Body Types from the parents forum!

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Body types
Has it been anyone's experience that larger/muscular gymnasts don't score as well in compulsaries on floor and beam? My daughter is shaped more like Mary Lou Retton rather than Nastia L. It seems no matter how good her routines are technically, she scores lower than the other girls. It's gone so far as to one of her coaches suggesting she wear the leg seams on her leo higher to make her legs look longer. On bars and vault she scores right up there (if not higher) than her team mates. Is her body shape not looking "dancey" enough? It seems like the thin girls with the long legs score better on floor and vault. Just curious. Thanks. (P.S.- I would never do anything to encourage my daughter to try and change her body shape!!! Just so there are no concerns. She's beautiful and strong just the way she is!)



Ok I thought i'd post this in the chalkbucket forum so everyone can post on it.

I am definitely one of those gymnasts built like Mary Lou Retton. Short muscular and built like a fire plug. I have always scored lower then my friends on floor because I am not that good of a dancer but I think some judges will give taller people better scores because they have good long lines so it just looks better.

Beam I usually score better then my teammates only because I usually stay on and they don't always. I'd say if we both landed depending on what skills we both did they might get higher scores by a little. I don't have the best form so that could be it too but it might be the long lines looking better.

Being built like Mary Lou is definitely better for tumbling and vault and bars. I am a good tumbler and powerful. See I would score better on floor if its just tumbling but then the dance I score lower. On beam I score pretty high because my series ( back handspring backhandspring) is concistant.... Bars is probably my best event because you don't have to do anything with dance. Vault I'm pretty powerful on.

Some judges might give better scores for long lines but us gymnasts built like Mary Lou Retton have advantages in bars tumbling and vault!
 
I haven't noticed judges scoring differently based on body type in the meets I've attended. There's one girl from another gym who competes my dd's level and is quite short and stocky (you could call her chubby), but she does amazingly well. Same on the the boys' side. There's a boy in our state who competes my son's level and is really big, but scores really well. I enjoy seeing kids who don't necessarily look like the stereotyypical pixie gymnast doing well in gymnastics.
 
see! thats the only reason i get so ticked off at people [mostly on youtube] going around hating shawn johnson and other gymnasts built like her. i think its very rude to descriminate against any body type at all. Especially for a judge, its not fair and not somthing the gymnast can control or change. not that shawns body type is the only one being discriminated against, there is a girl in my gym who is 5'5" and not the "lightest" person in the world if you know what i mean, but she is an amazing gymnast with extradinary power [plus her execution is very good] but i hear some of the other kids making fun of the fact she isn't small. Its disgraceful. Even i am discriminated against. I am a very long legged girl, but because of the fact i am so tall, [5'7" now] i was told im not allowed to join team. i believe the exact words were "not what were looking for"
 
a lot of people "discriminate" against shawn johnson for her flexibility problems, not for her body type. she has an extremely muscular build, but she is similar in her build to alicia sacramone. its possible to have flexibility AND a muscular build. i also have a muscular build and in compulsory levels i wouldn't get high scores either (i don't know if that was because i wasn't "graceful" or because i just didn't have good form) however now it is not the case. once you get to optional levels and you are able to chose your skills it is much easier for you to get around skills that don't take grace to do and put an emphasis on skills that require a lot of power

for your case gymgymgymnast, we are built the same. however i dont score high on things like bars because i don't have a body like nastia's. i don't think judges "discriminate" against short stockier builds because hell look at the girls who are the best in the world (shawn and alicia) and they are built just like us :)
 
Hey, thanks for posting this here. It really may be the judges in our state that prefer longer lines. Plus the compulsary routines are not always a "good fit" for every gymnast. She can't wait to get to optionals and have routines that highlight her strengths. I totally agree that Shawn, Alicia and of course the fabulous Mary Lou are amazing. I try to encourage my daughter to look to them and a lot of college gymnasts for inspiration!
 
As a 4"11 girl who likes her food, I think that different routine types suit different girls: if nastia did shawn's routine she would look stupid and vice versa. its finding what's best for you that's hard but I definitely think the pixie girls have "more traditional" lines and that's how they manage to score higher. It's really unfair though!!!!
 
I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but a lot of college gymnasts in the US are not the skinny, stereotypical gymnast.
 
I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but a lot of college gymnasts in the US are not the skinny, stereotypical gymnast.

Absolutely. My dad and I were watching LSU v. Georgia and he remarked on the same idea.
 
This is from a while ago but I had to post on here anyway. Yes I know I'm always the one who brings back the old threads!So I was dress shopping today for graduation and I went with my one friend whos not a gymnast. And shes a little taller then me but we are both way different builds and it was kinda funny like how the dresses fit both of us. I have to buy bigger dresses cuz my shoulders are so big haha but then I have like no hips so then it fits weird in other spots. I guess most of you guys have had this problem too. haha. but thats why is always better to walk around in a leotard all day :Its meant for gymnasts with weird body types and big muscles! Yay!
 
This is from a while ago but I had to post on here anyway. Yes I know I'm always the one who brings back the old threads!So I was dress shopping today for graduation and I went with my one friend whos not a gymnast. And shes a little taller then me but we are both way different builds and it was kinda funny like how the dresses fit both of us. I have to buy bigger dresses cuz my shoulders are so big haha but then I have like no hips so then it fits weird in other spots. I guess most of you guys have had this problem too. haha. but thats why is always better to walk around in a leotard all day :Its meant for gymnasts with weird body types and big muscles! Yay!

haha sooo true :] i really havent had to go dress shopping for anything yet (i'm only in 8th grade so no real dances and we dont have a graduation) but just shopping for regular clothes is hard. because we have such broad shoulders- oh and we have muscular arms so when i finally find a shirt that fits my shoulders then the arm holes suffocate my arms... and then there's JEANS - they have to be big for my legs but then small in the waist. i cant even remember the last time i found a pair of jeans that i dont have to wear a belt with. (i could go on about this forever but i'll stop at that lol)

anyway back to the main topic - i'd say i'm somewhere in the middle... definitely not nastiaish but not shawn-like either.
 
This is why my gf always wears big T-shirts and workout shorts when she's not in a leo. Seriously its either that or track pants and a sweatshirt. But the dress she wore to prom tonite fit perfectly! And her friends all looked great in theirs too.

Before prom she and her gymnast friends all had their dates come over to take pics. So there were like 5 guys and 5 gymnasts and one of them said, "this is probably one of the only places where you have 5 girls and 5 guys together where all the girls are stronger then all the guys". I thought that was funny, even tho its not entirely true (since I've been working out more to get ready for when i start tumbling this summer:p).
 
That is really funny! I've stopped having as many problems with finding clothes. There are a few stores around me that have pants by waist and length, not some stupid size (0,2,4...etc) and that always works really well, though if I really like the pants from somewhere else I'll buy either a 0 or 2 short and wear a belt. As for dresses, I love wearing halters and rarely have trouble finding a dress that fits well. For me, it's more that I'm insanely picky, quite pale and have next to no chest. My friend went dress shopping with me once and only once. She picked out her dress at the first store. She watched me try on dress after dress and was like, " Just pick one. They all look amazing" 2 hours later, I finally found one. We're best friends, but no longer go dress shopping together. lol
 
Before prom she and her gymnast friends all had their dates come over to take pics. So there were like 5 guys and 5 gymnasts and one of them said, "this is probably one of the only places where you have 5 girls and 5 guys together where all the girls are stronger then all the guys". I thought that was funny, even tho its not entirely true (since I've been working out more to get ready for when i start tumbling this summer:p).


thats hilarious i was like rofl. see like none of the guys im my school think im strong cuz they dont like see me in a leotard or anything and if they say something mean to me im like hey I can beat you up then all my friends are like yeah she could.
 
As for dresses, I love wearing halters and rarely have trouble finding a dress that fits well. For me, it's more that I'm insanely picky, quite pale and have next to no chest. /quote]


well im pale, no chest and big shoulders and like no hips so thats real hard to find a dress that fits in every place. its either too small in some places or too big in some places lol.
 
It seems only the expensive stores fit me. I'm a 00 in pants, and a S/M in shirts, depending on the store. I think i'm built more like nastia.
 
I'm tiny. I actually have to buy kids clothes occasionally- its majorly embarassing because my so-called-friends love to pick up something really childish and shout ANNA! YOU'D LOOK NICE IN THIS!!!

So called petites ranges don't even fit me. I could seriously pass for a ten year old (well I guess without the muscles, makeup and non straightened hair lol) . And I'm nearly sixteen *cry*.
 

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