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There's 2 drills I use most often. One is a drill that isolates the leg action of the kip, the other the wrist flick that gets them on top of the bar in their front support. I start doing these once a gymnast has a consistently good glide and gilde + toes to the bar.
1. I have the gymnast grab the bar and hang, then leg lift so her ankles are against the bar, maintaining a hollow body position. I put one hand on their upper back, and the other at the backs of their ankles. On the count of 3, I have them shoot their legs up the bar as quickly as they can. The result should be an upside down front support. What I'm looking for is constant contact with the bar at the front of the legs, how fast they can do it, and if the resulting position still has the hollow body. It's a mimic of the same leg action in the kip, but upside down. They usually push their legs away from the bar at first, arching their backs. With practice they learn to maintain their hollow and keep the bar close as they shoot their legs up.
2. For the wrist flick drill, I have them hang from the bar, hollow, and then lift their legs up straight, just high enough for me to grab their ankles. I straddle their legs, then swing them 3 times. As I push them back in the swing, I move their legs from a straddle to a pike. At the 3rd swing, I push hard, and they pull the bar down. If they flick the wrist, I let go of the legs and they end up in a front support. This is a drill I only use after a gymnast can do the above one in their sleep. I watch their hands on the bar as I swing them so I can see if they re-grip at a bad time (aka the 'big' push, if they re-grip I have to wait) or if they're going to push away from the bar instead of pull it and go for it. Mats are good in this case, I've had a few fall on their butts after deciding to push away the first time they learn the drill. After having nearly all my level 4's have EVERY single part of their kip down, just to watch them fall away over that wrist flick, I don't underestimate that tiny little grip adjustment in the overall scheme of the skill.
They have to maintain the hollow body, and be able to hold their legs tight for both. If they are floppy the end result is them pushing away from the bar, or swinging wildly with legs everywhere and bent arms when I let go of their legs after the wrist flick drill. When they do both drills very easily plus have their glide fully extended with toes to the bar, I consider it a good time to start spotting the full kip. At that point they understand the feel of what they need to do, it's just a matter of putting it all together. Getting the timing down is the hardest part!
Last edited by Linsul; 10-09-2008 at 08:25 AM.
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