Grips- help?

[fishchimes]

My coach ordered grips for the entire level 5 team about 2-3 weeks ago. We were supposed to be used to them by the time the next meet rolled around, but we only have about 4 more practices and I seriously cannot do a good bar routine with them. Plus, now when I take them off, my bar routine is rusty!! I'm not the only one having trouble, either.

When I do a front hip circle they slide down my fingers and end up in a weird position. Then when I do kips, I can't straighten my arms because the buckle jams between the ends of the bones in my hand and my wrist bone. This is also a problem when I do back hip circles; my arms bend and I almost fly off the bar. So I end up doing an ugly routing with bent arms everywhere. I told my coach about this but she didn't have any advice except to suck it up.

My meet is coming up and I'm going get like a 6 on bars... Does anyone have any advice? I'm really frustrated because the grips were almost $60 and I don't even really want them anymore.

 

[GetaGrip]

Grips are a tough thing to get used to. It usually takes me a couple months to break them in fully, which is why I don't get them during meet season.

Dowel grips are made to help you shift more, and protect your hands from the bar (even though they don't always do their job well).

The hard part about dowel grips is that your hands need to be over the bar for you to really do anything at all. Make sure to keep your hands over the bar and your dowels over your finger.

With the buckle sliding up, put your grip buckle down a little lower and tighter, and it will stay in place longer. Most grips slide up, I know mine do, but its just a matter of adjusting.

Basically, all of these problems come from grips, but you had the bad luck of getting used to them before a meet.

Best of luck to you, and I hope your grips help you on bars instead of hurting you

 

[Aussie_coach]

It can take a long time to get used to wearing grips, depending how often you train. If you do bars 3-4 times a week then it should take about a month. If you only do bars 1-2 times a week it will take around 3 months.

Don't panic about this competition, it is just 1 competition, in the long term when you adjust to your grips you will have many successful competitions, grips will make it much easier when you start doing bigger skills like giants in your routines. And at that time, you will be glad you got used to your grips as a level 5.

You could ask your coach if you could do this particular competition without grips and just train without them in the lead up to the competition but start wearing them again after the comp. Your coach may not agree to this but its worth a try. Make sure you ask in a very reasonable way, if the coaches senses its a whine or a gripe they will usually immediately refuse.

You should be wearing wrist bands around your wrists under the grips, if you are not that would explain why the grips are moving so much and digging into you, because they should not be doing that, make sure you do them up tighly, if you can't have your coach or a team mate do them up tight enough for you.

In the competition you will only do two routines, a warm up and your competition routine so they shouldn't slip too much.

 

[fishchimes]

"You should be wearing wrist bands around your wrists under the grips, if you are not that would explain why the grips are moving so much and digging into you, because they should not be doing that, make sure you do them up tighly, if you can't have your coach or a team mate do them up tight enough for you."

I'm wearing wrist bands and I put them on very tightly. But I can't put them down very far because (I think) the grips won't be long enough. Could they be the wrong size? I have very long fingers.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

experimenting and using grips for the first time should be done in the off season.

 

[fishchimes]

@dunno that's what I always heard, but we had a month of no meets and I guess my coach misjudged how long they would take to get used to-- she said herself she doesn't remember not using grips.

 

[AGM78910]

My DD had the same problem. The solution for her was to get extra long wristbands, at least 4-6 inches long. Tennis and baseball terrycloth ones are good and readily available at the nearest sports stores such as Sports Authority. She also uses neoprene ones that had to be ordered online. Ten-0 used to carry them.

 

[emandelsmom]

Check to make sure they are the right size. Bend them and break them in when not in gym. Also if on the playground or swingset at the house wear them. Break them in. Daughter just got a new pair. She is wearing them part of bars practice and every day-3 days a week. Then goes without. The week leading up to a meet she is not in grips. She will wear them full time after this last meet of the season.

 

[CamSeawind]

The finger holes of your grips may be to big, this may be why they slide up on your fingers. Also I might wear your grips lower and tighter so that they do not dig into your wrists.