WAG The Kip that comes and goes!!!!!!

[munchkin3]

DD has been working kips since the summer. She got it consistently before summer finished. She was the only one in her level who had it and was trying to get it with straight arms. She is almost 9.
This kipping went on for about 3-4 weeks.
THEN WE WENT ON VACATION!
We came back, school started and that was the end of her kip!!!

Since then, she has only been able to do it a handful of times. She is SOOOO frustrated!
The rest of her team has slowly been getting it one by one. She is more frustrated than ever!
The good thing I see is that when the coach puts a finger on her back, she does it beautifully WITH straight arms....
Could this be a type of mental block??

I keep telling her that she will get it, and she should not worry.

 

[Natasha]

This too shall pass But it is so frustrating to go through it when your daughter is in the middle of it. It seems like the Kip is the first skill that tends to come and go for most gymnasts. But, it is also a great learning opportunity as from here on out there will be skills that come and go- giants, flight series on beam....and the list can go on. And when she struggles with those future skills you will find yourself saying to her "Remember when your kip came and went and how easy it is now?" The Kip is really the first skill that has so much that goes into it and the timing has to be just right. It will come back. One day, believe it or not, the kip won't even be a thought, it will just be a common way to get up on the bar- like the pullover is now for her.

 

[MaryA]

What she said. ^^^

 

[GymBee97]

That sounds about right. Just wait for the growth spurt when it goes again. You cant stop her from stressing about it but just know it will come and sooner than she or you think.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

No one can say it better than Gymtigermom. Kipper will probably insist on her new nickname until she hits the next skill that comes and goes. She had her Kip in April...then she lost her grips and didn't like the new ones. Kip disappeared for a couple of months, and then came back gradually. Only in the last couple of weeks have they become consistent enough for her to really focus on other parts of her bar routine. I remember her "hating bars" and being so stressed out. All it took was a little time (that is the one variable you can't control!)

 

[LIGYMMOM]

What is the deal with the magical one finger spot anyway? It seems to work with so many kids! It's got to be mental. It is frustrating, but it WILL come back! And probably stronger than ever.

 

[GymBee97]

I don't know but my 16 yo DD still wants those one finger spots too. It never goes away.

 

[htimcj]

That darn kip. It happens A LOT! It will come back. When things like this happen I just remind DD that if you have done it once you can do it again!

 

[cbifoja]

My child lost her kip for about a week after she had successfully competed it for an entire season! Season ended and we took a week off for spring break. When we came back, the kip didn't come back with us.

But she got it back and I think you will find your DD's kip comes back too!

Then she grew a little over the summer and missed her squat on ALL SUMMER LONG. She got so frustrated and didn't understand what was going on.....Not surprised since I'm pretty sure this was the first time she had grown since she was 7 and joined team!

 

[happychaos]

DD has been through this too. It will come back. And, your DD's group is probably doing lots of drills for straight arms, so when it comes back, the straight arms may come easily.

Honestly, watching DD learn to kip was my least favorite part of her gymnastics journey so far.

 

[Krystan]

Totally normally, but completely frustrating! My dd took so long to get her kip that the knowledge that she *had* done it and *could* do it kept her from getting too upset it when it "went away" off and on for several months. Now it's not an issue. The flyaway on the other hand...

 

[Redford]

What is the deal with the magical one finger spot anyway? It seems to work with so many kids! It's got to be mental.

Did you ever had someone trying to tickle you? You will find yourself laughing without that someone even touching you, just at the thought of it.
Works the same way with the one finger spot.

 

[Kiwi]

My DD is in the same boat. She got her kip reasonably consistently for a while, got them okay in competition this past season, but then she started losing it. A couple of months later, she still doesn't have it back, she gets a few, but misses a lot more.

 

[gymmiemom]

I wish my daughter could just get her kip to COME lol. Her coach says she got it once on her own but didn't realize that she didn't have the "magic" one finger spot.....For whatever reason the minute her coach steps away she doesn't get up to the top of the bar.

I'm sure your DD will get hers back soon though!

 

[Becauseisaid]

Ditto wishing that kip would stop being so elusive. I don't think my heart can take the highs and lows. She got the kip! Yay! Aw, she missed it. Boo! I feel like need bipolar meds. Lol.

 

[saddlupasb]

Mine finally has the low bar kip where she makes all of them each practice. However she has a jacked up jump to the high bar and is scared of the high bar so no long hang kip. Ugh. She can make it jumping from a block. I wish she could accept that it is fear that is holding her back. She understands how to deal with that once she accepts it.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

That is such a hard thing to watch! We're finally to the point that dd makes the kip almost every time, but of course now they have to be straight arms, both high and low bar... Coming along, but not 100% yet.
I have to say though, that it is so wonderful to see how far the girls dd moved up with have come.... None of them had their kip this summer and they're all doing really well now. So exciting!

Eta: lots of people warned me and her that the kip would come and go. Seems very common. There's one girl on their team who competed last year and still isn't a good kipper.... It seems hers definitely comes and goes still and this is her second year of "having it". It's frustrating but not unusual from what I understand.

Hope all kips become more and more consistent!!!

 

[LizzieLac]

Eventually the kip comes...and it stays!!!

 

[iwannacoach]

I don't know but my 16 yo DD still wants those one finger spots too. It never goes away.

Yeah, but even though the finger remains the same, the skills requiring it keep getting harder......... and that's a good thing!

 

[munchkin3]

DD is having a great L3 season, scoring consistently in the 37s.
We have a month till states, and then the big decision on who moves to L4 is in January.
I am so scared that the coach will determine readiness on the KIP!!!
She has her Double BHS, She has her jump to HB, she has a great BHC to big swings.
She has her cartwheel on the low beam (scared of doing it on HB).
She has a great vault, but is a bit scared to move to table.
I assume these is all normal development stuff. she cant have everything before!!!

I HOPE HER KIP RETURNS SOON!!!! maybe, just maybe, all of her work will pay off and it will come soon. It seems like it is taking her longer than the rest because she is trying to keep her arms straight until the end!!! hopefully it will come with straight arms!! (i wont hold my breath)