Knowing what you need to do to your hair can be one of the most important parts of getting ready for your gymnastics competition. You may not have realized it, but there is a lot of thought that goes into a gymnast’s hair.
When you are trying to decide how to do your hair for a gymnastics competition, the first two things that you should do is make sure that your hair is secured back and use plenty of hair spray in order to keep both it and your smaller strands of hair in place as much as possible during your routines.
One of the reasons why this is important is because if any hair gets into your eyes it can be a huge distraction. But the other main reason why this is important is because of the fact that gymnastics judges insist on hair being out of the way when the gymnasts perform.
Factors To Consider
There are a lot of things that you have to keep in mind in order to fix your hair just right for your competition. Knowing what these things are can be quite helpful when you are trying to decide just what hairstyle to use on your big day.
The Backward Rolls
Many levels of gymnastics, especially the first few levels where there are competitions, require the gymnast to do a backward roll in their floor routine. This is important to take into consideration when deciding how to wear your hair since forgetting this fact can cause a variety of problems.
The first of these things is that if you use any bobby pins these can poke into your scalp quite painfully if they are at the slightest bit at an angle. The other thing that can happen is that you can roll right over something like a bun at the back of your head.
It can be painful to roll over something poking out of the back of your head, whether this is a whole bun or even a simple ponytail. This can also prevent you from doing your roll in a straight line if it gets in your way.
Quick Movements
Another thing that could happen is that if the hairstyle is not secured enough is that the whole thing could slip out of place with such movement. Remember that with quick movements, and things like saltos in particular, your whole head gets moved quite suddenly which can easily jostle hair out of place all on its own.
There is very little that can prevent at least a few of your smaller strands of hair from being shaken loose, but you do not want your whole hairstyle to slip out in the middle of a flip. Movement is one of the top things that can cause hair to come loose.
Tips For Success
Obviously, the goal here is for the hairstyle to stay in place no matter what the gymnast does, without hurting her head, and without letting any of it get in her way. For this, you are going to nee a lot of hair spray to keep as many of those small strands out of your face as possible.
The goal is for all of the attention to be on the gymnast’s routine and not on their hair, so don’t’ go overboard with ribbons and other accessories no matter how much these might go with your leotard. There are also a few tips that will help you have hair success on your big day.
Try It Out
The very first thing that you should do if you are considering going with a certain hairstyle is to try it out long before the day of the competition. This is best to do before a long practice so that you can really tell how well it will hold up.
You should do it more than once, just to perfect the hairstyle and to make sure that it will stay. This will also help you to know how long it takes for you to fix your hair in this style so that on competition day you know just how much time to set aside to do your hair.
Finally, this will give you confidence as you do your routine. Instead of having to wonder every moment if the next thing you do will loosen your hair, you can give all your attention to your routine without having to give your hair a single thought.
Get Good Elastics
This is a really important part of getting your hair to stay in place. The elastics that you get for your hair should be rubbery and grip your hair as much as possible. If these slip at all then your hair will fall out of place.
Depending on your hair, the silkier your hair is the harder it will be for the elastics to grip your hair since your hair will just want to slip right out of the elastics. You may need to have more than one type and size of elastics.
If the elastic is too big then it will slip out easier, while if it is too small then it will stretch out and potentially break. After a while, these will stretch out and will need to be replaced, so it is always good to have a few to spare.
Use Hair Products
This is another one of the most important things you can do to help your hair to stay in place. Do not be afraid to use a variety of hair products and not just hair spray. Dry shampoo in your hair can be a simple yet effective way to make your hair not so slick and therefore easier for the elastics to grip.
Then there are also other things like gels that are added in as you are fixing your hair in addition to the hair spray at the end. If you have sensitive skin and tend to get headaches from things like hairspray, you still have options.
Even something as simple as fixing your hair while it is still wet can be at least some help since it will dry in place a little. Other things like a little apple cider vinegar and some water in a spray bottle can help as well, though not as much as hair spray.
Common Hairstyles For Gymnasts
There are some tried and true hairstyles that many gymnasts use when they are participating in a competition. Of course, if your hair is not too long the simplest thing that you can do with your hair is to wear it in a low ponytail.
Another simple yet classic look is a French braid. This can be done as one single French braid straight back down the middle, two French braids one on each side, or a French braid to one side or the other. It can end with the rest of the hair in a braid or a bun to finish.
There are also other braids that you can learn how to do, or you may decide to do a regular braid and wind it into a bun with plenty of bobby pins. One of the common ways to do this is sometimes referred to as a low braided roll.
This requires you to split your hair into two sections and braid each section. Then tie the two braids together like you would your shoelaces and then pin the ends of the braids underneath the bun so that the bun is secure.
Conclusion
While you should remove any idea that every strand of hair should be in place at the end of your routine if you do it right then most of your hair should stay in place. Don’t forget to verify the rules for hair since some competitions do not allow glitter in the gymnast’s hair.
Other competitions require a bun if your hair is long enough to be in one. You should also always use pins of some kind further up on the sides of your head to catch the shorter hairs that virtually everyone has.