Coaches Kip tips please!

[CanGymCoach]

I have a kid who has made a few kips in straps here and there, but isn't very consistent. She has a good pull and can get herself up when I spot only her legs, but rarely makes it if I only spot her back. She'll bring her toes to the bar, but won't hold them in. She is great at bar holds and leg lifts, can lift herself from toes to the bar to lever. We do lots of rocker kips, and kip drills with the floor bar but still aren't making any real progress. Any tips, tricks, drills or conditioning you can share would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[coachmolly]

I have a girl in a similar situation- only have to spot her legs on a kip (and very lightly), can do a drop kip with a 1 finger spot on her legs, can hold toes to the bar in a static hold- all the pieces seem to be there. Though with her, she has a weak glide that's causing the problem and that we've been working on. She can only get as close as she does on the 2nd half of the skill because she is so strong. Sometimes she does a mostly correct glide, but other times she'll revert to her old habits- starting with toes up too high so they drop at the end of the glide and ultimately make it to the bar much slower than they should is a big problem, though even when she does glide out with the correct motion I have found she is often slow to get her toes to the bar so by the time they reach the bar she is already moving backwards under the bar. So watch this kid's glide carefully.
With her we're working lots on glides, lots of spotted kips (with a correct glide) and drop kips. Fortunately, she doesn't actually need the skill this season so we have time.

 

[ayyyrial]

I like the kip drill with the P-Bars where they are at different heights, hold on to the top one, feet on the low one, and they shoot their shoulders over the top to come to front support - for the last part of the kip, the getting the shoulders over part.
As coachmolly mentioned there could be issues with the glides as well - most often keeping a pike in the hips during the glide, or dropping the feet down. Something I like for the dropping the feet issue is to have them practice glides and kips on a bar that is almost too low for them, so they HAVE to keep their feet up - and it sounds like she has the strength to do that.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Kips are that skill! So,e kids get them relatively easy and other kids can take forever, ad get very frustrated in the process.

Strength wise. How many glide swings can she do in a row, if they can do 5 good glide swings in a row that is a sign the strength is there. Ideally she should regrasp on every swing, which will help her get the wrist shift in the kip. Can she do a chin up pullover on high bar, that is also another indication that the nessesary strength is there. If either of these skills are missing it means more conditioning are needed. Sometimes they are strong in one part of the kip but not in another.

Is she getting a decent jump to the bar? This is often a common deficit. Most kids try to jump from too close and they just don't get the momentum for a good kip. A decent jump to the bar is essential.

What is she doing with her head? A common problem is throwing the head back and it throws off the balance and the timing. Where is she looking when she glides?

A favourite drill of mine is doing the kip drill on a spotting box. Have the gymnasts lie on a spotting box holding a stick over their head, snap their feet to the stick and have them travel the bar up their legs and then lean forward off the box so they end up standing on the ground. The great thing about doing it on the box is that it really helps the action of going from being horizontal (when they glide) to being vertical, they fall forward off the box and end up with their shoulders over the bar. Hope this makes sense.

 

[titanic]

Try to have her glide swing, bring her toes to the bar, and then swing with her toes to the bar. It's a good conditioning drill that mimics the idea of the kip closer than just normal leg lifts. You said she can go from toes to bar to lever (I'm assuming a candlestick position?) This is what really helped my youngest level 4 get her kip. We do 10 of them before each bar practice and soon she was able to keep her feet up and make those kips.. Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

what is a rocker kip?

 

[penelope20_1999]

im just guessing, but maybe rocker kip is when gymnast hangs from low bar in a horitzontal pike or straddle and the coach is on the other side of the bar holding their legs/ankles facing the gymnast. the gymnast holds form a couple of swings before performing the kipping pull action. the coach pushes legs to help aid. i am not sure if this is what they meant, but its the only thing i can think of that may be it. i dont know the name.

 

[AmandaLynn]

I was assuming rocker kip = drop kip.

Honestly, sometimes you just need to be patient and "keep on keeping on". Some kids take longer to get this skill than others. If the pieces are all there and you work it consistently, it will come.

 

[penelope20_1999]

It could be. Rocker =drop kip. I thought they mentioned both in original post. I was mistaken. I haven't heard the term rocker kip, but that doesn't mean a whole lot.