front giants

[gymnaSTICKs]

i'm hoping to (maybe) do front giants in my lvl 8 bar routine next season. i've been doing on stap bar for a few weeks and a couple of days ago i tried them - still on strap bar - with my hands in reverse grip (i think that's what it's called?) but anyway, it felt really really weird... is it just something you have to get used to? i cant even IMAGINE doing them on the regular bars... hahah. any tips/advice would be appreciated :]

[Indiana]

Hmm well I started doing front giants in competition in level 8 (struggled because of a wrist injury at the time). Bars are not a huge strength for me, though I have improved a ton this past year. They do feel weird (as in the whole reverse grip part and of course the going backwards part for me anyway). I actually found they were hard on my arms and elbows for the first few weeks of doing them. My personal advice, and something I found really worked for my teammate who found them hard to get comfortable with, is to stay with the strap bar and basically do them over and over until you get comfortable with the whole motion and grip. That's what they did with us with our backward giants. We were like spinning around that strap bar 40 or 50 times lol. Best of luck!

[Jojogymgirl]

Have you ever tried doing cast handstands on the low bar in reverse grip? Start by doing these with a spot and coming back down to the bar. Then, do them and fall over the low bar. Make sure that a mat's under you. If you do this, then try to do some in strap bar. You'll get it eventually, trust me! They're not that bad!

[Jojogymgirl]

When you fall over, make sure you're on the low bar, not the high bar!!!

[Jojogymgirl]

try doing some handstand holds on a mini-bar against a wall in reverse grip

[gymgymgymnast08]

Haha I was just wondering about them last night cuz I wanted to do them on the strap bar but I couldn't figure out how to do it haha

[gymnaSTICKs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gymgymgymnast08 Haha I was just wondering about them last night cuz I wanted to do them on the strap bar but I couldn't figure out how to do it haha

hahah yeah it took me awhile to figure it out too - actually, i DIDNT figure it out - my coach had to help me :] (i'm assuming you're talking about how to strap in, right?) okay, you have your hand come in from the other side. (you usually put them through the front of the loop - now you're putting them in the BACK of the loop) and then, if this is your left hand, you twist your hand in towards yourself (to the right) and then do the same thing for the other hand obviously. that probably made no sense at all.... i'm not good at explaining that kinda stuff. let me know if you want a better explanation and i'lll try again!

[gymnaSTICKs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jojogymgirl Have you ever tried doing cast handstands on the low bar in reverse grip? Start by doing these with a spot and coming back down to the bar. Then, do them and fall over the low bar. Make sure that a mat's under you. If you do this, then try to do some in strap bar. You'll get it eventually, trust me! They're not that bad!

jojogymgirl - thanks for all your ideas/advice! i'm going to try some of them at practice on monday!

[gym law mom]

All of our L7 girls are working front giant drills. A few are freaked about going forward and the reverse grip. They do use the strap bar, but my gymmie said she really doesn't get the true feel of the grip there. They do a drill on trench bar where the girl climbs up to the bar and they support her in a handstand using a large landing mat, then give her a "nudge" to push her over.