Parents Buy a Bar or not to buy a Bar

[gymmom/coach]

Hello all! I have been going back and forth on this decision for a while now... here is my story

My dd is 5 and in an "advanced class" at our gym. The problem is that she has lost some skills, and I know this happens in gymnastics but I feel she has lost them because of not having the opportunity to work on them as much. The problem is her coach is a preschool teacher and is not that familiar with gymnastics and I know we are supposed to "trust the coach" but in this situation I know her background and she has a fear of letting the girls try things on their own and does not know progressions into bigger skills on all events. I cannot switch dd to another coach because the classes are full. So my thinking is to buy a bar and work on skills at home with her (the nice thing is that I am a coach and can teach her the right way to do her skills at home) My problem is that I keep going back and forth I have this huge fear that I am pushing her into this sport because I love it and knowing gymnastics I am afraid if she doesnt get skills and start progressing now that she will miss bigger opportunities in the future. Yes I know she is only 5 which is part of the reason I think about not purchasing the bar. I dont know what to do lol

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yikes! i was a dad and coach also. she's only 5. save your money. home is home. "teach" her how to brush her teeth and tie her shoes. the good stuff. home is home.

 

[gymmom/coach]

I guess my post sounded kind of crazy lol I understand home is home and I really dont want to push her I guess I should have clarified that she has asked for a bar and I wouldnt be waking her up saying ok now its time for practice and forcing her into repetitions lol Usually with things like cartwheels if I see her doing them I will remind her to have straight legs and that sort of thing, but I have never forced her to practice at home. Also she only goes to class 45min once a week so she doesn't get much practice. maybe I will just hold off. Does anyone on here have a bar for their little one??

 

[Empowered]

I bought the whole Junior Kip Bar set from TumblTrak for my daughter. It was so tempting... It said with the extensions and plywood she could use it up to 125 pounds and they swore it would grow with my daughter who just LOVES bars. Do you know where the bar is now? Sitting, disassembled in our storage area.

She used it for L4, that was it. Despite having extensions and plywood as recommended (and chalk and water bottles because it will feel nothing like the bar she is used to when you take it out of the box), it did not grow with my daughter. The minute she started really swinging and kipping and casting to horizontal the bar was just never stable enough for her to feel comfortable. Even the mats are minature though they are definitely necessary. The panel mat they sell with the kit is really like a half panel. It is now used for stretching and nothing else.

There is one thing that came with the set that is used to this day though and that is the padded mat. It gets a lot of use here, as a mini portable mattress when kids sleep over. Other than that, it was a really expensive lesson of things not to do.

 

[agymmom]

I am not going to comment on whether or not kids should be practicing gymnastics at home, but I will tell you that I got my dd the exact same bar as Sharks when she turned 6. She has gotten every single bar skill on the bar (pullover, back hip circle, mill circle, front hip circle, shoot through). She used the bar a ton when she first got it, then stopped for several months and is now back to using it with some regularity. My dd has not had any problems with it feeling unstable although it does get wiggly the higher it is positioned. I don't force her to practice and given that our gym has very limited practice times (2x/wk), I think it has been helpful.

My dd has been starting to practice kips on it and it seems that it will work fine for that. I think that is about the last skill she will be able to practice on it (I don't know enough about the skills in the higher levels to know whether or not it will be safe or stable enough for anything else).

I bought it used and may resell it when she outgrows it if she doesn't want to use it for conditioning. She will have gotten at least 2 years of use out of the bar. Also, my son loves swinging from the bar and my dd loves hanging upside down on it (not to mention that all of the kids that come into the house love to play on it). If I had to do it over, I would buy the bar again.

 

[bookworm]

Been in this sport for over 10 years with my girls...never had any home equipment, never will...as Dunno says, home is home.

 

[bogwoppit]

Don't do it, it's a waste of money and frankly no matter what you say you will end up spotting skills and you will end up encouraging and pushing.

So many ugly videos on Youtube of kids in garages, glassy eyed trying to get front hip circles, or doing scary giants in the basement. A recipe for overuse injuries and burn out.

She is five, the bar skills will come. Go play on the monkey bars in the park, just swinging bar to bar will make her stronger, sliding, running, jumping and climbing will be fun and you will both enjoy it.

 

[BlairBob]

Only 1 45m class a week? Hmm, I'd look into adding another class or a longer class instead. I'm not sure I would trust a single rail at home unless she could only use it with you there. Even then, ample padding. If you're ok with that and it isn't too costly, maybe get one. Once a gymnast is training in L4/5, there isn't much they can do on single rail bars at home. By that time, more than likely they are doing 3 or 4 days a week and plenty of gymnastics to cure that desire for more bars.

 

[cher062]

Dunno said it all. She is just 5yo there is plenty of time for gymnastics. Save your money and leave the gymnastics in the gym.
The only "at home" equipment you may really want is a chinup bar and maybe one of the 8' folding beam IF she makes a team otherwise let it be fun. Be her mom not her coach.

 

[gymmom/coach]

I have to say some of the comments make me sound like I am a crazy mother who thinks if I buy her a bar I can push her and make her be the next Nastia. lol I have come up with a solution I am not buying a bar but only because I do not want to drop the 500$ on one. But I am going to take her to open gym time. I have some conflicts about the practice at home thing, I see it the same as buying my son a hoop. gymnastics just happens to be a lot more dangerous where there would need to be much more supervision. Thanks for the responses.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

I would add another structured class each week over open gym, but I know it's different here than in the States. Here open gym tends to be chaotic with many older girls and guys, lots of cheerleaders and break dancers, etc.

Oh I just noticed you are gymmom/coach, lol, so if you are going to be on the floor coaching her at open gym then that's different.

 

[rsm]

We did get a "preschool" bar for DD about a year ago (from Craigslist). And I have to say that she does like playing on it, and it is nice for something else to do indoors on a cold and/or rainy day. Although, I don't like setting it up and taking it down, so she probably doesn't use it as often as she wants to. She can't do much more than pullovers and back hip circles on it, but she still loves to hang, swing, and so does my DS. The rules I have are that I need to be there while they play on it, and the panel mats under. I believe it has helped her with her arm strength, and getting her pullover and back hip circle, but she is quickly outgrowing it. I expect we'll probably be selling it soon after this summer if she starts L4, for probably the same as what I paid for it. It really is just for entertainment at home, and is nice that the kids get exercise with it as well, but they're certainly not doing any serious skills.

 

[gym monkeys mom]

I think if she needs more practice looking into more gym days is a great option. this leaves you as her mom not coach and she can spend more time doing gym and all its events.


Some clubs start a prep or pre team about this age maybe 2 times a weekk for about an hour or so. We have in the past had a few home things and they after awhile just get pushed aside. Some gyms have a specific program to move to pre/prep team others just try to find interested kids it never hurts to ask.

Best wishes

 

[sjm2b3]

Just to add my two cents...I have a daughter (6) and son (7) who both love gymnastics. A bar was the thing they wanted most from Santa, so we did get it for them. I think it totally depends on your lifestyle and where you live. We live in the country in the Midwest and in the winter we have lots of days where you simply cannot play outside. I work from home which is great, but it also means we have less opportunity to get out and about as I am working. So, the bar has been used pretty much daily since Christmas. They don't necessarily practice on it, but they do pullovers, back hip circles, kips, etc. It's never forced, they just love to swing.....it has been awesome to have on snow days when it's too cold to play in the snow. I am guessing it will be used very little in the summer as we play outside, ride bikes, go to parks etc....but I have two very active kiddos and it's been great to have.

 

[gymmom/coach]

The open gym I am going to take her to is only for ages 6 and under so it should work out well, I cant do another structured class because they are full. Right now the owner is putting together a preteam for the littles ones that will be 2x a week and I hope dd gets the opportunity to join it. Thanks for all the responses and I will let you all know if I ever get that bar! Also I do live in the midwest so we are definitely stuck inside which makes for a long winter....

p.s. I do not want to coach my daughter!! In fact if she ever makes the level I coach I will try and switch levels!!

also the skills i wanted a bar for were pull over back hip circles and casts. definitely not giants...yikes!

 

[rsm]

Just to add my two cents...I have a daughter (6) and son (7) who both love gymnastics. A bar was the thing they wanted most from Santa, so we did get it for them. I think it totally depends on your lifestyle and where you live. We live in the country in the Midwest and in the winter we have lots of days where you simply cannot play outside. I work from home which is great, but it also means we have less opportunity to get out and about as I am working. So, the bar has been used pretty much daily since Christmas. They don't necessarily practice on it, but they do pullovers, back hip circles, kips, etc. It's never forced, they just love to swing.....it has been awesome to have on snow days when it's too cold to play in the snow. I am guessing it will be used very little in the summer as we play outside, ride bikes, go to parks etc....but I have two very active kiddos and it's been great to have.

Same here. I also have a 6 year old DD and 7 year old DS. It's definitely been a nice thing to have for the winter when we're snowed in or it's too cold. DD would much prefer to be outside... in the park, on the bike, on the monkey bars. When spring comes around, I'm sure it will be packed away for a while.

 

[bogwoppit]

How cold does it get that they cannot play outside? Here it gets to the -30c's quite often. Even my 12 year old plays outside. Horrifies me that there are colder places than here!!!

 

[gym monkeys mom]

How cold does it get that they cannot play outside? Here it gets to the -30c's quite often. Even my 12 year old plays outside. Horrifies me that there are colder places than here!!!

Hmmm not sure it gets much colder anywhere than that Bog.....well at least where folks live anyways.

 

[bribri514]

How cold does it get that they cannot play outside? Here it gets to the -30c's quite often. Even my 12 year old plays outside. Horrifies me that there are colder places than here!!!

Oh bog, you are so much like my mom it makes me laugh! It snows here from September until May and the snow lingers a lot longer. Doesn't get that cold, but is usually between 0 and 20 F during the day in winter. And yet my mom would always push me and my sister out the door. We're definitely more indoor girly girls than my mom, but maybe that's why we turned out like that! She grew up near where bog lives and I guess is used to being outside in the cold.


But on the issue of the bar, I don't think you're a crazy gym mom! It's very common at that age for girls to be mesmorized by gymnastics and want to do it every single hour of every single day. I would do things like walk in handstands everywhere including to the dinner table, try to do flips off the couch (that got the axe as soon as my mom caught me), make up balance beam routines on the floor and make our dogs try to sit and watch me, etc. etc. etc. So I definitely don't think you're pushing her.

I think people get especially nervous about the idea of a bar since it has the possibility of being dangerous more so than doing other gymnastics things at home. The part that a parent has to supervise makes people probably more nervous because of the possibility coaching will occur. Bummer that the gym's classes are full, hopefully the pre-team gets formed soon! I think open gym is a great idea, because even if you know the line between "home" and "gymnastics", having actual gym equipment at home at that age makes it much harder for your DD to tell the difference over time. Good luck!

 

[TexasRose]

We went through the same thing, you're not a crazy gym mom. DD is 7 and level 3 and has been asking for a bar all season. 2 of her friends at gym have bars at home. We decided not to do it because I don't think she'll really use it enough to be worth the $ and I don't want her teaching herself bad habits on it at home. It's tempting though- I definitely understand where you're coming from. DD did about 15 extra casts in her level 3 bar routine at the last meet and I'd love to think that if we got a bar at home I could break her from that habit. But what would probably happen is we would both get frustrated and something that used to be fun would become work. I think open gym is a great idea, DD loves going to those