I titled this post “Kips, Kips, Kips” because in order to get a kip you need to do a million of them. One of my favorite traditions in my gym was that when a girl was close to her kip, the entire gym would stop what they were doing and watch her try to get up to a front support. Usually, the girl got the skill just because of the pressure! A kip is such an involved skill, in order for it to be performed right it requires a perfect glide swing and a strong front support. The glide swing is so essential to this skill, the form, extension, and aggressiveness are the components that make a kip. Speaking of form, if one of my girls who is working on a kip does the glide swing with bent legs or drags her feet I immediately forfeit the spot. I encourage all coaches to practice this way, bad habits like that WILL stick and are completely unacceptable. Getting a kip is a defining moment in gymnastics. It represents so much hard work and so many corrections. Gymnasts make a kip look like the easiest thing in the world but those in the gymnastics world know the truth. This has to be one of my favorite skills to coach just because the corrections are mostly black and white. Most common corrections: extend the glide, switch your wrists, and throw your shoulders. Stride circles, also called mill circles in some other gyms, are a great preparation for this skill because it allows the gymnast to feel the wrist switch. Another great way to train is by using the kip machine. It does not allow for proper glide swing work but it does let the gymnast feel her/his wrist switch enough for them to land in a front support. I recommend spotting this drill at first, that way the gymnast doesn’t have to worry about getting enough power the first couple of tries, only what his/her hands are doing.This drill should be incorporated into every “new kippers” bar workout. In addition, this drill can be beneficial to those working on a straight arm kip…which should be everyone!
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Gymnastics: Coaching & Doing 