WAG Leotard Preferences.

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I was wondering if any gyms had any specific preferences to the styles of leotards and gym gear worn, eg. higher cut legs, no shorts etc. It seems to be the norm at my gym to wear GK (which tend to be higher cut) on the littler kids and preteens, with or without shorts and the older girls wear the GK velvet shorts and just a fitted T-shirt, no leotards worn at all. The coaches don't seem to mind, as long as the gymnast is able to move in it. Watching videos on youtube and reading other post on CB it seems to be uncommon NOT to wear a leo to practice, maybe my gym's a rarity. Do your gyms tend to be more strict on the leo issue to "prepare for competition environment" or as something that should just be worn for gymnastics? or are they more lax? Are the girls comfortable/prefer wearing leotards at your gym? What do your gymnasts wear to practice?
 
At my gym all the squad gymnasts wear leotards to practice. The older girls wear shorts with their leotards. My dd just wears a leotard. When it gets cold she wears leggings under her leotard. Its only the begginners and rec gymnasts that just wear shorts and tshirts with no leotard, but even some of them still wear leotards. Ive never heard of a gym were the squad gymnasts dont wear leotards to practice. To me that would be like a swimmer not wearin a swimming costume to swim. Even if its just for training all the gymnasts still wear leotards.
 
The team is required to wear leotards at my gym. Some wear shorts, some don't. Saturdays the team is not allowed to wear shorts.
The rec team also all wear Leo's, some wear shorts although you get some loser shorts here verse team everyone wears the fitted shorts.
Recreational classes, most wear leotards but some wear shorts and t-shirt.
 
Our team girls all wear leos, no matter what age. Again some wear shorts and some don't. My dd does sometimes depending on which leo she's wearing. Always proper gym shorts.

They wear leggings and t shirts over for warm up but are then given time to strip them off and tidy them away before continuing.

The rec girls wear leos too. They get to try a class for a couple of weeks in shorts and t.shirt, but if they sign up they are asked to provide a leo and there is a second hand box if they prefer not to buy new straight away.

Our coaches don't like girl wearing anything loose. I am told it's for safety - if you want to get a good grip of someone you don't want to be dealing with loose material and unable to judge exactly where the body is underneath. But it's also so that they can judge form accurately. DD's coach has told her she loves her adidas leo as the side stripes allow her to see exactly how upright she is in a cast handstand. Strangely dd hasn't worn that one for a while, lol!
 
Our girls - rec and team both - wear leotards except for just a handful of exceptions. I've never seen the boys train in anything but t-shirts and shorts.
 
Hmmm, maybe it is just my gym. The little kids mainly wear the leotards because their parents dress them and they wear the pinks and lime greens and dress kind of cutesy. The older team girls wear shirts they get from meets e.g states, nationals. They're normally pretty form fitting and tucked into their GK shorts if need be. Our gym doesn't have a pro shop that sells leotards either, maybe that's a factor, as well as shirts/shorts combo being more comfortable.
 
All our girls wear leos. The only exception is younger rec girls, some of the cheer classes, and during conditioning only, some of the girls will wear tight fitting clothes over their leo until their bodies are warmed up. T-shirts I don't think would fly, as you can't see proper form on some skills wearing one. I feel like it would just get in the way.
 
our gym must wear a leo. nothing too cutesy. lots of GK. our HC will let you know if the fit is too big/baggy - says it effects form & posture.
warm ups in the winter to start class. bar shorts are allowed.

2 notes about leos: i get most of mine on Ebay. once in a while a new one @ an away meet for a treat. also, the hc gives out a leo for major milestones (and apples for all the minor ones ;-)
 
We all wear leos. The type/brand is up to you, although it seems the older girls go for GK and Alpha Factor and the little ones go for off brands maybe cause they are growing still and they are less expensive. Everyone wears shorts you will get taunted and laughed at if you don't, except again for the little ones that usually wear ballet leotards with 15 feet of Dora the explorer underwear sticking out lol.

When kids start rec. they are told they can wear leos or a tight fitting shirt and shorts and most do for a while until the see everyone else wearing leos and want one.

Team kids are only allowed leos. And we are not allowed to do the sports bra and shorts thing either.
 
Is there any specific reasoning behind having to wear a leotard, apart from the obvious loose clothing rule. What would be wrong with wearing a sports bra and shorts for example?
 
Our team girls are all required to wear Leos only.... No bar shorts or otherwise. During the winter months you do see some girls wear leg warmers that stretch from ankle to mid thigh...they remind me of the "baby legs" that are out now for little ones learning to crawl.
 
Is there any specific reasoning behind having to wear a leotard, apart from the obvious loose clothing rule. What would be wrong with wearing a sports bra and shorts for example?

Our gym has a rule that this is not allowed, actually. The girls are there for gymnastics, they want them to look like it. I would prefer my daughter wear a leotard over sports bra and shorts...I mean she's 5 right now, but even still I wouldn't let her wear the two pieces to gym.
 
  1. Is there any specific reasoning behind having to wear a leotard, apart from the obvious loose clothing rule. What would be wrong with wearing a sports bra and shorts for example?

Our team girls all wear Leo's, I think I can count on one hand the number of times that I have seen team girls wearing shorts.

A few reasons that seem obvious to me would be that it is much harder to spot if someone is in a t-shirt, and much harder to see form.
Another reason is that the girls should feel comfortable in Leo's at competition- if they are wearing shorts at practice most of the time, they are going to feel "undressed" without them on.

I also think that there is a psychological component to "suiting up" that puts an athlete in the right frame of mind when their proper attire is put on.
 
Re- wearing shorts and t-shirt, how do older teens manage to tumble or hold handstands without the t-shirt coming loose and giving everyone a flash? That would be my main reason for a leo, nothing is going to accidentally work loose and expose parts that shouldn't be :D

The sports bra and shorts thing I can imagine would be really awful on bars with bare stomach skin.

I remember back in the day when we trained in a school hall. In the winter holiday the heating would be turned off and we'd warm up in full ski-suits. Yep, salopettes, jumpers, hats, until we got warm enough for tracksuits or leggings :)
 
At our gym you see all sorts of attire at the rec level. Usually by the time the rec kids are in the gold classes, they have caught on and wear leos, some with booty shorts, some without. I always cringe when I see the colorful undies sticking out of leos, thankfully by a certain point in training most of them seem to have caught on that undies aren't necessary..!

For TOPs, they are requires to own and wear ( not every practice but as often as possible) our TOPs training Leo.

For team, they are required to wear leos only, no shorts at all but they can wear sports bras under the leos. The team practice leos are optional for the lower level teams, and they have certain days for wearing certain leos (I.e on Wednesdays everyone who has them wears the blue ones, on Thursdays the yellow and blue ones and on Fridays the blue and white ones or whatever).
I happen to be a seamstress and I make almost all my dds leos so we're opting out of the team practice leos since dd has so many already and I cringe at the cost.... But we're getting the official comp Leo of course!

Coming from the strict dress code at my other daughters ballet studio, I'm already used to there being restrictions and I personally think it's great. I believe that you take things more seriously if you have to physically prepare for them (change into Leo, make sure hair is nicely done and up, and so forth), plus for the older girls it's a matter of safety as well.

All rec kids are not allowed to wear jeans or loose, flowing garments but leos are optional ... The gym recommends them but are not enforcing them on rec level. Dd has always worn a Leo from the start.
 
Re- wearing shorts and t-shirt, how do older teens manage to tumble or hold handstands without the t-shirt coming loose and giving everyone a flash? That would be my main reason for a leo, nothing is going to accidentally work loose and expose parts that shouldn't be :D

The sports bra and shorts thing I can imagine would be really awful on bars with bare stomach skin.

I guess the girls just learn to manage ;)
 

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