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Acrobatic & dynamic skills

Kip

Swing out under the bar, lift the toes to it and pull the bar up your body in one motion, finishing in a front support on top. One coaching page says strength is just as important as timing.

Four separate positions of one swing; nothing is drawn between them, and the loop only goes forward. The hands stay on the bar. No source gives these angles or the speed of the swing: the figure is this page's model.
Difficulty
Intermediate
editorial estimate
Steps to it
3 steps
Intermediate → Advanced
Usually done on
Pull-up bar, Low bar
Start with the first stepHow it is done

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach. 4 sources

The road at a glance

A short overview with links. Every step is explained in full under Progressions.

Helps to have first

This skill

Kip

Leads towards

No movement in the Atlas builds directly on this one yet.

01

What it is

A kip takes a gymnast from a hang to a front support on top of the bar. Wikipedia describes it as flexing or piking at the hips and then rapidly extending them, and says it may be performed in some form on all apparatus, most commonly on the women's uneven bars and on the men's rings, parallel bars and horizontal bar.2

GymnasticsHQ splits the glide kip into three parts: the glide (grab the bar and extend the legs in a pike or straddle position), the pike-up (lift the toes to the bar once the legs and hips are fully extended) and 'pull up your pants' (pull the bar up the body as you swing backward, to finish on top of the bar in a front support). Wikipedia gives the same shape: a swing in a piked hollow position, an extension to a straight hollow position parallel to the floor, then pulling the feet toward the bar while pushing down with straight arms, to a straight hollow front support.12

Wikipedia names a second version, the long-hang kip. It does not use a piked hollow swing or swing out to horizontal: it starts from a straight hollow swing and kips much earlier in the swing than a glide kip does. This page draws the glide kip.2

The one biomechanics source is a conference abstract on thirteen people: ten skilled and three unskilled subjects on a horizontal bar. It reports that the skilled ones kept a straight body and a longer distance between their centre of gravity and the bar in the forward swing and that their peak hip flexion power came later, and it concludes that timing is essential and that unskilled subjects should flex the hips later, after the reversal point.3

Freestyle calisthenics rules list the kip as an example of a skill element, a coordination ability, next to swing 540 and frontflip regrab; they do not describe it. All the technique sources here are about gymnastics bars. None tested a fixed outdoor bar or gives a bar height.4

Extend out, lift the toes to the bar and pull the bar up the body; timing matters as much as strength.

02

How it is done

  1. Glide out

    Grab the bar and swing out under it with the body extended. GymnasticsHQ describes extending the legs in a pike or straddle position; Wikipedia describes a swing out to a straight hollow position parallel to the floor.12

    CueKeep a strong hollow body position throughout.1

  2. Pike up

    Once the legs and hips are fully extended, lift the toes to the bar. The leg lift on a pull-up bar is, in GymnasticsHQ's words, the same motion as this part of the kip.1

  3. Pull the bar up the body

    Pull the bar up your body as you swing backward, pushing down with straight arms and driving the hips: GymnasticsHQ's mistake list says to generate enough power with the hip kick to get the hips above the bar.12

  4. Finish in a front support

    Finish on top of the bar in a front support, the body straight and hollow.12

03

Progressions

These steps let you record the version you do now. They are not compulsory unlocks or a repetition programme.

What to have first

  • The steps GymnasticsHQ lists before the kip

    GymnasticsHQ says every gymnast works through kip progressions before the full skill, lists the pullover and the glide swing as steps, and recommends hollow holds on the floor and leg lifts on a pull-up bar as drills. It does not call any of them a requirement.1

  1. Step 1Intermediate

    Glide swing

    Swing out under the bar with the body extended and come back. GymnasticsHQ says the glide swing establishes proper body position and momentum for the kip.

    Technical note: The same page suggests a spotter or a low bar to develop the timing; it does not say how low.1

  2. Step 2Intermediate

    Lift the toes to the bar

    Lift the toes to the bar from a hang. Leg lifts on a pull-up bar are GymnasticsHQ's drill for the pike-up part of the kip.

    Technical note: The picture shows the toes at the bar in the middle of the swing, not a slow leg lift.1

  3. Step 3AdvancedGoal

    Kip

    From a hang: glide out, pike up, pull the bar up the body and finish in a front support.

    Technical note: Full describes the movement, not a number of repetitions; the sources give none.12

04

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05

Common mistakes

  • Incorrect timing

    GymnasticsHQ's first mistake is pulling and kicking at the wrong moment in the swing.1

  • Flexing the hips too early

    In the study, the skilled subjects' peak hip flexion power came later; its authors suggest unskilled subjects should emphasise hip flexion later, after the reversal point. It was a kip on a horizontal bar, which is not necessarily the glide kip drawn here.3

  • Losing the hollow body

    Weak core engagement is the second mistake on GymnasticsHQ's list; it asks for a strong hollow body position throughout the kip.1

  • Not enough hip drive

    Without enough power in the hip kick the hips do not get above the bar, says the same list.1

  • Gripping too hard or too loosely

    The list's fourth mistake is a poor grip: a firm but relaxed grip gives better control.1

06

Variations and related skills

  • Long-hang kip

    Wikipedia describes a version that starts from a straight hollow swing, without the piked hollow swing and without swinging out to horizontal, and kips much earlier in the swing than the glide kip. This page does not draw it.2

  • On a low bar or with a spotter

    Equipment

    GymnasticsHQ suggests a spotter or a low bar to develop the timing. It gives no bar height and does not describe how to spot.1

  • Other apparatus

    Equipment

    Wikipedia says the kip is performed in some form on all apparatus, most commonly on the women's uneven bars and on the men's rings, parallel bars and horizontal bar. This page draws only a bar.2

Related skillsBack Hip CircleMuscle-Up

On Calisthenics Balkan

07

Sources

What this page relies on. Titles and publishers are written as published.

The small numbers in the text point to the entries below

  1. How to Do a Gymnastics Kip (Step-by-Step Guide + Drills)GymnasticsHQ (its author bio names its founder, Jessica) · 17 Jun 2026; read 18 Oct 2026; the one technique source with steps, drills and mistakes; written for gymnastics bars, with the line that children need adult supervision at all times (research S-0117)
  2. Kip (artistic gymnastics)Wikipedia · article written by volunteers; read 18 Oct 2026; used for the definition, the glide and the long-hang versions and the apparatus; its own references (a 1973 textbook, FIG codes of points, a 2004 coaching magazine article, a web page) were not opened; it has no safety text (research S-0190)
  3. Comparison of the kip maneuver at the horizontal bar between the skilled and unskilled subjectsYamada T, Ae M, Fujii N · 20th International Symposium on Biomechanics in Sports (ISBS), conference proceedings · 2002; abstract read 18 Oct 2026, the full paper was not opened; ten skilled and three unskilled subjects on a horizontal bar (research S-0118)
  4. WSWCF Calisthenics Freestyle National Qualification Championship: Official Competition RulesWorld Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation (WSWCF) · PDF, 15 pages; read 18 Oct 2026; names the kip as an example of a skill element (section 7.6) and defines nothing (research S-0132)

A note on safety. GymnasticsHQ says children need adult supervision at all times and suggests a spotter or a low bar for learning the timing. Wikipedia has no safety text. None of the sources tested a fixed outdoor bar, gives a bar height, or describes a fall, and the kip is a swing, so a mistimed attempt can end in a fall; that last point is this page's inference, not a statement of the sources. This page therefore cannot tell you how to learn the kip safely on a park bar. Learn it with a qualified coach if you can, and get individual advice first if you have a shoulder, elbow, wrist or back problem. This is a technique guide, not rehabilitation advice, and the figure is simplified. The page has not been reviewed by a qualified coach.

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach.

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