (not hitting handstands, etc).
 
How did they score low they should have scored high its a very advanced skill


Mckenna
 
I also saw plenty of routines with giants that scored low (and we're outscored by routines with no giants) because the giants were not pretty or the overall routine was not up to par (not hitting handstands, etc).
I know what you mean... OG started out Old L4 competing against a girl from a smaller gym. That girl was always beating her. The other girl's gym was smaller and advanced the girl each year and was pushing her to get her to higher levels faster. She did compete 2 years of L7 (where one of our girls caught up to her). Our girl did NOT compete giants... she beat the other girl on bars every time because she was competing UGLY giants. The next year, the girl moved to L8, still with the ugly giants. This past year, we did not see her. I do not know if she competed for her school (in her area, Jr. High competes in the winter) or if she quit or went to a club and they decided they had to fix all of the mistakes she had been allowed to get away with for so long before she could compete (I am actually HOPING this is what happened because she had such potential... her location just doesn't really care about gymnastics - they are more focused on another sport... that is where they spend the money and the time! It's sad.)
 

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