Kipping in the Olympics

I have a really big question:

How often is kipping used in elite competition level gymnastics? My impression is that there is very little kipping unless the move requires kipping due to limitations by the laws of physics/human inability to be that strong. Would I be correct in saying this? I know some people may kip initially when practicing the muscle up, for instance, but for elite level athletes and olympians, how often is kipping really used? All thoughtful responses much appreciated.

In practice to get above the rings or hbar? All the time.

In strength you don't really use basic movements anymore such as muscle ups once you can properly develop more advanced elements. So.. to answer your question.. no kipping is not really used much, but neither are the movements you're thinking of to develop advanced level strength.

For example, if muscle ups are still "used" they will usually be in the form of sequences with much harder skills such as galimores (front lever, muscle up, straddle planche, repeat)

A swing to an element is essentially kipping in a way vs pressing to it.

Just like butterfly cross used to initiate by pulling in the rings and then popping up to cross or support like a shoot.

The Victorian is typically swung to or uses a shoot to Victorian.

Blairbob said:

A swing to an element is essentially kipping in a way vs pressing to it.

Right, but is the swing done as a part of the movement because of the nature of gymnastics? Or because it is necessary in order to achieve the full movement?

you'll see the lightly kipped butterfly cross to support typically when training them initially, but most elites nowadays seem to just dead hang pull

doing a kip action to an element could be counted as a swing. 0.5 deduction I believe.

Blairbob said:

you'll see the lightly kipped butterfly cross to support typically when training them initially, but most elites nowadays seem to just dead hang pull

doing a kip action to an element could be counted as a swing. 0.5 deduction I believe.

Let me get this straight, so essentially, in training kips may be used to slowly train strength. And then once more advanced strength exercises are employed, usually it's from one gymnastics position to another?

And kipping during a competition, such as the Olympics, will result in a point deduction?

There are swinging moves, and there are strength moves.

A "kip" as a swinging move (such as on high bar, pbars, rings) itself is a SEPARATE skill.

A kipping motion used to assist a strength move is a deduction. Kipping MAY be useful as part of a strength program to develop strength skills, but in general will be probably avoided most of the time.

There are swinging moves, and there are strength moves.

There are also swing to strength moves. In this instance the swing is used to make the subsequent strength element more valuable as it is more difficult to swing and suddenly stop in the strength position versus simply lowering to it; e.g. a backuprise to inverted cross compared to simply lowering to the inverted cross.

Notice however that Steven and Blair are absolutely correct; in this instance the use of momentum is being used to make the strength element MORE challenging rather than less as is the case with kipping pullups or kipping muscle-ups.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer