My 11 year old is currently a L7 but may move to L8 mid-season. The reason for "maybe" moving up is bars! She is scoring great on all other events and has her skills for 8 solid.
Here's the issue. She doesn't use grips. She is TINY. Much smaller than the average 11 year old. (She's 4'4" and 63#.) As such, she also has tiny hands. Her coaches seem to think that her hands are too small for grips. I know that they DO make grips for her size. And I have looked at enough clips on YouTube or here or other places where there are teeny tiny gymnasts who are doing advanced moves on bars and they all use grips.
On the one hand, I want to trust her coaches. After all, I am not a coach and not the expert here. But on the other hand, she is struggling on bars and I wonder if it is because she isn't using grips. Thoughts?
Here's the issue. She doesn't use grips. She is TINY. Much smaller than the average 11 year old. (She's 4'4" and 63#.) As such, she also has tiny hands. Her coaches seem to think that her hands are too small for grips. I know that they DO make grips for her size. And I have looked at enough clips on YouTube or here or other places where there are teeny tiny gymnasts who are doing advanced moves on bars and they all use grips.
On the one hand, I want to trust her coaches. After all, I am not a coach and not the expert here. But on the other hand, she is struggling on bars and I wonder if it is because she isn't using grips. Thoughts?