Developing High Bar Skills

I work at a gymnastics gym with a very nice strap bar and pit bar setup (although the pit bar is a girls bar). The other day I decided I should learn a glide kip myself and got it straight arm second try (thanks foundation). Obviously second try it wasn't perfect so I've been cleaning it up after work and it's improving a lot. It's a tremendous amount of fun! I'm curious if developing certain skills on the high bar would carry over significantly to GST, and if so, what are they?

Secondly, things like giants, cast handstands, and other intermediate skills sound like a ton of fun. As with many other skills, I know Coach has various prerequisites he would like to be attained before approaching these skills and I'm curious what they are. 

I'm not looking to be coached on these things as I know immediate feedback is key and an online forum is not the place for this type of coaching. What I'm looking for is more of a roadmap for when these skills can be done safely and productively. 

first lean swing and be sure to master Handstand 1. bar without handstand is a dream.

Alessandro Mainente said:

first lean swing and be sure to master Handstand 1. bar without handstand is a dream.

I'm curios, What do you mean by swing? a giant? or a simple straight body swing under the bar?

no swing I mean above horizontal of 45° on the front and on the back. Giant it's not for beginner.

I'm definitely going to develop tap swing before moving to giants. Do you mean master all of H1 through to SE14? Or would something like SE7 be adequate to begin?

Personally, SE12 gives you the ability to understand both the body alignment and bodyshape modifications. 

other basic skills like backward roll to handstand with proper bodyline could be very helpful to improve dramatically the correct body position during future giants.

Okay, thank you! I'll definitely work on my back extension roll and start with some circling skills, but hold giant until my handstand catches up.

On the subject of bar skills does anybody have an opinion on the pros and cons of using a suicide grip for bar pull-ups and bar muscle ups.  I've used a suicide grip for years without giving it any thought, but the other day somebody told me that wrapping my thumb would activate more muscles which would improve the power of my pull.  Sounded like bro-science to me, but it was somebody whose abilities far exceed mine.

For strength skills on the bar, this doesn't matter in the slightest.  Simply a matter of personal preference.

For technical swinging skills (high swings, giants etc), using a very relaxed thumb around the bar grip is essential.  Of course this style of grip is also supported by gymnastic grips which were specifically designed to be used with this grip.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer