Parents Level 3 competing kip instead of glide

[jlogym]

My dd is a level 3 gymnast and all season her coach has had her compete with the kip instead of the glide. All of the other girls on the team just do the glide. Is there a benefit to doing the kip? Do they get extra points? Her scores have been ok, but at one meet my dd asked the coach if she could just do glide and she got a higher score than she has been getting. Her kip is usually pretty good, but sometimes it is not straight-arm, would she be better off just doing glide? And if so why would the coach have her compete kip?

 

[wallflower]

She will be better prepared for level 4.

 

[gwenmom]

The Kip has more room for error and deductions then the glide. She does not need to compete it but that is up to the coach.

 

[2G1B]

Yup. There us no bonus for the kip and if it isn't straight armed then there will be deductions; but she is getting the practice in now so she will have a better year at 4.

 

[lovemygymnast]

My dd is a L4 but in L3 last year, she also was the only one competing with her kip. Sometimes, it was slightly bent arm. She was hit hard at some meets because of this. Her coach did let her do one meet with glide not kip and like you said, the score went up. There's no extra points for the kip, but it's preparing your dd for L4. My dd was waaayyyy ahead of the game by having competed with kip all last season. In hindsight, I wouldn't change a thing and it was the best thing for her in the long run. Her scores definitely weren't as high as we knew they could be but sometimes, the experience is better than the points.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I don't agree, no such thing as getting experience while bending your arms. Lock your arms in workout, do a pullover in competition and learn it right. Or next year you will get beat by all the kids who are doing exactly that. UNLESS she has her kip with locked elbows all the time.

 

[jlogym]

Thanks for the responses. I hope that it is giving her experience and practice for next year. She has been able to do the level 4 bar routine since September so maybe her scores next year on bars will make up for this year

 

[headoverheels]

My DD competed her kip in level 3 but just a couple of times. Her bar scores went way up when she went back to the glide! There's no score benefit to doing the kip and more potential for deductions.

 

[z2akids]

DD would like to compete her kip, but her bars coach will not agree. Her kip is okay - sometimes good, sometimes so so. Coach didn't see any reason to have a lower score when she had a beautiful glide/pull over.

She does however work kips and level 4 routines in the gym which I expect to prepare her for next season at L4.

 

[HoldThePhone]

We had one girl on our L3 team that competed her kip the last couple of meets and she scored well. No one else did, the coach mentioned DD competing it at State, I was thrilled that she didn't, that darn stride circle was worry enough for her. Last year a few of our L3's competed with the kip and one in particular scored very well on bars, but her kip was really good.

 

[Gymgem05]

My dd did 2 level 3 meets, before moving to level 4.
First meet she just did glide/pull over scored 9.65 (1st place)
Second meet with kip scored 9.35 (3rd place)
Both routines were of similar quality with the exception of the kip.
I think doing the kip gave her some much needed confidence! She needed to know she could do it and complete it fairly well. It was not perfect and she probably could have won 1st place had she just did the glide. But she gained much more for pushing through and competing the kip.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

As far as score, there's no benefit to doing the kip at level 3. Developmentally, it is absolutely crucial that they be training a kip at this level, but it's up to individual preferences of the coach whether or not they compete it.

 

[beachgirl]

Last season there were 2 girls that were on the L3 team at DD's gym that did the kip for the first couple of meets. They both scored in the 9.2 range with the kip. For the last 4 meets the switched to the glide pull over and scored 9.6 to 9.775 at

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

To give a somewhat more complete answer:

Generally, very few kids at this level will be able to do kips cleaner than pullovers. If the goal is to get the highest possible score, pullover is the way to go.

However, at level 3, I can think of a long list of things that are a higher priority than scores, some of which could be strong reasons to compete a kip. Skill development, goal setting (and the sense of accomplishment for reaching a goal), and fun, to name a few.

I don't like to have my 3s compete the kip, but the reason has nothing to do with score. The reason my girls don't do it is because I dislike kips that don't connect to a cast. I like my girls to think of a cast as part of the kip; in other words, if they do a kip but don't cast, they didn't really do a proper kip.
If the level 3 routine were changed so that they could mount with a glide kip connected to a cast, I would be pushing the kip in competition a lot more at level 3.

 

[Judybird]

Although it would mean a lower bars score, I wish my DD could compete a kip in her bar routine cuz that would mean she had it! So the benefits or detriments depend on how you look at it.

 

[Deleted member 17723]

It will prepare for level 4, but I would go back to the glide for big meets and kips for smaller meets. Don't push it, let the coach make the decision. Good luck!

 

[tooootsie]

My dd is a level 3 gymnast and all season her coach has had her compete with the kip instead of the glide. All of the other girls on the team just do the glide. Is there a benefit to doing the kip? Do they get extra points? Her scores have been ok, but at one meet my dd asked the coach if she could just do glide and she got a higher score than she has been getting. Her kip is usually pretty good, but sometimes it is not straight-arm, would she be better off just doing glide? And if so why would the coach have her compete kip?

No extra points, judges love it! My DD did KIP as L3 all season. The draw back.. if they mess up it is a big deduction. my poor DD messed up her kip at states.

 

[Moxiegrl83]

My DD competed her kip all of L3 too, including State. Her scores ranged from 8.8 (with a fall on her dismount) to 9.775. I'm sure there was a meet or 2 she got a small deduction on it, but overall I think it was good for her. She could easily still do her kip her first day in grips!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

JMO, nothing to be gained by doing the kip at a meet. Lots of good kips, with coaching in practice will make a stronger kip. That's what up training is for.

Unless it's as good as their glide in a meet all its going to do is cost points. Especially when you don't get credit for doing more.