Small hands and Struggles doing Bars

[jsfofec]

DD is a level 8, but has a real tough time on bars because she has really small hands. She said she always feels like she's going to peel off the bars and has a couple of times. The result is, she's bending and splitting her legs apart on giants and has trouble with her free hip circle. She's really strong, she used to do TOPs, so she already has a really strong grip.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to compensate for her hand size? Here coach has her doing different exercises to strengthen her grip even more to see if that helps, but I was wondering if anybody has any ideas

 

[Deleted member D3987]

what the coach is doing is all that you can do until their hands 'grow' in to the activity.

 

[2gymmies]

My Level 8 dd has tiny hands too and really struggled with bars for awhile. It took her significantly longer than all of her teammates to get used to grips and to learn giants and she is just now getting her clear to handstand. I don't have any real suggestions, just commiseration. Hang in there.

 

[jsfofec]

Yeah, her coach knows that she'll eventually get there and actually believes it will end up being her best event. She said DD has a great line once she gets everything straightened out. Her coach isn't worried at all. Just keeps working with her on it everyday. I"m sure in the end it will all pay off

 

[BlairBob]

Umm, is she in grips or not? I figure she is, because of that gym, but I don't feel like pulling up youtube to find out. Other than checking her grips for size and if they are moving around, no idea really. I do know my friend like to custom make grips for his itty-bitties because he if the opinion that most grip manufacturer's grips are sometimes too big. And yes, that is a huge liability risk probably, but *shrug*. At least the girls didn't grips that didn't fit right anymore.

 

[jsfofec]

Yes, she wears grips, been wearing them since level 5. She's using English Bulldog double buckle grips, size 000 (that's the smallest).

 

[BlairBob]

One of the best exercises in a gym for grip strength is legless rope climbs. As they their grip gets strong, use a thick rope, at least 1.25 inches to 1.5 inches (we used a 1 and a 1.25 inch rope for different strength levels and ages). For more mature gymnasts 1.5-2" thick (someone in their teens with a strong grip).

Well, I watched her bars. She isn't super tiny by any means. I could guess what her age is, but she is probably the same size or bigger than our small L7's last year (who were 9-10).

Again, I would check to see if the grips are moving around on her or not where they fit around the wrist.

 

[jsfofec]

She's 11 and is 4'6", but her hands are smaller than some of the 7&8 year olds who are maybe 6" or more shorter

She does work the rope daily. I'm not sure the size of the rope, but it's whatever they use for tops. She did tops training for 2 years and just stopped the program about a month ago, but still does the same conditioning, which includes lots of rope climbs. She does her rope climbs with her legs at 90 degrees in the 8-9 second range

Another exercise she does is hang under the beam with her legs at 90 degrees and go the length of the beam with only her fingers

Last summer DD was at a camp in Idaho and she and her coach talked with an expert bar coach about her grips, and he said they were a little loose, so she went from size 00 to 000, which did help. It's going to be an ongoing battle that hopefully she'll win in the end

 

[gymdog]

Well, she is doing giants, so on one hand it isn't like she just isn't getting skills. She will improve them - the giant process is long, and she is very early in it, even though she's gotten it.

However, have you considered trying a different cut/style of grips? The English bulldogs may not be the best for this situation (though they are a good grip, in my opinion, but if small hands are the issue).

 

[justanothergymmom]

I agree with gymdog.

When my DD1 started doing giants she was about 4'3" and had very small hands...she started with English Bulldog double buckles and they were a nightmare...she couldn't hold onto the bar at all. She went to 000 Hotshots by US Glove and has been using this brand ever since. It was much easier for her to get her tiny hands to grip the bar.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

US Glove. Hotshot grips. ^^^

 

[wandrewsjr]

All our little ones start out in Hotshot grips, too. Gibson also makes a similar model called "just right grips". The palm strip is thinner in both of these to allow the tiny hands to get a better feel on the bar. The regular size grips cover the entire hand of the little ones.

 

[jsfofec]

Thanks, I never even thought about another brand grip. The girls on the team wear either English bulldog or 10.0. I will definitely look into this

 

[BlairBob]

Thanks Dunno and WAndrews, I hadn't heard of either those for the most part. I have heard of the JustRight in passing but not the USGloves, "hotshots."

 

[gymdog]

Yes, the brands mentioned are along the lines of what I am thinking. I wasn't sure if you'd already tried them and for some reason settled on the English Bulldogs. Sometimes the upper part of the grip is too big in the style she has now. I don't recommend it for smaller hands for that reason, although I'm sure some make it work - I'm just not sure it's the best. The one downside is that the English Bulldogs would probably last somewhat longer...but the Hot Shots are also less expensive, so it probably evens out. And at level 8 training regimen/hours it won't be a big issue. I would get US Glove Hot Shot with buckle closure.

 

[jsfofec]

We are in Eugene Oregon competing this weekend, but as soon as we get home I'm going order these grips. Definitely order the ones with the buckles, DD coach prefers for them to use grips with buckles

 

[jsfofec]

I just wanted to follow up on this topic, DD started to work with her US Glove Hot shot grips yesterday. She said she really likes them. She only used it for part of practice, as she's trying to break them in. Coach doesn't think they will be broken in enough when DD competes states next weekend. So for now, she's using her English Bulldogs for regular bar work, then switches to her Hot Shots when doing drills, so that the break in process can begin.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

she'll love those grips. and they might break in by next week.

 

[stargazer]

Glad to hear she's liking the grips! I got hotshots 2 years ago (at 17, never having worn grips before) and they were fantastic they break in really fast. I have really small hands so that's why my coach recommended them, plus I still wanted to be able to feel the bar as I'd done gym for 5 years without them. All my teammates comment on how much better my grips must be than theirs because mine are so wonderfully narrow

 

[jsfofec]

She hopes they break in fast, I'm sure she'd love to wear them full time and compete with them next week. She sure got a lot of attention at the gym last night when she pulled them out