Giants at Level 7

[gymdog]

I had some issues with giants through my L7 season, it worked out okay in the end. Same thing with losing layout flyaway, easily learned and competed double flyaways just a few months later. It'll come, it sounds lame but as long as you believe it and keep trying to set broken up smaller goals and make progress on them every day, you can work through it.

Giants aren't required. Some coaches set their own requirements because most certainly the routines that score the best in L7 bars have a circling element through HS (for a variety of reasons including that girls with these skills are usually stronger on bars in general). However a clean routine with two free hips can almost as certainly outscore messy giants, some coaches like to focus on competitive preparation such as learning to warm up the giants in a timed setting and perform, rather than focus on the overall score at the beginning of the L7 season. This is why I competed bent knee giants at the beginning of my L7 season, but at states I did just free hip handstand into flyaway off high bar (no giants). We had to have giants to compete L7 bars in the beginning of the season, that was just a gym requirement though, not USAG.

[Tuduri]

We had one gymnast who did level seven without a giant. And I think she did two clear hips if I recall correctly. Anyway, she did move up to level eight and absolutely had to do her giant. She managed to do them with straps, into the pit, without a spot and then on the regular bars with a spot. She repeated this endlessly. Finally, one day her bars coach(our temporary bars coach before Tkatchev)yelled "why do you need me?" It got everyone's attention. All gymnasts and parents looked up. We were all aware of this one gymnast's mental obstacle with her giants. After a pause, the coach yelled, "just do it". He stood nearby just in case but stood back noticeably. Time stopped. It was a real Zen moment. The gymnast went up into a nice cast and came around once, twice and dismounted with a flyaway! Everyone was cheering. We were all very emotional. I don't know if it was just the repetitions or the gradual step by step progression from straps to the pit to regular bars with a spot or all the above. But the gymnast to her credit never gave up. She perservered and kept going. And eventually with just a llittle mental push, "why do you need me", "just do it", she did it. I think that all her reps and the aforementionned progression gradually allayed her subconscious fears and she eventually did it. This probably varies from one gymnast to another. But the key was not to ever quit or back down. Her determination was inspiring.

[gymgymgymnast08]

I go to a YMCA and my level 7 bar routine was kip cast freehip kip cast squat on long hang kip cast free hip flyaway. I scored 9s on that so obviously at least in YMCA you can do no giants and a 2 freehips. It says 2 "B" circling elements