Gymnasts????

ferike1

Bit of a chicken and the egg question here. Most professional gymnasts tend to be shorter people, since they generally start at a very young age does gymnastics stunt their growth or is it just the shorter ones are more likely to do well competitively so they are the ones that stick with it?

Mauricmo

I remember reading that it has something to do with the fact that high level gymnasts start training before the onset of puberty.

ferike1

Interesting, its just surprising considering the amount of stretching and flexibility work they do.

Hanley

Mauricmo wrote: »

I remember reading that it has something to do with the fact that high level gymnasts start training before the onset of puberty.

Its to do with high level gymnasts having the perfect body for it.

It's like saying every kid who sprints will end up big and muscular because that's what the 100m final at the Olympics will look like.

Or that being a powerlifter makes you fat because the dudes setting the all time records look like that.

The cream rises. But in this case it just doesn't rise very tall.

FairytaleGirl

Gymnastics training doesnt stunt your growth. Gymnasts come in all shapes in sizes but to go pro you usually have to meet certain requirements. For eg; I went for a trial at a head gym for national training and part of the trial was a measurement of my height and arm span. They like a gymnasts arm span to be a fair bit bigger than your height.

So i would imagine they pick certain types to train as opposed to the training moulding development.

ferike1

Yeah, actually that makes more sense. Blonde moment over.

Doug Cartel

FairytaleGirl wrote: »

I went for a trial at a head gym for national training and part of the trial was a measurement of my height and arm span. They like a gymnasts arm span to be a fair bit bigger than your height.

I'm sure they have good reason for doing that, but my gut reaction to hearing that is that it's bloody unfair. I would have thought they should be picking people based on actual ability to perform not their physical characteristics.

kate.m

I used to be a gymnast and I was told that it did stunt your growth. (this is coming from a coach, I'm just repeating it so she may have been wrong) Most of the girls start at 4/5/6 an are in the gym constantly if they end up being serious about it.

She mentioned that serious amounts of exercise affect hormones during puberty.
(oestrogen/testosterone production)

Again I could be wrong.

FairytaleGirl

Height, weight and arm span.


In many sports today there are certain body types that favour different activities. For example the gymnast who is small and flexible is advantaged in body rotation activities.



The use of a combination of height and arm span produces the easiest field test to assess this without spending large amounts of time and quality control measuring each limb. The arm span in relation to the height also indicates a greater shoulder width, which is useful in evaluating the basic bone structure or robustness of the athlete as required for intensive training. Most people have an arm span almost equal to their height. Athletes with an arm span greater than their height indicate greater lever length and are usually able to handle greater intensity of training e.g. weights.

squod

FairytaleGirl wrote: »

Height, weight and arm span.


In many sports today there are certain body types that favour different activities. For example the gymnast who is small and flexible is advantaged in body rotation activities.



The use of a combination of height and arm span produces the easiest field test to assess this without spending large amounts of time and quality control measuring each limb. The arm span in relation to the height also indicates a greater shoulder width, which is useful in evaluating the basic bone structure or robustness of the athlete as required for intensive training. Most people have an arm span almost equal to their height. Athletes with an arm span greater than their height indicate greater lever length and are usually able to handle greater intensity of training e.g. weights.

Genetics plays a role for shure. If you're going to filter athletes based on arm span to height ratio then I'll respond by saying that doesn't sound right.

Hanley

FairytaleGirl wrote: »

Height, weight and arm span.


In many sports today there are certain body types that favour different activities. For example the gymnast who is small and flexible is advantaged in body rotation activities.



The use of a combination of height and arm span produces the easiest field test to assess this without spending large amounts of time and quality control measuring each limb. The arm span in relation to the height also indicates a greater shoulder width, which is useful in evaluating the basic bone structure or robustness of the athlete as required for intensive training. Most people have an arm span almost equal to their height. Athletes with an arm span greater than their height indicate greater lever length and are usually able to handle greater intensity of training e.g. weights.

Good post. I'm not sure why it's surprising people tho.

Top level sport is about winning, there's limited funding so resources need to be allocated in the most efficient manner (by someone's chance to win). Having a simple test that generally holds true is a great way to filter those who are currently good but lack potential.

You've got to remember that at a relatively young age the time spent training and ones relative physical maturity to that of their peers can skew the appearance of talent. How many people are awesome at sports until secondary school until their peers start to physically mature and pass them out...

When it comes to funding and resource allocation, the one with te greatest chance of long term progression simply must get preferential treatment. Its brutally unfair, and I'm sure theres people who could potentially have been great that were weeded out thru this process, but on balance id bet it works.

And before anyone says anything about how unfair it is - so what? Elite sport is about winning. Not getting a pat on the back for trying.

Recreational athletes and clubs should and do play different rules tho of course.

Doug Cartel

Hanley wrote: »

Good post. I'm not sure why it's surprising people tho.

Oh, I'm not surprised by it. It just jabs at my sense of fairness.

I understand that when you've got limited resources, you have to have some policy to deal with it - and writing policy is much easier when you have nice well defined rules. I also have no reason to doubt that this rule works well in practice. I just don't like the idea of some kid being told that despite all the effort they've put in, and the results they've achieved, they're not going any further because their arms are a few cm too short.

Mellor

It's not the only measure by any means. You are talking about national team selection. There might be 10 or 12 people trying out for 2 or 3 spots. They'll all have similar achievements to each other and there is prob very little to separate them in ability at that time. But by looking at physical traits, they can predict who has the potential to keep getting better for longer.

I doubt its a hard and fast rule either, if somebody was obviously superior in ability but had closer to average traits, they would probably make a exception.

gymfreak

Here's a documentary that might be of interest to some on you. It's a documentary about the UK Gymnastic Teams' journey to the 2008 Olympics. I really enjoyed it!

Here's part 1 of 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSailf5VwSc

rubadub

FairytaleGirl wrote: »

They like a gymnasts arm span to be a fair bit bigger than your height.

I think it can depend on the exercise as to which. Short arms can be more advantageous for some, not sure which is best overall. You can get training things for the iron cross which support your arms closer to the body. I think the long arms are better for swinging type exercises.

Quote from the US boys gymnastics coach, the basketball is usually mentioned by now in these threads!

This is nothing more than an urban myth. Gymnastics no more stunts growth than playing basketball will make you taller. Most people simply gravitate to the competitive sport which is most suitable for their particular phenotype.

Yours in Fitness,
Coach Sommer

I do believe there could be some truth in it for girls, where extreme dieting could possibly cause malnutrition and stunt growth during puberty. I wonder if any studies were done on twins, one doing it one not.