Grips- why and when?

[mygirlflipz]

My daughter tried grips in level 5 and really did not like them. She struggled with her skills and kept taking them off. She competed the season without them and ended up having a ton of rips and pain throughout the season. When she moved to Level 6, her coaches had her work with them during part of every practice and she got used to them. Now she loves them. She trains in Japan and the majority of the girls here do not use them...even the elite gymnasts that train at her gym. They get rips, but not as bad as I remember my dd getting. Maybe their hands are used to it.

I have to agree with the earlier post that said there is a lot of personal preference when it comes to grips. My daughter is young and has very small hands. Her coaches found her a kind from US Glove that are designed for small hands. These work better for her even though most of her teammates in the US used 10.0.

[Ingymmom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aussie_coach Having said that, getting grips too early can be nagative (our girls got them too early I think). They may not learn to grip the bar correctly if they go straight to dowel too soon, and some of our girls I have seen struggle with this. Grips also have the potential for causing damage to the growth plates in the wrist if used to young. But then again they are much harder to introduce later on when the girls really start to need them more and can be easier to get used to early on.

I am curious about this... I wonder if the issues are really grip related. All of our gymansts get their grips early - my dd when she was 5, with very tiny hands. They all learn their basic bar skills to advanced bar skills in dowel grips. Our gymmies ALL have great bars - and never any wrist or hand problems. I wonder if you have any info to back it up, and if so could it be grip "brand" related?

[bogwoppit]

I know that if my girls (who do not wear grips) take a long break from gym, like a month or so. When they go back, they have very sore hands for a few weeks, blisters, the odd rip and very hot hands. I tell them to cool down their hands between turns on the bars, they sleep with handy balm and socks on their hands. After a month or so back in the gym their hands don't hurt any more and they hardly get rips etc. They do rub down the callouses a bit before their bath though.

Older DD has tried grips on and off, in fact she owns 3 pairs, she just hates them and really does not want to use them. The coach doesn't care as long as she doesn't complain about time on the bars. She is working giants, has kips etc.

In Canada girls are doing baby giants and tap swings from the lowest levels, but I don't see most girls wearing grips. In our club very few wear grips and we have good bar workers.

There is no right or wrong with grips, I think a lot of it is coach preference. I am sure in another club my girls would be wearing grips and would be fine with them, whatever works I guess.

[gymnaSTICKs]

i started using "beginner" grips in level four. but there really isn't any reason to have them at that level... i really am not even sure why i had them in the first place haha. but i got my first pair of regular (dowel) grips in level five. they help my hands not become sore because they're not rubbing directly against the bar. no, not ALL gymnasts eventually use grips. most do though - i see very few gymnasts lvl 7 or up without them. it's sort of a personal preference. i'd say just wait until her or her coach brings it up.

[azgymrats]

My dd doesnt use them and the gym doesn't encourage them until 5-6. One of the coaches used to coach elite gymnasts and he says its good to allow the girls to toughen up their hands without grips. Sometimes during practice if one of the girls gets a rip, the coach will wrap their hand and make them a "grip" out of tape.

[Shawn]

Wow, thanks for all the info, guys! I have no interest in starting my DD on grips until absolutely necessary. She's doing just fine without them for right now. :-)

[awposey1]

When my daughter got hers it was when she got her kip. The kip was the key to grips!

[gymgymgymnast08]

Shoot im not about to do bars without grips. I'd be scared to do even like a free hip. One team I compete against like doesn't even have level 9s wear grips. I'd be so scared.

[Aussie_coach]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ingymmom I am curious about this... I wonder if the issues are really grip related. All of our gymansts get their grips early - my dd when she was 5, with very tiny hands. They all learn their basic bar skills to advanced bar skills in dowel grips. Our gymmies ALL have great bars - and never any wrist or hand problems. I wonder if you have any info to back it up, and if so could it be grip "brand" related?

Actually it was mentioned to us at our latest coaching seminar, we were told that putting the kids in grips too young can damage the growth plates. I'm afraid I have no info on this yet, but I think I'll do a bit of research.

[BlairBob]

From a MAG perspective, Jeff Robinson, head of the Men's JO program here in the states, warned about getting little guys into grips too soon.

If they're swing sucks mechanically and we put them into grips and they swing harder and bigger with poor form, we are asking for injuries since things are out of alignment. We can also be encouraging poor grip strength before swinging big and using grips as a crutch.

I have one friend who occasionally will hop on apparatus and still swing giants on high bar, front or back, without any big deal. However, he is 5'3 and maybe 145. I don't see a guy 5'8 165 or 170 doing this when it comes to the big moves.

As for the girls, I think too many of them, especially when they are itty-bitty sized and still are too weak to swing right are getting grips too soon. Once their form is decent and they are being limited from their swing creating too much force for their grip strength ( the other route would be going into extreme grip training, being able to grip 3-5 times their BW in say a DL or MA similar grip training ).

Many other countries don't use grips simply because of the expense. Some use homemade tape grips or the fact comes they are teeny tiny besides being elite strength in shape.

Say we have a teenage girl, hitting 5'5" going though compulsory or L7/prep-opt. She is really going to tear her hands up besides just creating a lot of force through her swing.

Grips make release moves much easier.

Gals like Sacramone are a lot bigger than Shawn Johnson and Liukin or any of the chinese/romanian gals. Or most elite gals period.

Getting back to it, I'd say get the girls into grips come L6 when they start learning giants or swinging big. Most L5 do not swing big enough to need grips. Nothing in their routine requires it.

As for the guys, many could do everything in L5 without grips. It could go either way. I wouldn't start doing big swings on rings without grips or giants.