Gymnastics grips are extremely necessary to most gymnast
, men and women. They cover the palm of the hand to prevent injury to the athelete and to the bars. When looking at these grips you will notice that they are a wrist brace with a piece of fabric that hooks onto the middle fingers. The grips are designed out of of leather. The leather gives the grips durability and make it able for the athlete to twirl on the bars while gripping tightly so they won't fall. The gymnastics grips was created by Jung Y. Mah in 2003. The men's grip and the females grip are not alike but not too different. The grips for the men are larger and cover the entire palm of their hands. The gymnastics grips for women only cover the middle part of the palm. Different grips have two holes for the fingers to fit through and some have two elastic loops for the center fingers.
The design and color of gymnastics grips that the gymnast decides to wear is their own personal choice.The brace of the grip can be different. They come in a all kinds of variety such for fastening. The position of the fingers depends on the gymnast and what feels right for them. The variety of colors depends on which color the athlete prefers. Most athlete prefer the white grips because of the chalk and how it throws off the color of the uniform. But other gymnast chose to match the color of the grips to their leotards or team colors that they are wearing for the meet. Some coaches or gyms may require a certain grip to be worn so that the team is wearing the same design and color. They will also have the gymnast wear them so they can preserve their equipment. There are all kinds of styles of gymnastics grips for different events such as rings, parallel bars, or uneven bars. Some men choose to not wear the grips while competing on the pommel horse. They explain it affects the movement of their hands while some prefer to wear the brace because the grips make it much easier to move freely on the pommel horse.
Most athlete put a wristbands with the gymnastics grips to keep it comfortable and placement to the hand. When observing a gymnastics meet you will notice the gymnast placing water and chalk on her hands before starting their routine on a particular equipment. This helps with hardening the grips. Some gymnast will not to do this because it makes the grip slippery when the chalk fades off and can create falls and accidents from the gymnastics apparatus. This important piece of equipment is used from the beginning of gymnastics all the way up to the most trained levels of gymnastics.