question for coaches

[sally]

my dd 6 years old is training atm for regionals which are 3 months away. She has all her skills except for one the kip. I don't understand why she can't grasp it but she is having a lot of trouble trying to do it. Just wondering on an average how long does it take normally to get it? This is the only thing we are waiting for as she has her clear hip and long swings. I am just getting a little nervous for her. If anyone has any advice on how to get it would be great.

 

[JBS]

I have had gymnasts get a kip almost immediately and I have had kids take 2 years to learn a kip. There is really no way to tell. Here is a list of all the threads in the forum tagged with the word kip:

kip

chalkbucket.com

There should be some good drills in there somewhere.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

patience is a gymnast's virtue.

 

[gymnast4life94]

I dont have any advice but i can tell you it took Shawn Johnson a year to get hers, so dont worry too much it will all happen in time!

 

[MaryA]

It seems to take FOREVER, and then, once she gets it, you'll wonder why you ever worried about it...

Last summer, my daughter went to Woodward, a camp at her gym, and a camp at a neighboring gym. Every camp, I told myself, "surely by the end of this week, she'll have her kip." No such luck. She came home from Woodward talking about how wonderful her tap-swings were now and I'm thinking "what good will that do you if you can't get up there TO tap-swing???" How long did it take her to learn it? I'll say probably 8 months till she was sometimes getting it, 10 until she was pretty consistant on both low and high. She was the last out of her level 5 teammates to get it, but now, at the end of the season, she's consistantly getting the highest or 2nd to highest scores on the team, so, as others have indicated, how long it takes to get your kip is not an indication of how good of a gymnast you are.

For my DD, pretty soon it will be time to start working on the NEW skills... I wonder which of those will be the thorn in her side? Clear hip? Fly away? Back tuck? Can't wait to start the whole "When will she get her....?" process all over again! The other night I told a woman who was waiting to sign her daughter up for preschool classes to run away, while there was still time!!! I was only half kidding!

 

[sally]

Thanks everybody. I must of said the right thing because today she got her kip! She was very excited and I have to say how happy I am for her