Why are the leg holes in my leotard cut so high up my hip? Are there any low cut options? My friend, you are not the first person to wonder about this.
Short Answer: Visually, to make the gymnast appear longer making your lines cleaner when you perform. Functionally, having less material on your hip may make it feel easier to lift your leg or hip during skills that require using your hip joints.
What do I mean? The higher up the cut is, the more long your legs look, giving you the appearance that you are taller than you are. Thus it makes your lines look cleaner during your routines.
There is a functional aspect too. Many gymnasts do not like the feeling of extra material around their hip joint since you are doing a lot of flipping, turning, and lifting. Having extra material there could make it feel like there is a physical obstacle of you using your full leg or hip movement, so you feel restricted. And this is the last thing you want when performing!
That being said, there is no requirement that your leo must be cut to a certain height. Majority of the leotards are made like this because the lining of the cut is sitting where the natural crease of your hip joint is, so it is meant to feel comfortable. Having it too low cut, would cause more of a problem.
Are there low-cut options? You can always ask to have your leo cut low if you are getting it customized. There also options that appear on the internet if you google "low cut leos". However, by default, leotards have high cut leg holes; they are not meant to look like swimming bottoms!
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