Bar diameter for teenager -- what's right?

[DoctorWho]

For a 13 year old boy who is 5 feet tall and about 100 pounds with corresponding sized hands, would a 25mm womens bar be a better choice than my usual 29mm (Rogue B&R) bar for SS? After two weeks, the boy is DLing 150 and making it look easy, so the 29mm doesn't seem to be holding him back yet.

He hasn't yet learned to powerclean, but will. And I expect that he and my younger daughter will want to try the olympic lifts, and I'm thinking that a 25mm bar will help them with whip. I already have an aluminum technique bar that can be used for intro and a used bar I picked up for very cheap (I think it's an inexpensive CAP). I'm not trying to get a collection, but think that a 25mm bar would fill the gap. Comments?

[Charlie Davies]

My son couldn't get a good hook grip on my 29mm bar. He didn't PC but used alternating grip for deads successfully.

I'd get the 25mm women's bar.

[DoctorWho]

Thanks. All I needed was a little nudge. Ordered.

[kpsmiley]

After two weeks, the boy is DLing 150 and making it look easy, so the 29mm doesn't seem to be holding him back yet.

I would have your son try to powerclean with the B&R bar first and see how it goes before switching to another bar.

I'm thinking that a 25mm bar will help them with whip.

I don't know why a woman's bar would have better whip. My understanding is that you would need to be using more weight than what your novice kids would be using do have the whip make a difference in their powerclean.

I'm not trying to get a collection, but think that a 25mm bar would fill the gap.

I wouldn't worry about having a collection of bars. If your daughter continues training, I think that she would benefit from using a woman's bar.

I'd get the 25mm women's bar.

^ This. I would buy a woman's bar. Since you have the Rogue B&R, you might think about the Rogue B&R Woman's bar?

[Jeff Illingworth]

Concurring with the women's bar. A number of my trainees are young teens and women and the Rogue B&R women's bar I picked up has been worth the investment.

[DoctorWho]

I don't follow some of this. The rogue women's bella bar is 190ksi steel at 25mm. The b&r bar is 205ksi bar at 29mm. So the womens bar should flex almost double that of the b&r bar (statically). I don't have much experience anymore with powercleans, but I recall being able to feel the differences in the bars when I did them. So if I felt some whipiness in bars and my son PCs half the weight with a bar twice as whippy, then my guess is that he would feel it too.

But a bigger reason for wanting the 25mm bar (which I didn't emphasize clear enough in my first post) is so that his grip on the larger bar doesn't limit his DL progress.

So if my daughter would benefit from a 25mm by why not my scrawny son? That's really my question.

[Jeff Illingworth]

A narrower bar will help anyone with smaller hands.