Parents recommend a home beam?

[pullover]

I am planning to get my daughter a beam for the holidays. Can anyone recommend one? I think I will wait on the bar but wondering if anyone has any opinions in bars at home? Safe? Concern about forming bad habits?

 

[3gymgirlsmom]

We have a beam and bar we got off amazon, my kids have fun on them but mostly do skills they can do safely and just swing and walk on and do run thru on routines of only the details and balancing not the bhs or any major beam skills ( cartwheel is the only one really)

 

[AV24]

I got one for my DD last year from the gymnast hut (online). It was around $100 before shipping, it folds in half, and the sides are angled down, so it doesn't hurt if her foot slides off the edge. I think it's 9 feet long, and it's very easy to fold and carry. It has two straps on the side. I looked around for awhile before choosing that one, and I don't regret it. See if this link works for you:

http://www.gymnasthut.com/balance_beams/imag022A.html

We don't have a bar at home (although she would LOVE one). I've seen a few threads on CB about home bars, and most people discourage them for both safety and form reasons, but really my DD doesn't have one because we have nowhere to put it. Ha!

 

[munchkin3]

If your DD is working anything more than pullovers, the Bar is useless and dangerous. The beam is a great thing to have.....if nothing more it serves as a very good scratching post for our kitties.

 

[wallinbl]

No, a beam at home is not safe. You'll stub your toes and trip over it in the dark. Only get one if you hate your toes.

 

[mobeans]

Home beam is great! Dad got hers from the beam store. It is a low beam (about 5" off the floor). No toe stubbing as it resides in our exercise room . It's been great to practice handstands and cartwheels on.

 

[Sasha]

We like this beam
http://www.matsmatsmats.com/gymnastics/beams/pre-elite-low-balance-beam.html

Pros:
- Lightweight and easy for young kids to move around
- Splits in two four-foot sections for easy storage
- Assembles quickly with velcro
- Can use just one section to practice handstands and presses in a smaller space
- Sits flat on floor without pesky 'feet' to trip over, stub your toe, or land on
- Though the base is wider and angled (so it does not topple over), the top few inches are straight so that the gymnast can still 'grasp' her fingers around the top of the beam just like a real one. This was the biggest selling point for us.
- The vinyl covering is pretty similar to real beams, and so far has held up nicely
- Bonus: put the two four-foot sections parallel (side by side) to use like parallettes for additional exercises

Cons:
- on the pricey side for a home beam
- any beam that splits in two sections will always need some adjusting as you use it to stay straight - so far this has not bothered daughter, and it's very easy to just tap it back straight with a finger or toe, but I guarantee some people will expect it to stay perfectly straight and be disappointed.
- Since it is made of hard foam and sits on the floor, there is probably more 'give' to this beam than one made of a heavier wooden base with wooden or metal feet - especially if you sit it on top of carpet. A heavier wooden-based beam will likely be more stable. Tradeoffs. Of course, a little more give makes the gymmie work harder to balance and get that much stronger ;-)

As for a home bar, I don't recommend it. Unless you have money to burn and you're going to strictly supervise (and enforce) skills on it. Pullovers would be fine, but even practicing a kip can breed bad habits. I know one (very talented but new) girl who has been 'practicing' her kip outside of gym with no formal instruction, and believe me, you really really really don't want your daughter to get stuck with the form problems she has. Undoing them will mean it takes her longer to get her kip. Money spent on some privates, if necessary, would be a better investment than a bar imo. Unless you need an expensive towel / laundry rack anyway ;-)

 

[mimi]

I would not do a home bar. At best she will practice things and potentially have bad form. At worst she will hurt herself. Leave it at the gym. If she wants to do something at home handstands are the best.

 

[l.c.o]

What level is your DD?

At out house, we've been strictly against bars (money, space, safety and longevity). The last time DD played on a friends' at-home kip bar during a play date, she somehow managed to cut her leg on a BHC. While I hated seeing DD in pain, I was sort of glad because it finally stopped the begging for one. We do have a pull up bar for strength that both my kids use.

Three years ago we bought DD an 8' beam from the Beam Store. It has the shortest legs you can get. She'd recently became terrified of the beam.... Within 1-2 months DD was back on track. Not sure if that was the home beam or just her, though. DD used it a lot for the first year or so. Now it mostly sits unless she has a gymnast friend over, then they mostly screw off on it (doing silly choreography or cartwheel contests, etc). So, depending on age might be great for short term.

This Christmas, DD asked for a foam beam. She's currently got a fear of going backward on the beam.... She has convinced herself that a 2" tall foam beam is the solution. After two months of trying to talk her out of it... Guess what she is getting for Christmas?

(I ordered the 9' one from gymnasthut this time via amazon. I wanted one that was both faux suede covered and came in one piece. Review pending, though!)

Good luck!

 

[pullover]

What level is your DD?

At out house, we've been strictly against bars (money, space, safety and longevity). The last time DD played on a friends' at-home kip bar during a play date, she somehow managed to cut her leg on a BHC. While I hated seeing DD in pain, I was sort of glad because it finally stopped the begging for one. We do have a pull up bar for strength that both my kids use.

Three years ago we bought DD an 8' beam from the Beam Store. It has the shortest legs you can get. She'd recently became terrified of the beam.... Within 1-2 months DD was back on track. Not sure if that was the home beam or just her, though. DD used it a lot for the first year or so. Now it mostly sits unless she has a gymnast friend over, then they mostly screw off on it (doing silly choreography or cartwheel contests, etc). So, depending on age might be great for short term.

This Christmas, DD asked for a foam beam. She's currently got a fear of going backward on the beam.... She has convinced herself that a 2" tall foam beam is the solution. After two months of trying to talk her out of it... Guess what she is getting for Christmas?

(I ordered the 9' one from gymnasthut this time via amazon. I wanted one that was both faux suede covered and came in one piece. Review pending, though!)

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. My daughter is pre team -soon to move up to x cel bronze. Curious -what is the advantage to a foam beam over the 8" beam with shortest legs at the beamstore -which is exactly what I'm now planning to get? Should we be going for the foam one since it sounds like it could be used for longer?

 

[l.c.o]

Thanks for the reply. My daughter is pre team -soon to move up to x cel bronze. Curious -what is the advantage to a foam beam over the 8" beam with shortest legs at the beamstore -which is exactly what I'm now planning to get? Should we be going for the foam one since it sounds like it could be used for longer?

I think it depends. And I know that isn't helpful. I think that the foam beam is technically "safer" than a beam with legs, as it's closer to the ground, but it definitely feels even more different than the regulation beams. I think my DD has 'needed' different beams at different times. Granted, not sure coach would agree she needs a beam at all. I bought my DD's first one when she was 7 and moving to old level 4. She's now 10 with different fear issues than three years ago... I think that if she did not have her current fear, that the beamstore beam would still be fine.