Modesty for female athletes

Too much modesty is in the way when females want to train sucessfully. It is okay to train with less clothes as possible.

It's over 20 years ago now and part of my education was private school but for activities which weren't part of the curriculum (e.g. gym club etc) we would train topless. In fact, I did some of my gymnastics exercises nude . There were only two boys in the club but seven girls and the boys got used to us after a few sessions!

Nudity for gymnastics allows you to see the body line much better and is ideal for training.

I do think, for younger girls especially, it makes so much more sense to train and compete nude. Not only does it allow more flexibility, but it fits the youthful female form ideally. I think if a young girl wants to take it seriously she owes it to herself to insist on being able to train and play/compete nude with the exception of footwear depending on the sport. I suspect a lot of the best ones do train nude when possible.

Unsanesarah - you're exactly right - it makes much more sense for young gymnasts to train and compete nude. I think you're probably right that many of the best ones do train nude. When I was growing up we had a neighbor who's daughter was a gymnast. They had a balance beam in their living room and she would practice and give small performances for friends and neighbors in the nude.

Unless the sport is ice skating or something, I think footwear is always a bad idea. We should always remember why it's called a gymnasium, the body's meant to be naked while performing and being observed!