In gymnastics, hand rips from gripping bars are common and repairable. Did you know they are, in many cases avoidable? I will give you tips on how to avoid grip rips. I will also explain how to repair and treat them if you do get these hand rips.

Grip rips are part of being a gymnast, but it is important to keep them minimal. Tender loving care will help or possibly prevent these painful hand rips. I want to help you avoid ripping those callused hands. It not only causes pain, but can hinder a performance.

Calluses are the hardened or thickened parts of the skin. They are to help protect the area where there is a lot of friction. Calluses are located at the top of the palms and sometimes in the middle of the inside of the hand. The more friction that occurs, the deeper the calluses. If the calluses get too thick, then rips can occur. It is important to avoid hand rips by maintaining proper care.

In gymnastics before you see a gymnast start her bar routine, she will rub chalk on her hands. This helps decrease the friction, but it also dries out the hands.

The best way to a gymnast can care for her calluses is by shaving them down. Many stores sell callus razors.  Pumice stones may also be used. I have even heard of people using podiatric sanders as well. Anything that helps grind down or shave the unwanted layers of the calluses. Do not shave the calluses down too far. In gymnastics, these calluses are a must have, just don’t let them get too thick. Groom them every week to avoid hand rips. Shaving the layers of a callus will keep excess skin from growing. Also, use a good skin moisturizer. Before bed is a must, Bag Balm is my favorite. Although it moisturizes, it also seems to heal the skin. It is usually found at your local hardware, farm, or drug store.

In gymnastics it is important to take care of a hand rip properly and as soon as possible. It must first be cleaned out with an antibacterial type product to keep the wound from getting infected. I recommend using an antibiotic suave just before covering up the wound. There are H shaped bandages that may be used if your gymnastics facility has them in their first aid box. If not, I recommend  wrapping gauze and tape around the hand. This is a sure way to keep the wound protected. Wrapping the hand will also help the gymnast to go on with her bar workout. Also, be sure to cut a couple pieces of tape and adhere them from the bandage inside of hand, through the fingers, and attach it to the  back of the bandage. Keep the wound covered for 4-5 days. If it is not healed, repeat this process and try to avoid too much friction until it heals.

1. Squat down with your legs and feet together.
2. Bend your arms and place your hands right next to your ears with your palms facing the ceiling and your fingers facing backwards.
3. Tuck your chin to your chest
4. Round your back like a cat
5. Lean backwards and roll
6. Once your hands meet the ground make your arms straight and push off the floor.
7. Land on your feet in either a pike or a squat (do not land on your knees)

Many times gymnastics coaches use an incline gymnastics mat or wedge mat to teach a backward roll. It gives the gymnasts a little more momentum.

When spotting a gymnast on backward rolls you want to lift their hips so they don’t hurt their neck.

Before you introduce the backward roll to your gymnast you should try starting them out with a gymnastics drill. For this backward roll drill you should start just like normal but once you roll you should squash your hands against the floor and then re-roll forward. This is kinda like a candle stick but with bent knees and arms. Each time your gymnast tries this drill encourage them to push off their hands more and more.

Mistakes in a Backward Roll

The most common mistakes gymnasts make is arching and throwing their head and shoulders backward. When doing a backward roll you must round your back like a cat.

The second most common mistake I see kids make is not pushing off their hands. If they don’t push off their hands they usually hurt their neck and never make it over. Usually they go back and fall over to the side.

Here is a video to help you understand the gymnastics backward roll even more!

I have wrote many articles explaining how gymnastics pits are very helpful and a great training tool for all gymnasts. This is very true but like always, with every good thing comes a negative aspect or a downfall.

The benefits of a gymnastics foam pit greatly outweigh the downfalls, but as a coach I must warn people about each and every downfall.

First, the gymnastics foam pit is very forgiving and may teach kids to use bad form and technique. When gymnasts do skills in the foam pit they usually forget all about straight legs, pointed toes and correct form. They get so caught up in doing the skill into the pit that they forget about all the technique required to do it on the ground.

Second, it can give a gymnast a false sense of accomplishment. Time after time I have asked my gymnast if they can to do a specific skill and they say yes. But they leave out that they have only done it into the pit! Many gymnast think if they can do a skill into pit than they have that skill. This is not true!! This thought can be very dangerous. I cannot stress enough, just because you can do a skill into a gymnastics foam pit does not mean you can do it on the spring floor.

Third, the foam pit can cause many injuries. Every gymnast should watch how they land in the pit. Landing feet first can cause an ankle to roll or knee to buckle. Landing headfirst can cause neck and back injuries. Landing on your belly can also cause back and neck injuries. When tumbling into the pit make sure you don’t land short or undercut, this could make you land on the pit edge. If you tumble to far you could also land on the pit edge. I have seen several gymnasts knee themselves in their face when landing in the pit, so be careful.

Last but not least, foam pit dust may get in the gymnasts eyes. This can cause a great amount of irritation.

Time after time I have seen my gymnasts come into our gymnastics academy wearing a brand new leotard.  There is just one problem, it doesn’t look like a new gymnastics leotard. I see many new leotards that are super faded, have rhinestones missing and colors that bled together. This is very disappointing when a parent spends their hard earned money on a new gymnastics leotard and it gets ruined after one wash. To ensure sure this doesn’t happen to you and your new gymnastics leotard you need to follow the washing instructions on the tag. One problem is many gymnast say the tag is itchy so their parents cut it out. This means mom and dad no longer have the washing instructions and this usually leads to a disaster leotard. If this happens you should follow theses washing guidelines….

• Make sure you wash it with a very mild liquid detergent. Usually Woolite or baby detergent (baby magic, dreft, baby all) work the best.
• Always was the gymnastics leotard in cold water. Using hot water will make the colors bleed more
• It is always best to wash gymnastics leos by hand. If you decided not to wash them by hand you need to wash them in a gentle cycle with like items. This will eliminate pulls, snags, and bleeding from other clothes.
• Turn your gymnastics leotard inside out when you wash it. This will help the special finish on your leo to last much longer.
• When it comes to drying a gymnastics leotard it always best to hang dry it. If needed you can throw the gymnastics leo in the dryer for a bit on super low heat.

Follow these instructions and you will have a gymnastics leotard that will not lose its color or shine and will look brand new all the time.

Gymnastics level 1, 2 and 3 balance beam routine has a time limit of 30 seconds

Ten seconds before your time is up the person timing will either ring a bell or say “warning.” Once your time is up you will either hear a bell ring again or the person timing say “time.” If you go over time you will receive a 0.10 deduction from your average score. If you are a level  7-10 and your routine is shorter than 30 seconds you will receive a 2.00 point deduction from your final score plus a deduction for whatever is missing in your routine. The time for a beam routine will began as soon as the gymnast takes off from the mat or springboard.  And the time ends as soon as the gymnast lands on the mat after her dismount. If the gymnast falls during her beam routine the person timing will stop the time once the gymnast makes contact with the floor.  The time will restart as soon as the gymnast makes her first move to continue her beam routine. The gymnast only has 30 seconds to remount the balance beam after she falls off. This time will be timed separately; this means there must be two stop watches. The person timing  will notify the gymnast when she has 20 seconds and also 10 seconds remaining  to remount the beam. If she doesn’t remount the beam within the  time limit the balance beam routine will be terminated. Within the 30 second fall time a gymnastics coach is allowed to coach and talk to the gymnast without receiving any deduction.  During the fall time the gymnast may perform a skill on the mat but will receive a 0.20 deduction.

A good recreational gymnastics program  should be designed to accommodate and teach children of all ages and skill level. It should help each and every gymnast build strength,  flexibility, agility, coordination, fitness, balance,  confidence, special awareness, etc. Along with teaching them the basics gymnastics skills to more advance skills.

All of this should be taught in a fun and safe atmosphere by including games and activities into the USAG based gymnastics program.

The recreational gymnastics program is designed to be a fun and challenging program that will enhance the participants athletic ability.  The newly  enhanced  physical attributes will help each person become a better athlete no matter what sport they choose to play.

It is not so much that they did something wrong, they usually are just missing the WOW FACTOR in their floor routine and beam routine.

Keep in mind, a judge may see the same gymnastics routine 100s of times. In all honesty they get a little board and want to see something that stands out. You can’t just hit your routine, you got to leave a mark and a good impression on the judges by giving them the WOW FACTOR they are looking for.

What is a WOW FACTOR? A wow factor is going to be something that wows the judges. A little extra spice in your routine that get the judge’s attention and makes your floor routine and beam routine stand out. This means you cannot just go through the motions of your routine.

Every judge wants to see a tight, clean, flawless routine, but this won’t get a gymnast the high score they are striving for. There is more to a routine than that. Presentation  and showmanship is very important when competing. This means every gymnast must finish every skill, stay in releve, have full body extension, keep their chin up, smile constantly and go all out on every skill. They must show a great amount of confidence and enthusiasm and not look timid or afraid. This will grab the judges attention and give them the wow factor they have been looking for!

You need to practice the way you compete. Going through the motions during practice and a meet is not good enough. You need to give it 110% on every skill and every beam routine and floor routine. This will give the judges the wow factor they want to see and will set you apart from the rest of the gymnasts.

Give the judges and audience a gymnastics routine to remember!!! GO GET THEM GIRLS!!

Do not land head first into the pit
Do not bury yourself under the pit blocks.
Do not attempt skills you cannot do by yourself safely
Do not land on your knees in the pit
Do not dig holes in the pit blocks
Do not throw foam out of the pit
Do not pick the foam pit blocks apart
Do not throw foam blocks at anyone’s face

MAKE SURE…

Make sure you land in the pit!
Make sure you take turns going into the pit
Make sure only one gymnast at a time is in the pit
Make sure no one is in the pit before you use it
Make sure to land in a pike position if dropping from rope
Make sure the foam pit is fluffed regularly
*Make sure to clean out the foam pit every once in awhile

*It is very important to take time and clean out the gymnastics pit a few times a year. Over time and with a lot of wear and tear the blocks start to flake apart. This causes a lot o dust and small foam pit pieces to be in the pit that often get into the gymnast’s eyes. When you clean out foam pits you may never know what you may find in the bottom. Some of the common things are hair clips, headbands, ponytail holders, stud earrings, jewelry, socks (even though they aren’t suppose to wear them), Band-Aids, etc. And you may even find a few crazy things; we have found glasses, retainers, hand grips, and a dead mouse.

Cleaning a foam pit out can be a very dirty job. Make sure you wear masks and even safety glasses to keep all the dust and flakes out of your mouth, nose, and eyes!!!!

One of our gymnasts always got foam pieces in her eyes, so one day she came to class wearing swimming goggles! She wore the goggles the whole time she did pit tumbling…Needless to say she didn’t get any foam in her eyes!!

Gymnastics foam pits are most important for optional and elite gymnasts. They are used as a training tool when it come to learning new gymnastics skills. Many people think a foam pit is used for tumbling and floor skills only, but it is not. It is used for so much more than that.

Gymnasts use foam pits for balance beam. Sometimes they may put a resi-pit under the high beam when trying  a skill they have never put on the high beam for the first time. Many gymnasts work beam dismounts into a loose foam pit before doing it off  the end of the balance beam on to mats.

Many gymnast use both resi-pits and loose foam pits when it comes to vault. A lot of times a vault is set up with a loose foam pit behind it. Each time the gymnast vaults she will land in a foam pit until she is ready for the next step. A resi-pit is used for a lot of drills when it comes to vaulting. A lot of times a coach may put it behind the vault table to help the gymnast learn to block off.

Foam pits are very important when it comes to the uneven bars. They are used underneath a single bar or in front of a set of uneven bars. They aid in the safety of release skills and gymnastics bar dismounts. Resi-mats are also used as a training tool on uneven bars.

And of course, pits are used for tumbling! They help with front and back tumbling on the floor. Some pits will even be in front of a tumble track or trampoline to help the gymnast get that little extra spring they need for a specific skill.

Gymnastics pits are useful in so many ways when it comes to learning new skills on any event.

Foam pits are very useful because it eliminates a huge amount of spotting from a gymnastics coach. No matter how great a gymnastics coach may be it is not a guarantee that they will always catch you or help you land safely. In all honesty, there are certain gymnastics skills that are very hard to spot and on occasions a coach spotting can get in the way. Spotting is also a lot of wear and tear on the body of any gymnastics coach.

Optional and elite gymnast are much safer when they use a pit to try new skills. A pit it so soft and fluffy that no matter how a gymnast may land they will be much better off than if they landed that way on floor. A foam pit reduces the chance of serious injuries by a ton. On rare occasions a gymnast may land weird and roll her ankle, this is minuet to what could have happened if they did the skill on the gymnastics floor instead.

Not only are foam pits essential for the safety of an upper level gymnast, but they can be the highlight for a younger gymnast’s gymnastics class. I have seen countless children beg to play in the pit, and when they get out it is all smiles. Younger and less skilled gymnasts love to do tuck, straddle, straight and pike jumps into the pit from the floor or mini tramp. Their absolute favorite is climbing or swinging on a rope that is above the foam pit and then dropping in.

The foam pit can also be used as a conditioning tool. A loose foam pit is awesome to have races in. another way it can be used as conditioning is to have a gymnast jump in and climb out over and over. You can have your athletes climb the rope; if this is easy have them do it without legs. If they fall they will have a safe landing into the pit. The blocks from the pit can also be used to help a child keep her legs together. This is done by getting a block out and making them squeeze it between their legs without dropping it!

A foam pit is a great tool that can be used in any type of gymnastics academy! Whether it is for fun or for learning new skills a pit is a great investment for every gymnastics club.