Palm guards?

[KarenUK]

Hi All,

My daughter is a floor and vault gymnast in the UK - she trains bars, beams mainly for conditioning purposes, and also tumble and will do a couple of 4 piece competitions a year and a couple of tumbling comps a year, but her mainstay are floor and vault comps.

On bars she is at a very basic level. She's always danced so has strong legs and good balance and flexibility, but her upper body strength is very much a work in progress. She's doing pullups (not there yet) leg lifts where she pikes her feet up to the bar (can do about 8 without swinging up now), straddle rolls up to the bar(has no problems with these), cast back hip circles, squat ons, and is learning chinup back circles (pullovers??), 3/4 giants, and straddle shoot dismount. We were told to buy palm guards for bar work, but she has nothing but trouble with them. She slips off the bar frequently despite using chalk and a water spray, to the point that she is trying to do bars without the guards but then has very sore hands on her non-gym days.

I'm not a gymnast and know nothing about guards, but basically I wonder if she has the right kind, and also if there's anything that we should be doing to the suede surface of the palmguards to roughen them up or something, to improve the amount of grip. I kindof wonder whether she should have different guards, but maybe the club are trying to make things less expensive for us. My daughter is getting frustrated because she feels the slipping is stopping her from getting the most out of her bars time, I don't know whether it is her technique/lack of experience.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

Karen x

 

[marie83]

Are her guards still fairly new?
I've noticed that until they are nicely worn in the gymnasts do tend to slip, particularly if the bars aren't chalky.

At our satellite club we have a problem with the gymnasts saying they are slipping - we only use bars once a fortnight over there and they are not at all chalky - still look brand new even though the gymnasts all use chalk!

At our main site, the bars are always chalky and the gymnasts don't tend to have such a problem with slipping.

Could your DD perhaps try someone elses guards on to see if a more worn in pair makes a difference?
Or maybe she could try someone's dowell grips if anyone has any?
I don't think we have anything in between the two types here, and dowell grips tend to be a lot more expensive and take a lot more wearing in, so if she isn't doing bars regularly it might be best to stick with the palmguards.

Hope something helps!
Marie

 

[KarenUK]

Thanks for your reply Marie - and sorry for the delayed response - I just spotted your message!

She does bars twice a week for about half an hour at a time, and has had the palmguards for about 9 months. I am more than happy to spend the money on dowell grips of they would help her - she is still having problems, still getting frustrated, and now thinks she's rubbish at bars! The bars are in use all the time and she tells me they's always chalky. She says the worst times are when she's doing straddle shoot/straddle shoot half dismounts, and when she does her squat on them jumps to catch the high bar, she is trying 3/4 giants but not getting anywhere because of the slipping. The club just talk about the cost of dowel grips, but I think it would be money well spent if it would help her progress - but I'm not a coach so don't know if the grips are the problem or if it's something else

 

[ivyagogo]

I have the same problem and as much as I try, I can't get used to wearing grips. If you figure it out, let me know!

 

[marie83]

I think it night be worth getting some dowell grips. They will take a bit of getting used to though. Make sure you get the correct size, when the hands are on the bar the dowell should grip over the top and there shouldn't be a 'pulling' feeling on the wrist. It always helps to wear them in at home too, just roll them back and forth to soften them up!

 

[BlairBob]

Young girl, or preteen/teen? How about hand size?

Start taping her hands if her hands are getting chewed up.

I don't see the need for dowel grips. However, improper technique of gripping/grabbing the bar can occur with or without grips. The shoulder must be active and in the ears, the head must not be out of alignment. I have had girls who have issues with grabbing and holding stemming from just poor technique.

As well, poor grip strength does not help. An easy cure for this is to have all her pullups being done with a piece of rope thrown over the bar. If she cannot do a pullup (which it sounds like she can't), she can do pullups with the rope by starting from sitting in a straddle on the ground and keeping her feet on the floor while she does a modified pullup.