I was just watching college gymnastics on tv (see thread: LSU vs. Georgia Gym Dogs at Athens Georgia, http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?t=22864 on that) and it's so funny how theykeep displaying the gymnasts' height next to their name lol. Which other sport does that lol. :D The shortest was 4'7", the tallest I think 5'7", both from the LSU team.

Haley Cameron, La Jolla High School sophomore, 6'2" tall and fourth in her age group at the California Level 7 State Championships last year! [quote]Haley has always been tall for her age. "It was hard having everyone be so much shorter than me, but I proved that gymnasts don't necessarily have to be short. To me, that was a great accomplishment," Haley said. With most gymnasts being more than a foot shorter, Haley faced some challenges. "The uneven bars were the most challenging because they were not suited for someone 6-foot-2." [/quote] There's a video montage of her doing gymnastics and volleyball (she got on the varsity team her first year of volleyball): http://studentsports.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=775013 She's doing level 7 routines here. For bars, looks like she does 2 clear hips and cast tuck flyaway instead of giants layout flyaway, and the coach has the 8-incher landing mat pulled out a bit and pushes it in right before she is dismounting so she doesn't hit her toes on it, and to make sure she lands on it. With a layout flyaway from giants you should land farther though, and then she might be able to just leave the mat out. But then you would want to push it in for release moves for the upper optional levels, just in case - they did that a lot in the college gymnastics on tv last weekend. article: http://studentsports.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=775013 (via gymnastics coaching: "tallest gymnast in the world?")

Bars would be easier for tall gymnasts if the the bar would go higher. Hatsumomo at gymnastics coaching mentioned tall former elite gymnast Ashely Miles, at 5'7". And she did elite bars. Anaheim 2003: [quote]Rotation 2: The bars had to be adjusted specially for the tall Ashley Miles- who said gymnastics was only for short people?-, who took a few steps on her double front dismount. Then the rotation was delayed again when the bars had to re-adjusted for the not so tall Mohini Bhardwaj, who stuck her full-twisting double layout dismount cold. [/quote]http://www.gymmedia.com/Anaheim03/appa/wom_teamquali1_e.htm Ashley's favorite event is listed on her USA Gymnastics bio page as the uneven bars! http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/athletes/bios/m/amiles.pdf Here she is on bars: Ashley Miles - 2001 American Team Cup - Uneven Bars [youtube]gdhbUG-afSA [/youtube] Ashley Miles - 2001 US Nationals Prelims - Uneven Bars [youtube]Kywqh9lww1U&NR=1[/youtube] She's not straddling her legs on her giants! Also did NCAA for Alabama: [quote]Miles, from San Antonio, is the first to acknowledge she is not a typical gymnast. That didn't stop her from claiming four individual event championships during her career at Alabama or from being recognized as the best in the country by Honda Award voters. "People will look at me and ask, 'Do you play basketball?' " she says. "But I've been doing gymnastics my whole life." Tall for a gymnast at 5-7, Miles has turned that to her advantage in her signature events. She claimed a third individual vault title at the NCAA meet this year to go with the floor exercise title in 2004. "The vault has always been my strength, just because of the way I trained when I was younger and the way I ran. I used to be in track and field," she says. "I've always been very explosive. In competition, two of us could be doing the same vault but mine would look bigger. And the floor was always easy and fun. That's where I could really show my personality." Her winning vault and all-around performance helped the Crimson Tide to a third-place national finish. She capped a solid career that included first-team All-America honors in 12 events. "I didn't even do all-around until my junior year," she says. "I had to work harder on the beam and the uneven bars. I'd pretty much maxed out on the two events I was good at, so once again I had to put in the hard work. It teaches you discipline � this sport is good for that."[/quote]USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2006-06-21-honda-finalists_x.htm

moral: follow your heart! if the sport's calling you, listen to it. ;)

Although it might be true that height can make things more difficult, I think coaches forget this is an individual sport and each individual wants to get as good as they can - regardless of height. Also, there are those who achieve amazing results no matter how tall.Des Moines Muay Thai

If you are 5'10" then all gymnastics equipment is way to small for you. You will be lucky to reach a level 8 because it's too small or short for you. You need to play volleyball or basketball. Both sports are NCAA Division I, have scholarships, play at night sell tickets at the collegiate level. I am a Big Ten Volleyball player. You are probably way too active to be with the little gymnasts if you are that tall. Gymnastics in the NCAA is a Division III sport. Volleyball players have 4 times as many fans too :). It's great to be tall. Use it to your advantage.

[QUOTE=Volleyball;237547]If you are 5'10" then all gymnastics equipment is way to small for you. You will be lucky to reach a level 8 because it's too small or short for you. You need to play volleyball or basketball. Both sports are NCAA Division I, have scholarships, play at night sell tickets at the collegiate level. I am a Big Ten Volleyball player. You are probably way too active to be with the little gymnasts if you are that tall. Gymnastics in the NCAA is a Division III sport. Volleyball players have 4 times as many fans too :). It's great to be tall. Use it to your advantage.[/QUOTE] You mean gymnastics at your college is Division III? ...Go for the sport you like.