How to Break In Your Gymnastics Grips

Gymnasts, especially those who are new to grips, often want to know how to break-in gymnastics grips after they get them.  Parents may be concerned with how to care for a relatively expensive gymnastics training accessory. Coaches are interested in making sure their gymnasts do not have to take time off from bar training or waste too much time breaking in grips.

New to Gymnastics Grips?

Gymnasts, who are new to using grips, often complain about breaking in and getting used new hand grips. This is because, not only are they not used to the strange feeling of using them, but the grips are also not yet completely broken in in, which makes them feel even more strange. Gymnasts, who are new to wearing grips, often want to quit wearing them, almost right away, because they feel unfamiliar and are not yet broken in.

Gymnasts New to Grips Need to Stay with It

Gymnasts, new to using grips, tend to put on grips, start swinging and since they are both completely unused to the feel of the grips and the grips are not yet broken in and formed to their hands, feel nervous, even on familiar skills. This is not a comfortable feeling and even can seem scary as gymnasts sometimes feel like they cannot get a good grip on the bar and are going to fall. While this is not true at all if they follow a careful break-in process and slow, progressive skill additions, it is not an uncommon experience for gymnasts new to grips to want to give up on them and go back to not using grips. Only time can really make them feel comfortable with grips, so they have to be encouraged to keep with it.

Once Gymnasts Get Used to Grips, They Never Switch Back

After getting used to them, having considerably fewer rips on their hands and finding out how much easier the dowel makes it to hold onto the bars, gymnasts have the exact opposite feeling – that they don’t want to do bars without grips. Older, bigger gymnasts will almost never want to go without grips to prevent their hands from ripping so much.

Start Breaking In Leather on Grips Before Using Them

There are several aspects to the break-in process. When leather is tanned, which is always a process that the leather for gymnastics grips goes through, it is soaked in various tanning agents, and when it dries, it becomes stiff to some degree. Before use, gymnasts need to break in the grips and get out that stiffness following a complete break-in process that will soften and shape the grip for safe and comfortable use.

Roll the Leather Carefully First

Before ever swinging on the bars, gymnasts need to start the break-in process by rolling the leather in the same direction it will roll and curl when they use the grips. While this can be done free hand, without any other aids, I prefer to use a wooden dowel, about the size of the bar, to roll the leather of the grip around. This prevents there from being any folding, creasing or pinching of the leather which could end up being the start of an eventual tear.

Soften the Leather

To do this, start with the grip’s finger holes upward and the dowel bar facing you. Wrap the leather around the dowel bar and wrap the grip around it down to the wristband. Initially, you will want to do the same thing with the grip with the dowel facing outward, just to initially soften the leather. You should notice some difference in the softening of the leather immediately. You will want to do this several times each way, initially, until the leather no longer seems to noticeably soften.

Break In the Wristbands As Well

Using a piece of dowel (or other sturdy round object) about the size of your wrist, do this same process on the wrist band, but only bend it in the direction you will wear the grips, not both ways. Do this step several times on each grip wrist band, as well. Make sure you don’t fold, crease, pinch the leather or do anything else that may damage the leather, as this may start places where the grip will eventually tear or fail.

Store Them Overnight Before Use

Before using your grips, you will want to store them, at least one night, overnight wrapped around the dowel grip. Place rubber bands around the grips to hold them in a rounded position around the dowel bar.

Then Break Them In With Skill and Form Them To Your Hands

At this point, it is okay to start breaking in your grips on the bars. You will want to do only low, slow swings in regular grip at first. As the grips begin to feel more comfortable, you can slowly begin to add in reverse grip swinging, more advanced skills and giant swings.

Relearn Your Bar Skills with Grips

If you are using grips for the first time, you will literally want to go back to the beginning of your bar skill progressions and “relearn” and become reacquainted with all of your bar skills using grips. This is a progressive process that will literally take some weeks to accomplish. The more skills you have to get used to, the longer it will take. This process will simultaneously be breaking in the grips and forming them to your hand.

Broken In and Formed To Your Hands

Gymnasts who have used grips before will simply have to get the grips broken in, formed to their hand and they will be ready to use the grips all out in practice or competition. Gymnasts, who a re new to grips have to get the grips broken in, formed to their hand and relearn their skills with grips.

Always Have a Set of Back-up Grips

You can never tell when your grips may rip or tear, even if you examine them carefully every day. The worst situation to be in would be to be at a big meet or be practicing right before a big, important meet and tear and ruin your grips to the point they could not be used in that meet. You should always have a back-up set of grips, that are already broken in and ready to use. Even if they do not tear right before a meet, you can lose significant practice time while you wait to order, receive and break new grips in. Back-up grips are a necessity as insurance against grip problems.

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