Gymnastics Gear

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When you’re just beginning your gymnastics journey (or even if you’re a bit of a veteran), it can be helpful to have a visual guide for what type of gear your gymnast needs or will need in the future.  Here are our recommendations for the gymnastics gear your gymnast needs based on her gymnastics level. We’ve included the gear your gymnast needs for gymnastics class or practice, along with the gymnastics equipment she will want at home to practice!

Here is more information on gymnastics leotards for different age groups.

Gymnastics Gear for Your Gymnast

For purposes of laying out what gymnastics gear your gymnast needs for class or practice, we will classify gymnasts into three groups – beginner gymnasts, beginner team gymnasts and advanced team gymnasts. Some of this gymnastics gear is what you need for class or practice, and then the rest is what you need to help you become a great gymnast!

Gymnastics Gear Beginner Gymnasts Need

beginner gymnast gear

What Beginner Gymnasts Need for Gymnastics Class

When you’re just starting out, you don’t need much gymnastics gear. Beginner gymnasts just need to wear a leotard to gymnastics class, and then you need hair ties to tie your hair back and a water bottle. You want to make sure your hair is out of your face since that makes gymnastics safe, and then a water bottle so you can stay hydrated while you are practicing gymnastics!

A gymnastics leotard is the “uniform” that gymnasts wear to practice.

Gymnastics Gear Beginner Gymnasts Need at Home

While your beginner gymnast doesn’t really need gymnastics gear at home, it’s helpful to have a floor mat so she can practice some beginner gymnastics skills. After she learns new skills in class, practicing them at home will help her improve so much faster!

beginner gymnast mat

Gymnastics Gear Beginner Team Members Need

For the purpose of this article, we will classify beginner team members as gymnasts that are in Xcel Levels Bronze, Silver or Gold or in the Development Program Compulsory Levels (Levels 1-5). These gymnasts are typically younger and at some point will start to wear gymnastics grips.

What Beginner Team Members Need for Practice

 

When your gymnast joins team – whether it’s in the Xcel or Development Program, she will begin to need more gymnastics gear. As gymnasts get older, many times they want to wear shorts over their leotards to practice. They will also need to start wearing gymnastics grips at some point. Gymnastics grips are a piece of gear that are usually made of leather, and they protect gymnasts’ hands from getting callused from swinging on the bar so much. Beginner team gymnasts will need to start bringing a gym bag to practice to bring their grip bag and other gymnastics gear.

In her gym bag or back pack, your gymnast can bring her grips, outside clothes, water bottle and extra hair supplies to practice.

beginner team gymnast gym bag

Our recommendations for gear for your gymnast’s gym bag:

advanced gymnast gear grips

When your gymnast starts to get rips as she learns more advanced skills on bars, and spends more hours in the gym each week, hand care becomes more important. That’s when the RIPT hand care kit becomes important!

 

gymnastics gear

 

Gymnastics Gear Beginner Team Gymnasts Need at Home

As your gymnast is trying to continually advance through the gymnastics levels, practicing and conditioning at home become increasingly important. Many beginner team gymnasts also utilize a more structured system for practicing at home like our SkillTrakker program. A competition journal, like our Mindset & Meet Journal will help your gymnast improve her mental skills and perform better!

team gymnast gear

Gymnastics Gear Advanced Team Members Need

In this article, we are considering advanced team members to be gymnasts in Xcel levels Platinum, Diamond or Sapphire and the Development Program Levels 6-10. We go through what gear your advanced gymnast needs for practice and at home.

 

Gymnastics Gear

 

Gymnastics Gear Advanced Team Gymnasts Need for Practice

 

The further along your gymnast advances on team, she will need even MORE gear! Who would have thought there were so many things gymnasts need?! Depending on the age of your gymnast, she might be wearing shorts over her leotard and a sports bra underneath it. She also might want a sport headband for safety reasons, to keep flyaways away from her face!

advanced gymnast gear

Your gymnast might be just starting to wear grips, or be moving up to more advanced grips. Since she will be logging more hours in the gym, she will need a grip brush to get the caked up chalk off her grips. She also might need longer wristbands to protect her wrists when she spends hours working bar skills.

She will need tape and pre-wrap (to deal with rips when they inevitably happen) and a handcare kit to try to prevent them.

advanced gymnast grip gear

Gymnastics Gear Advanced Team Gymnasts Need at Home

As gymnasts advance through the levels, they usually want to be able to do more at home! In addition to a panel mat and a balance beam for your gymnast’s home gym, she might want an air track and a kip practice bar or a pull-up bar.

Here is what we recommend for your advanced gymnast’s home gym:

GymnasticsHQ’s Favorite Leotards and Grip Bags

gymnastics gear favorites

Here are some of our favorite leotards:

Here are our favorite grip bags:

 

We hope you find this information helpful! Enjoy the journey, it sure is a fun one!

 

gymnastics gear