S

KILLS OF

G

YMNASTICS

B

ASIC

S

KILLS

Handstand (Bars, Beam, Floor, Vault)

 A handstand is achieved by placing all of the weight on the hands and balancing the body in an inverted position  The legs may be separated or split, but the body must remain perfectly vertical

Cartwheel (Beam, Floor)

   A cartwheel is performed by turning the hands and kicking the legs over top of the head It is important to make sure your cartwheel is straight A cartwheel with no hands is called an aerial

B

ASIC

S

KILLS

Back Handspring (Floor, Vault, Beam)

  A back handspring is performed by jumping backwards to one’s hands and then snapping the feet down Back Handsprings can be performed in combination with each other, flips, and round offs

Front Handspring (Floor, Vault, Beam)

  A front handspring has similar ideas as a back handspring Front handsprings take off of one foot, bounce off of the hands, and drive the feet down to land

B

ASIC

S

KILLS

Back Tuck/ Layout/ Pike (Floor, Vault, Bars, Beam)

  A back tuck is essentially a back flip A back layout is a back flip performed with a straight body  A back pike is a back flip performed with straight legs pulled to the chest

Front Tuck/ Layout/ Pike (Floor, Vault, Bars, Beam)

   A front tuck is basically a front flip A front layout is a front flip performed with a straight body A front pike is a front flip performed with straight legs pulled to the chest

B

ASIC

S

KILLS

- J

UMPS

(F

LOOR

B

EAM

)  Straight Jump  Jump with straight legs, arms by ears  Tuck Jump  Jump with knees bent up to chest  Straddle Jump  Jump with legs splitting to the side, do not turn hips  Pike Jump  Jump with straight legs extended in front of the body  Split Jump  Jump with legs splitting forward and backward

B

ASIC

S

KILLS

Turns

   A turn must be performed on one foot The degree of the turn depends on how many times the gymnast can get her body to spin around Falling out of turns, when the gymnast loses control of her body, is grounds for deduction

Leaps

   The gymnast performs essentially a running split jump The gymnast must take off of one foot and split her legs as far as she can Leaps may be performed straight or sideways

B

ASIC

S

KILLS

Glide (Bars)

 Jump from two feet, catch the bar, toes glide under the bar and extend to the other side

Glide Kip (Bars)

 After the glide, toes quickly pull up to the bar and shoot up to the ceiling as the gymnast ends up on top of the bar

B

ASIC

S

KILLS

Pull Over

 In a pull over, the gymnast pulls her chin to the bar and the swings her legs over the bar to end up on top of the bar

Front Hip Circle

 To perform a front hip circle, the gymnast begins on top of the bar and rolls forward all the way around the bar to end in the same position she started in

M

ORE

A

DVANCED

S

KILLS

Tap Swings (Bars)

 While hanging on the high bar, the gymnast swings by alternating from arched to hollowed body shapes

Giants( Bars)

  Back Giant- while holding the bar regularly the gymnast uses the tap swing methods until she can swing 360 ⁰ around the bar with a straight body Front Giant- while holding the bar with the thumbs facing away from the gymnast, the gymnast completes a 360 ⁰ swing going forwards

M

ORE

A

DVANCED

S

KILLS

Fly Away(Bars) Pirouette(Bars, Beam, Floor)

   Out of a tap swing or a giant, the gymnast lets go over the bar, pulls her knees to her chest, and perform a back tuck off of the bars It can also be performed as a layout or pike Once the gymnast hits the mat, the idea is to “stick it” which means try to move as little as possible   From the handstand position, the gymnast will begin to turn her body by pushing with and picking up her arms The degree of the pirouette is up to the gymnast

M

ORE

A

DVANCED

S

KILLS

Twists(Bars, Beam, Floor, Vault)

   While performing a tuck, either front or back, the gymnast adds a twist In this skill, there is both flipping and twisting involved The degree of the twist depends on how many times the gymnast can get her body to spin around. However, her body has to get completely around in order for the twist to count

Doubles/ Triples(Bars, Beam, Floor, Vault)

  Doubles and triples are just two or three tucks, again either front or back, that are put together in combination without a pause Once the gymnasts’ feet leave the floor, two complete flips must be performed in order for it to be considered a double

M

ORE

A

DVANCED

S

KILLS

Tsukahara(Vault)

 The gymnast takes off the spring board straight but turns her hands 90 ⁰  From that position, she must bounce off of the vault table and perform a back tuck, layout, or pike

Yurchenko(Vault)

  The gymnast does a round off back handspring onto the vault spring board From the spring board she lands with her hands on the vault backwards and performs some sort of back tuck, layout or pike