This is kind of like chalk talk, but it doesn't fit in that thread...hahaha lol. ok, anyways, :D what do you guys do to not rip? I just got my grips a couple weeks ago after going into level 5, to help with the not ripping part. Any thing else to do?

Yup, chalk is good! I like to use water on my grips, then chalk on it, and some drips of water and then chalk under the grips. Do you have dowels or the beginner type of grips? That can make a difference in rips also. (Dowels are the ones that go to your fingertips, and the beginner type goes down all the way to the bottom of your fingers, and dowels has that bump thing in the grips that will help you grip the bar too)

I got the dowels kind. No one uses those beginner type of grips at my gym anymore, my friend says they stopped using those like 5 years ago or something - cuz it was better not using grips than using those, and that those could cause the rips too, and don't help with the grip on the bars like the dowels.

Totally agree on the grips issue! dowels are much better! You can also use tape on your hands when you think you are getting a rip, or you got one, or your hands are feeling sore cuz you're doing a lot of bars! There's probably some girls at your club that do the taping under their grips, but probably for the higher levels, because they are doing bars for a longer time, like twice as long.

I've always hated grips. I know, gasp, right? I 've never been a huge chalk fan either....double gasp! I use a pumice stone or a razor while I bathe and then apply hand cream.

flyinflex, you'll probably like your grips more once you get to giants on the high bar! :D The dowels and the grips really help in your grip of the bar and your swings. I like to cut my callouses every now and then when they are really huge - but you have to be careful not to cut off too much, or else your hands will feel more sore on the bar! (with nail scissors, not normal scissors!! lol)

If you tape your hands for bars, make sure the tapes not too tight, and/or not directly on your knuckles....cuz or else you'll get small bruises there! The best way is to unroll the tape a bit then put it on your hand, then unroll / put it on, etc., so you're not unrolling the tape onto your hand directly - so it won't be tight. You can feel it if it's too tight, then you can just kind of unroll it on your hand and re-wrap it - it should be taped confortably. Tape works really well for bars when you have an 1 hour practice on them!!

[quote=kat]flyinflex, you'll probably like your grips more once you get to giants on the high bar! :D The dowels and the grips really help in your grip of the bar and your swings. I like to cut my callouses every now and then when they are really huge - but you have to be careful not to cut off too much, or else your hands will feel more sore on the bar! (with nail scissors, not normal scissors!! lol)[/quote] trust me, I'm quite a ways away from that. I have been considering grips lately b/c every once in a while something just goes funky in my clearhip to handstnads.

i've never been able to use grips, they bug me. now coach wants me to work giants and i need them so badly but then i'd have to re-learn some of my old tricks. ive gotten used to rips . . . lots of em

[quote=JakiGym]i've never been able to use grips, they bug me. now coach wants me to work giants and i need them so badly but then i'd have to re-learn some of my old tricks. ive gotten used to rips . . . lots of em[/quote] maybe u were using a bad kind of grip when u didn't like them, was it the dowel kind? the wide dowel grips kind r also bad and get in the way i think! u could try making a grip from tape if you think the grips would get in the way of ur other skills - like a lot of the romanians, russians, and chinese do. the grip does help w/ ur grip tho! lol maybe that's y they're called 'grips'! :D do u pur ur thumb under the bar or something during some of ur skills, and then u think ur grips will get in the way?