WAG Were Grips Easier or Harder for You or DD? I'm curious ;)

[Vincati]

Some people say it's easier and others say it's harder while others feel no change. What about you? I'm wonderin'

 

[Vincati]

* This is for the first time you wear grips compared to just your hands.

 

[Clover]

Per DD - Transition from hand to palm grips was hard. Transition from palm grips to dowel grips was easy.

 

[vagymmomma]

I think it really depends on the person. I think a gymnast's overall comfort with bars and even the brand of grips can make a difference. DD started using grips the summer before level 5 and it only took a practice or 2 at most to get used to them. Bars have always been her best event though, so I think a general level of competence may make a little bit of a difference (e.g., she wasn't trying to learn her kip and make the transition to grips at the same time).

I've definitely heard from other parents that it took their DD a while to get used grips, but honestly they generally were weaker on bars to start with. Just my experience though - I'm sure there are exceptions.

 

[fuzi]

I went from bare handed (and struggling with a kip) to wearing dowel grips. As soon as I got grips, I could kip consistently, swing bigger, and ripped a lot less (my hands were really prone to ripping to shreds).

 

[GYMMOM2L&P]

Palm grips were easy for my oldest DD with no problems moving to dowel grips either. Her grips have always been Ginnasta, which are easier to break in. Youngest DD, who isn't as strong on bars, is having problems with palm grips and is still getting used to them. She didn't use them to compete last season. Oldest uses enough chalk for 50 girls tho!;-)

 

[Gymmom495]

Haha about the chalk thing!! I never understood how my daughter ended up with chalk in her hair and all over her face.
I think a few others made a good point. If bars is a strong event it's pretty easy to transition to grips. My daughter got her grips and said it took a few days to break them in but that's it.


Sent from my iPhone using ChalkBucket mobile app

 

[Shawnjohnson]

When I first starting using grips on my first swing I few off the bar but lucky I caught the low bar

 

[iwannacoach]

When I first starting using grips on my first swing I few off the bar but lucky I caught the low bar...... "Shawngonejohnson"

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and assume, bar peel included a salto, but what I want to know is...... how many twists were you able to include on the way from the high bar to the low bar.

 

[wallflower]

My DD might just be a freak, but she is very strong on bars and had the hardest time with grips. I didn't see any correlation with being strong on bars making grips easy to adjust to. I think her case might have been more an issue of having really small hands and anything added between her hands and the bar made everything that much harder for her. She was finally forced to get them and did eventually adjust. So don't give up if they are difficult. She tried 2 different times with both times the coach finally deciding it just wasn't the right time. The third time was the charm for her. Both coaches remarked that they had never seen a kid have such a hard time. I think her problem was also a dose of stubbornness.

 

[mylittlemiss]

My younger daughter got her grips about a year ago, when she was beginning to train level 5. She adjusted quite well and very quickly. When my older DD was a gymnast, she struggled with the transition and seems like it took a couple of weeks for her to feel fully comfortable.

 

[gymmiemom]

I posted not that long ago about my DD hating her grips, so her transistion has not been easy We had bought her hot shots at the recommendation of her coach, but just this week switched to ginnasta grips. She seems to like those ones MUCH better, but it's still a struggle. I really think it's because her hands are so small. She puts the grips on more willingly now, but she still doesnt' love them. If her coach gave her the option she would do without them all together.

 

[cbifoja]

My daughter's coach said basically that my child "willed" her grips to work for her. She told my daughter that there would be an adjustment period and that she would hate them. Because of my child's stubborn streak (if you can call something the width of a 10-lane highway a streak), my daughter never complained and stayed late for about a week working bar skills with her grips just to prove her coach wrong (this according to the coach).

Our coach even gave a couple of the new L5 girls an option of going to grips or not. L5 is when our girls tend to go into grips but a couple of them were light enough that the coach thought they would be fine without them. But Stubborn Sally just had to have grips like everyone else. Isn't it funny how easy it is for some kids when they want it bad enough..... if only she "wanted" to keep the back of the car clean.

 

[thefellowsmom]

I guess my dd is a freak of nature. She said she hopped up, did a couple of back hip circles and was good to go. She said the first one felt a little strange but that after that it was fine. She loves her grips. I think part of it is that she was at this point in her bar progression where there weren't many skills she only kinda had, they were either totally baked or not quite there. She has pixie grips, which is what our coach recommends for the little ones.

 

[Vincati]

We had bought her hot shots at the recommendation of her coach, but just this week switched to ginnasta grips. She seems to like those ones MUCH better, but it's still a struggle. I really think it's because her hands are so small. She puts the grips on more willingly now, but she still doesnt' love them. If her coach gave her the option she would do without them all together.

DD's are ginnasta and her first practice with them is tomorrow. This makes me feel better! LOL

 

[J&A's mom]

My son has had a hard time, but his hands are small. Has anyone else noticed small hands make it harder? He is quite good on bars, so that isn't the issue.

 

[MyBoysFlip]

My son has tiny hands and is very light so his attempt at hb grips last year did not work. He has the Gynnasta (sp) 00 hb grips now and he says it is going much better this time around. He can kip, cast, and swing in them finally.