This one might seem obvious… or maybe not!

We teach our athletes to put their ankles/toes to the bar for kips on bars. I have seen some online discussions and coaches encouraging riding up the leg more towards the knees or higher. Depending on swing and strength of athlete, there might be a need to go higher up the leg to make sure that the athlete can control the swing and get the hips to the bar. With that said, it wouldn’t be my ideal teaching technique for multiple reasons.

1. The quicker the athlete gets to the hips, the less they have finished their shoulders over the bar most often. Shooting the feet up the bar early is a major problem and often leads to short shoulder lean and lack of quality cast direction.

2. The hips provide a nice pendulum swing which helps the athlete finish around the back of the bar to get a nice late compression finish over the bar.

3. When the legs shoot early, the hips tend to open as well. The more open the hips upon completion of the kip, the less uncoil and power of the lower body leading the cast off the bar. This usually creates an arched exit from the bar, which is not the ideal model of the skill.

So teach the athletes to put the ankles to the bar every time on kips. And then they may or may not have to adapt their kips on occasion if they have too much swing coming out of a release move, or some other swinging maneuver. Let the gymnast adapt their technique for those occasions rather than teaching the compromised technique to them.

For reference… this video includes no less than 3 different Level 10 National Bar Champions and multiple other medalists.

Hope this helps you and your gymnasts create their Best Darn Gymnastics!