Resources - Gymnastics Glossary
The following glossary provides a comprehensive list of terms commonly used in gymnastics events. If terms are missing that could be added, please contact the webmaster.
10.0: - the desired routine scores for our gymnasts. The highest possible and most desired routine score for gymnasts to achieve on a single routine. In the past and perhaps in the future, at least for men’s gymnastics, scores may exceed 10.0 if they have a high degree of difficulty.
A Score (difficulty score): The degree of difficulty contained in the routine. For vaults, the A-score is predetermined depending on which type of vault the gymnast performs. For all other gymnastics routines, the A-score is determined by the judges during the routine and is finalized at the end, based on the difficulty of the elements presented.
Abduction: In general, refers to movements moving outward from the center of the body. Hip abduction is moving the legs, knees and feet outward. Shoulder abduction is moving the arms and hands out to the side.
Acro: Term referring to tumbling skill on beam or floor exercise, used most commonly when describing combination dance-acro requirements.
Acrobatics: A gymnastics term for control skills requiring balance, strength, and/or flexibility. Sometimes called corner skills in men’s gymnastics. For women, it includes some of the slower, more controlled elements, like a front walkover. See also - Sports Acrobatics.
Active Stretching: The practice of having a relaxed limb moved beyond its normal range of motion with the assistance of a partner. Another method of active flexibility is using high kicks of the leg. This is the type of flexibility exercise has more potential for muscle tears than passive stretching.
Adduction: Hip adduction is bringing the knees together. Shoulder adduction is pressing the arms downward while out to the side.
Adductor Muscles: The pair of adductor muscles on the inside of the thighs pull the legs toward each other. These are the muscles that must be stretched in order to perform a straddle split.
Adolph: A front somersault (usually layout) with 3½ twists done on trampoline.
Aerial: A skill performed without the hands touching the floor or the apparatus. Most commonly used to refer to an aerial cartwheel or aerial (front) walkover.
Airplane: A trampoline skill done by jumping with a 1/2 longitudinal axis (LA) twist to a front drop.
All Around: Refers to a gymnast that competes all of their gender-specific events. For men this is the 6 events, and for women the 4 events described below. A specialist, in contrast, only competes a sub-set of the events.
Alternates: Any tumbling pass that directly connects two saltos (somersaults or flips) by the use of any handspring skill. For example: Round-off whip back handspring whip. It is more common to see alternates done with backward tumbling rather than front tumbling. One alternate skill is required for a tumbling routine in a lower level high school routine.
Amanar: A vault named after Simona Amanar of Romania. The vault is a 2 1/2 twisting lay-out Yurchenko done by her at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Amplitude: The height, or degree of execution of a movement. In general, the higher the salto or the more breathtaking the movement, the better the amplitude. In gymnastics this term means height or spectacular excecution of a particular skill. When a gymnast performs a skill bigger than other gymnasts typically perform the same skill it is said to have a lot of amplitude. At various times the code has given bonus for amplitude.
Apparatus: One of the various pieces of equipment used in gymnastics competitions
Arabesque: In gymnastics and ballet, a pose on one leg with the other leg extended behind the body. The supporting leg either bent or straight. Stand on one foot and raise the other leg to the back in a split (preferably a 180 degree split) with a straight leg and turned out from the hip; while keeping the trunk fully upright. Also see Turnout and Scale
Arabesque Penche: An arabesque scale in which the back is allowed to drop so that the rear leg may be raised higher.
Arabian Front: A tumbling somersaulting skill, which usually begins from a back tumbling skill like a round-off or back handspring, and consists of a ½ turn into front salto. Can be done in tuck, pike or layout and can also be stepped –out. Also now done from a stand on beam.
Arabian Double Front: An Arabian front done with two somersaults. Done in either tuck or pike.
Arch: In an arch a gymnasts hips are pushed forward, chest is open. Lie on your stomach with your arms by your ears. Lift your heels while keeping your legs straight, and lift your arms while keeping your arms straight. The body is curved backwards.
Artistic Gymnastics: The Olympic sport for men and women performed on apparatus and judged individually, by event, in the All-Around and by team. Men's events are floor exercise, horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, still rings and vault. Women's events are vault, uneven parallel bars balance beam and floor exercise.
A Skills: The lowest level of difficulty rating for gymnastics skills other than moves of no value. Front and back handsprings are rated as "A" level skills by the F.I.G. (Internatgional Gymnastics Federation).
Assemblé: A common ballet and gymnastics movement where the legs are brought together in the air. It begins with a step and ends on both feet. The gymnast lifts one leg up and springs off the other On landing, both feet have closed together. An assemblé is usually a preparatory movement to another skill, usually a jump. An assemblé can travel in the direction in which the leg was raised and can be performed while turning or with a beat in the air.
Attitude: A position of the body, similar to the arabesque, where the extended leg is bent at the knee. See Arabesque. Also what gymnasts and some coaches have too much of.
Azaryan: A strength move performed on still rings named after Armenian gymnast Alfred Azaryan. The Azaryan consists of a backwards roll to a cross.
B-Score (execution score): Each routine starts with a maximum B-score of ten points, with execution errors subtracted during the routine.
Back: A backward somersault. See Back Somersault.
Back Flip: One of a number of terms for a back somersault move that begins usually taking off two feet, rotates then lands again on the feet. Also called Back Somersault, Back Salto, Back Tuck, Back Pike, Back Layout.
Back Giant: A circling skill done on high bar, parallel bars and uneven bars that begins and finishes in a handstand and circles around the bar in a fully extended position, often using an arch/hollow tap swing action.
Back Handspring: A tumbling move where a gymnast takes off from one or two feet, jumps backward onto the hands and lands on the feet. This skill can be as a step-out skill (usual method on beam) or landed on two feet. Round-off back handsprings are the basis for almost all back tumbling skills. Back handsprings are also called a Flip-Flop or Flic-Flac.
Back Lever: A static hold performed on the rings. A back lever is rated as an 'A' value skill on the Code of Points a scale from A to E, with E being the most difficult. A back lever is performed by lowering from an inverted hang until the gymnast's body is parallel to the ground. Performing a back lever requires a high degree of strength in the chest and shoulders, a lot of core tension must be generated to stay horizontal.
Back Somersault: One of the number of terms for a back salto move that begins usually taking off two feet, rotates then lands again on the feet. Also called Back Flip, Back Salto, Back Tuck, Back Pike, Back Layout.
Back Somie/Back Salto Dismount: A somersaulting dismount off beam, parallel bars, rings, bars or even pommel horse using an back aerial somersault.
Back Toss: On men's parallel bars, a backward swing from a handstand with a brief release to re-catch in a handstand.
Back Walkover: A control skill gymnastics move starting and finishing on the feet and made by lifting one leg, arching back into and passing through a handstand position by bringing one foot, then the other over the top and stepping down from the handstand into a lunge. Done on floor and beam and often used on beam in combination with a back handspring to fulfill the flight series combination requirement.
Backbend: A body position with an high degree of bending with an arched back and stretched shoulders where the hands and feet are on the floor. To do correctly with the shoulders over the hands and straight legs, requires above average back and shoulder flexibility.
Backgrab: A term used in gymnastics to describe when a gymnast kicks one leg to the rear while standing, grabs the leg from overhead, and ends up in a needle scale position See: Needle Scale
Back-In, Full-Out: A double back salto with a full twist. The twist is initiated and completed during the second salto. Also called a Full-Out
Balance Beam: 1) A piece of women’s gymnastics apparatus 120 centimeters (4 feet) high, 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide, and 500 centimeters (16 feet) long. 2) A women's gymnastics event performed on the balance beam apparatus. The balance beam routine should last between 70 to 90 seconds and includes a variety of acrobatic, gymnastic, and dance moves, ending with a dismount.
Balance: 1) A static gymnastics or dance position, which holds the body in a distinct shape and is usually used on beam. 2) A state of equilibrium or be in equilibrium 3) A routine that has its elements evenly spread and distributed throughout the whole routine is said to be balanced.
Ball Out: On trampoline this term refers to a front somersault done from a bounce on the back.
Ballistic Stretching: The use of momentum or "bouncing" to force a limb beyond its range of motion in order to warm up or increase flexibility. Examples of ballistic stretching would be leg swings or bouncing in splits. Such stretches may lead to injury if the body is not thoroughly warmed up, but if done carefully (with light force and controlled amplitude), experienced gymnasts may benefit from these flexibility exercises.
Bar: A horizontal rod that serves as a part of a gymnastics apparatus for gymnasts as they perform exercises. They are found on uneven bars, high bars and parallel bars. A bar can also be called a Rail.
Barani: A forward somersault with a half-twist. The skill is most often done in the layout position and the twist is done with a ¼ in, ¼ out twist timing.
Beat board: The springboard gymnasts use to begin their vault or uneven bars routines.
Bhardwaj: A salto on uneven bars named after Mohini Bhardwaj. She first performed the skill in International competition in 2004. It is done from a hang on the high bar, facing the low bar with a swing forward, and a layout salto backward with a full turn (360 degrees) between bars to a handstand on the low bar. It has been rated as D level skill with the FIG and its FIG number is 4.506 Bhardwaj: A salto on uneven bars named after Mohini Bhardwaj. She first performed the skill in International competition in 2004. It is done from a hang on the high bar, facing the low bar with a swing forward, and a layout salto backward with a full turn (360 degrees) between bars to a handstand on the low bar. It has been rated as D level skill with the FIG and its FIG number is 4.506 Bhavsar: A rings skill named after Raj Bhavsar. It is a pull through momentary, front lever press to Maltese It has been rated by the FIG as an E level skill (Super E if done with straight body). Blind Change: A high bar or uneven bar skill done from a back giant, with a ½ turn over the top of the bar to end in a front giant.
Bhavsar: A rings skill named after Raj Bhavsar. It is a pull through momentary, front lever press to Maltese It has been rated by the FIG as an E level skill (Super E if done with straight body).
Bird Up: A reverse kip. Used primarily on the rings event.
Blind Change: A high bar or uneven bar skill done from a back giant, with a ½ turn over the top of the bar to end in a front giant.
Block: The term "block" in gymnastics is typically used to describe a rapid rebounding off of the floor or aparatus with the arms. The block comes from the shoulders exploding towards extension.
Body Wave: A wave-like contraction movement of the entire body passing through the hips, shoulders, arms and head.
Bonus Points: Each skill has a Level of difficulty rated by the FIG as an A, B, C, D E or Super E level skill. Bonus points in a routine are created by the combination of difficult C or D level skills or by performing the very difficult E or Super E skills.
Borden: A balance beam skill named after Amanda Borden. It is a straddle pike jump done from a sideways position on the beam with a ½ or ¾ turn. It has been rated as a C level skill by the FIG and its FIG number is 2.302.
Bounders: Any tumbling skill were two Salto's (flips) are executed consecutively. For example: a front salto, immediate front salto meets that bounder skill. Salto direction changes are also allowed for the bounder skill. For example: back salto, punch front salto also meets the bounder skill. One bounder skill is required for a tumbling routine in a lower level high school routine.
Brause: An uneven bar skill named after Doris Fuchs Brause. It is done from the low bar facing away from the high bar, with a cast to front salto forward and catching the high bar. It has been rated as a C skill by the FIG.
Bridge: A bridge is attained by lying on your back. Place your hands on the floor by your ears and bend your legs. Push your hips towards the ceiling and arch back. Ideally a bridge should have straight legs and shoulders pushed out over the hands.
Bryan: A pommel horse skill named after Casey Bryan. It is a scissors with turn to handstand, pirouette and straddle back down. It has been rated by the Fig as a C level skill.
Buck: A short gymnastic horse without pommels and with one end elongated. It used to be used lengthwise for vaulting and sideways for learning pommel horse skills. It is not commonly used for vaulting any longer, but still is sometimes used as a training tool for pommel horse. Also called a pommel buck.
Cabriole: A gymnastics and ballet leap in which one leg is extended in midair and the other beat against it before the gymnast lands on the foot used for take-off.. Cabrioles can be done to the front, side and back. The kick-the-habit kick on TV commercials was a cabriole.
Candlestick: A candle stick is a shoulder stand position where the gymnast is essentially resting on the back of their shoulders with their feet pointed towards the ceiling. The gymnast's arms can be in a variety of original artistic positions or on the floor to assist with support and balance.
Carballo: A move performed on paralle bars consisting of a forward swing to a handstand without releasing the bar. On the high bar the move is a stoop-in and straddle-cut over the bar with a 1/2 turn, then regrasping with one hand.
Cartwheel: A gymnastics movement where the gymnast moves sideways (in the motion the wheel of a cart would follow) in a straight line alternately placing the hands and feet on the ground and finishing with the body coming up to a lunge landing position. The name cartwheel is so named because when a gymnast performs this, their arms and legs move like the spokes of a turning wheel.
Cast to Handstand: A basic move in gymnastics that's performed on the uneven bars, parallel bars, and high bar. The gymnast starts in what's called a front support - the gymnast is holding himself upright with his hips touching the bar - and the gymnast then presses his legs up until he reaches a handstand position. This move requires a good amount of strength in the shoulders, and sometimes the gymnast does not reach the full handstand position -- sometimes on purpose, sometimes not.
Cat Leap: A gymnastics and ballet leap where a gymnast takes off from one foot, raising one knee and then the other in a turned out position and the toes pointed. Also called a Pas de Chat.
Center of Gravity/COG: The center of gravity is the point around which a body will rotate assuming no external forces are currently being applied. The location of the COG in a person varies depending on several factors.
Chainé Turn: A turn on the balls of the feet, usually done in a series of half turns. Turns that are linked together; that is chained together. To do this turn correctly, it is especially important to spot the turn correctly. Keep your eyes focused on one spot in the direction you are turning. As you execute the turn leave the head there until the last moment when you have to whip it around to complete the turn. Whip it into exactly the same spot you started the head in to keep you in a straight line. You should be in a high relevé throughout the turns, pulled up through the hips and thighs with your hips always as your guide for placement.
Chassé: A dance movement of the feet which gives the impression of one foot chasing the other, often used as a lead-up to a leap.
Chest Stand: A front prone arched balance pose in which the performer's chest is resting on the floor for support and the legs are up in the air over the head stretching forward.
Choreography: (1) A compilation of movements which make up a dance or gymnastics beam or floor routine. (2) The artistic creation of original movements which make up a dance or gymnastics routine with all the necessary requirements: acrobatic and choreographic elements, pirouettes, jumps, etc.
Chow: An uneven bar skill named after Amy Chow. It is a Stalder backwards to a handstand on the high bar with 1 and ½ turns in the handstand to a mixed-L grip. It has been rated by the FIG as an E level skill and its FIG number is 6.504.
Circle: A complete circle with the legs together and support on both hands. Circles are one of the three basic swings on pommel horse.
Circumduction: The act of moving the body, with or without apparatus, in a full circle with forward and backward flexion of the trunk and one hand leading the other to make a small circle in front of the body or a large circle around the body and overhead.
Clear Hip Circle: A back hip circle in which the body hips do not touch the bar. At the optional level, the skill should start and finish in a handstand. Also called a Free Hip Handstand.
Code of Points: The official FIG rulebook for judging gymnastics skills from the International Gymnastics Federation with the rules in which the scoring system and the composition of a program are based. The code of points specifies the difficulty value of all skills, as well as outlines requirements that must be fulfilled for each event. It is a necessary and valuable tool for coaches and judges. See FIG
Cody: Back somersault from a front drop on the stomach done on the trampoline. This can be a difficult skill to rotate when first learning it.
Code of Points: The rulebook for gymnastics. The code of points specifies the difficulty value of all skills, as well as outlines requirements that must be fulfilled for each event.
Composition: The structure of a gymnastics routine. Each individual movement or skill is a building block; how they are arranged into an exercise is called the composition of the routine
Compulsory: A routine in which the elements are pre-determined by an organization such as USAG or FIG. All gymnasts competing compulsory routines must perform specified skills in a specified order. Compulsory routines have been eliminated from higher level gymnastics competitions to allow for more time to develop optional routines.
Concentric Muscle Contraction: A concentric contraction is when a muscle shortens while contracting. Pushing up to handstand from a headstand is an example.
Counter Turn: Counter turn is most often used to describe the turning of the hips against the direction of a double leg circle. When a gymnast is in the 12:00 position (legs straight in front of them) their hips should be turned in the opposite direction of their circle. Eg for a clockwise circle their right hip will be higher than their left. This enables the gymnast to extend and drive their heels for the completion of the circle. It enables a much stronger circle, and allows for spindles to be performed dynamically.
Crash dive: A trampoline skill where ¾ of a front somersault is performed landing in the back. Also called a suicide, but that term is not too popular with gym owners..
Cross: A strength move performed on the still rings, in a straight body or " L" position, with the body perpendicular to the floor and the arms stretched straight out perpendicular to the body. Also called an Iron Cross or an L Cross.
Cross grip: One hand in undergrasp, one hand in overgrasp. Also called a mixed grip.
Crosses: Various strength moves performed on still rings. Types include: Regular, L-cross, Olympic, Azaryan (cross sequence), Inverted, Maltese, and Victorian.
Croup: The part of the horse nearest a vaulter or to the right when facing the pommel.
Cuervo: A vault with a handspring entry, ½ turn off to a backward salto. This can easily be confused with a barani - note where the turn occurs. In a cuervo the gymnast does a half turn then a backward salto. In a barani the gymnast does a forward salto with a ½ twist at the end. Named after Jorge Cuervo.
Daggett: A pommel horse skill named after Tim Daggett. It consists of a scissor backward with ½ counterturn. It has been rated as a C level skill by the FIG.
Dawes: An uneven bar skill named after Dominique Dawes. It is a back giant with 1 ½ turn in the handstand. It has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill. Its FIG number is 4.403.
Deduction: Points that each judge deducts for each incorrect execution and/or composition. Points are taken off a gymnast's score for any errors. Most deductions are pre-determined, such as a 0.5 deduction for a fall from an apparatus or a 0.1 deduction for stepping out of bounds on the floor exercise. Small deductions are .1 and judges now often take off a half a tenth. Medium deductions are .2 and large deductions are .3. At the end of the routine the deductions are added up together and are deducted from 10.0 (or the starting value of the routine) in order to give the final gymnast’s score.
Degree Of Difficulty: A rating that measures the difficulty of the specific moves in a gymnast’s routine. It is factored into the total score after judges have scored the execution of the moves. Each skill has a Level of difficulty rated by the FIG as an A, B, C, D E or Super E level skill. Difficulty in a routine is created by the combination of difficult skills or by performing the very difficult E or Super E skills. See Bonus Points.
Développé: This is a ballet and gymnastics dance movement. A développé is done by drawing the toe of the gesture leg (which bends at the knee and hip) up the front, side, or back of the supporting leg, until it reaches knee height. It is then developed (unfolded) to its full extension, either to the front, side or back of the gymnast’s body.
Diamidov: A movement performed on parallel bars during which the gymnast, from a handstand, forward swings with 360 degree turn on one arm to another handstand.
Dislocate: This is a skill in gymnastics, that involves a rotating of the shoulders when performing a backwards turn or movement. Dislocates require a degree of shoulder flexibility to perform. On bars, dislocates are often done out of a glide jam.
Dismount: The term used for the last skill in a gymnastics routine. For most events the method used to get off of the event apparatus. In high level competition, this skill should be at most one skill value below the hardest skill in the routine, e.g. if there is a E value skill in the routine, the dismount should be of at least D value.
Double Back: A tumbling skill with two consecutive backwards somersaults done in the same skill movement. Double backs can be done in any body position – tuck, pike, open, or layout.
Double-Double: A double twisting, double back somersault tumbling skill. This is perhaps the most difficult tumbling skill currently done on a regulation gymnastics floor. It is done in either the open tuck position or in layout. It is also used as a dismount on high bar, rings, and uneven bars.
Double Front: A forwards double flipping salto.
Double Full: A gymnastics tumbling skill consisting of a single layout salto with two twists. It can also be done as a dismount from beam or bars, although it is rarely used off bars because of the difficulty of landing upright. Also called a Double Twist.
Double Lay/Double Layout: A double back salto performed in the layout position.
Double Twist: A single layout somersault with two twists. See Double Full.
Dynamic Stretching: The use of a controlled swinging movements through the range of motion of a limb, in order to warm up or increase flexibility. See Active Stretching.
Return to topEagle Grip/L Grip: In an eagle grip a gymnasts hands are turned 180 degrees outward from an over grip. Thumbs are turned out, but in the opposite direction of an undergrip. This position requires flexible shoulders to swing comfortably.
Eagle (giant): A movement performed on the high bar during which the gymnast performs a forward giant with the hands turned 360 degrees inward and with the shoulders passing over the top of the bar before the rest of the body.
Eccentric Muscle Contraction: An eccentric contraction is when a contracting muscle lengthens. An example is lowering into a straddle L from a handstand.
Elbow Stand: An inverted pose in which the performer balances on the forearms on the floor. Kind of like a handstand on the forearms. Elbow Stand: An inverted pose in which the performer balances on the forearms on the floor. Kind of like a handstand on the forearms. Element: A single move that has a recognized way of performance and technical value. To be named after a gymnast, he or she must first submit the element to the FIG and then successfully perform the element in a FIG sanctioned international competition, such as the World Championships or Olympic Games.
Element: A single move that has a recognized way of performance and technical value. To be named after a gymnast, he or she must first submit the element to the FIG and then successfully perform the element in a FIG sanctioned international competition, such as the World Championships or Olympic Games.
Endo: A bar and uneven bar skill done by performing a forward straddle circle, usually to a handstand. Also called an Endo Shoot.
Events (Men’s): The 6 mens events are Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, High Bar.
Events (Women’s): The 4 women's events in gymnastcs are Floor, Uneven Bars, Beam, and Vault.
Exercise: A sequence of movements forming the gymnast's performance on an apparatus. Also called a routine.
Execution: The performance of a routine. Form, style and the technique used to complete the skills constitute the level of execution of an exercise. Bent knees, poor toe point and an arched or loosely-held body position are all examples of poor execution.
Extension/Flexion: Extension of a joint is moving toward straightness. Flexion is the opposite. Eg total flexion of your knee is when your heels are in contact with your rear. In the case of the shoulders, extension is pushing your arm away from your torso rather as when doing a handstand and pushing your feet as high as possible.
Face plant: The term used to describe when a gymnast falls on his or her face. This is also called "eating mat".
Families: In the Code of Points, vaults are divided into five groups, or "families" (note that for the 2001 COP a fifth family has been added - Yurchenko entry with twists in preflight). They are (1) Handspring, (2) · Handspring Front, (3) · Handsprings without saltos, (4) Tsukahara, (5) Yurchenko
Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG): The international and Olympic governing body of competitive gymnastics. The FIG is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and is responsible for the governance of the sport of gymnastics on the international level. They draw up the rules, known as the Code of Points, which dictate how judges assess gymnasts and the manner in which all international competitions are run.
Felge: A movement on the still rings that includes a back roll to support with or without a swing, a dislocate. A backward swing through vertical either to a hang, support, or handstand.
Fish Jump: (also known as Wolf Jump) A pike jump with one leg straight out in front and the other bent.
Flexibility: The ability to move a body joint through its full range of motion, the range of motion through which a joint can move without feeling pain. To have a wide range of motion in a joint. An example of the types of flexibility required of gymnasts is to be able to do all three splits.
Flexion: Movement about a joint in which bones on either side of the joint are brought closer together, decreasing the angle of the joint. Any movement of a joint, which brings connected body parts closer together. Opposite of Extension.
Flic-Flac: Also known as a Flip-Flop or Back Handspring. This tumbling element is used in a majority of back tumbling passes on the floor exercise. It's also used a great deal on the balance beam.
Fliffis: Any double somersault with a twist including double front with a ½ twist, full-in, ½ in-1/2 out and full-out.
Flip: Tumbling element that rotates about the transverse (horizontal) axis. Also called somersault, a salto or somie.
Flip-Flop: Also known as a Flic-Flac or Back Handspring.
Floor Exercise: A gymnastics event which is competed by both men and women, where the gymnast performs tumbling and acrobatic passes on a 40 foot square spring floor. Women's floor exercise is done to music. The floor event occurs on a carpeted surface usually consisting of hard foam over a layer of plywood, which is supported by springs or foam blocks. This provides a firm surface that will respond with force when compressed, allowing gymnasts to achieve extra height and a softer landing than would be possible on a regular floor. A series of tumbling passes are performed to demonstrate flexibility, strength, and balance tests. The gymnast must also show non-acrobatic skills, including circles, scales, and presses. Men's floor routines usually have four passes that will total between 60–70 seconds and are performed without music, unlike the women's event. Rules require that gymnasts touch each corner of the floor at least once during their routine.
Flop: A move performed on pommel horse during which the gymnast executs a circle on the "leather" or a pommel. Flops are the fundamental building blocks of a pommel horse routine.
Flyaway: A back salto dismount from either the unevens or high bar. Can be done in tuck pike or layout.
Flyspring: A handspring launched from both feet. Also called a "dive handspring".
Fontaine: An uneven bar dismount named after Larissa Fontaine. She first performed the skill in the 1994 World Championships. The double somersaulting dismount is a back tuck with ½ twist into a front. The skill is rated by the FIG as a D level skill and its FIG number is 8.406.
Forward Somersault: A front salto tumbling skill on the floor exercise or balance beam, done in the tuck, pike or layout positions.
Fouetté: A term applied to a whipping gymnastics and ballet dance movement. The movement may be a short whipped movement of the raised foot as it passes rapidly in front of or behind the supporting foot or the sharp whipping around of the body from one direction to another. There are a great number and variety of fouettés.
Fractions: The fractions are used in order to describe twist. A 1/1 twist is a 360 degree twist. a 3/2 twist is 1 1/2 twists or 540 degrees of twist.
Free Hip Handstand: Same as a Clear Hip Handstand.
Front Giant: A front circling skill done on high bar or uneven bars that begins and finishes in a handstand and circles around the bar in a fully extended position with the hands holding onto the bar with a reverse grip.
Front Handspring: A front tumbling skill that begins with a hurdle step and rotates 360 degrees from feet to hands to feet again. Correct execution includes a strong shoulder block and straight arms and legs. Front handsprings can be stepped out or landed on two feet.
Front Hip Circle: A mount for the uneven bars in which the body is supported by the hands and the hips rest on the bar. The body falls forward, pikes, the hands rotate around the bar and the gymnast ends up in a front support again.
Front Somersault: Same as Forward Somersault.
Front Split: A split in which one leg is extended frontward and the other leg is extended backward, both at right angles to the trunk. Ideally, the legs are split at least 180 degrees and are flat on the floor (or beam), the hips are square facing to the front and both legs are turned out from the hips. Also called Side Split or stride split. See also Turnout.
Front support: The gymnasts hips are supported on the bar.
Front vault: A vault over the horse with a straight body facing it.
Front Walkover: A control skill floor and beam move where a gymnast lunges into a split handstand and continues to walk over and step out onto the feet. This move requires both shoulder and back flexibility.
Front: A Forward Somersault
Full Twisting Double Back: A double back with a full twist on either of the saltos.
Full: A back somersault with one full twist in the longitudinal axis, usually done in the layout position.
Full-in, Back-out: A double salto with a full twist with the full twist being performed during the first salto. Also called a Full-in.
Full-in, Full-out: A double twisting double somersault with a full twist on the first salto and a full twist on the second salto. Also called a full-out.
Full-lay Rudy: A floor exercise move where the gymnast performs a tumblng pass with a forward salto with 1/1 twist, forward salto, and a forward salto 1½ (Rudy). This move receives 0.5 "bonus" points.
Full Turn: A 360 degree turn gymnastics or dance skill required on both floor and beam. The turn is traditionally done on one foot and the arms and legs are held and used in a variety of optional positions.
Garrison: A floor exercise skill named after U. S. gymnast Kelly Garrison. It consists of a cat leap forward with bent legs and 1 ½ turn. It has been rated by the FIG as C level skill and its FIG number is 1.314.
Garrison: A balance beam skill named after U. S. gymnast Kelly Garrison. It starts from an extended tuck sit, Valdez swing over backward through horizontal plane with support on one arm.. It has been rated by the FIG as C level skill and its FIG number is 7.306.
Gatson: A P-bar skill named after Jason Gatson. It consists of a swing backward with full turn hop to handstand. It has been rated as D level skill by the FIG.
Gaylord: A high bar skill named after U. S. gymnast Mitch Gaylord. It is a front giant into a one-and-one-half front salto over the bar to regrasp – a front somersault in tuck, pike or straddled position over the bar. It is sometimes called the Gayord I and has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill.
Gaylord: Another high bar skill named after U. S. gymnast Mitch Gaylord. It is a back giant into a layout Gienger (back salto, ½ ) over the bar to regrasp – a front somersault in tuck, pike or straddled position over the bar. It is sometimes called the Gayord II and has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill.
German (giant): A back giant with arms stretched behind the gymnast.
Giant: A 360 degrees circling swing through around the bar from handstand to handstand, with the body fully extended. It can be performed on uneven bars, high bar, rings and parallel bars, and can be done either backwards or forwards.
Gienger: A flyaway back salto with a one-half twist, followed by a re-grasp of the bar. Named for German gymnast Eberhard Gienger, who created and first performed the skill.
Gogaladze: A floor exercise or pommel horse move during which the gymnast flair circles to a handstand with a 1/1 turn and then lower back down to circles.
Grande Jeté: A ballet term used to describe a split leap, a large jump that is done from one foot to the other. It can be done either fermé (closed) or ouverte (open); there are many forms of grand jeté such as: grand jeté attitude croisé en arriére (large jump on the diagonal with one leg extended forward and the other leg extended to the back, slightly bent at the knees). See also Split Leap.
Grand Plié: A gymnastics and ballet position where the gymnast stands with legs fully bent. A large bend; a movement that requires both knees to fully bend at the same time, and the body is lowered very close to the floor.
Grips: Grips are the leather straps that gymnasts wear to help keep a better grip on the uneven bars, high bar, parallel bars or rings. The purpose of grips is to help maintain a firm grip on the equipment and to help minimize the occurrence of rips. Uneven bar grips have 2 finger holes and a medium size dowel that is smaller than on grips for rings, but larger than the dowel for high bar. High bar grips are typically 3 finger with a small dowel. Ring grips are 2 finger, long and have a large dowel. Parallel bar grips exist, but are rarely used.
Guczoghy: A still rings skill during which the gymnast performs a back double salto while holding on to the rings ending in a swing through the bottom.
Gym Suit: The clothes prescribed for wear while participating in a gymnastic competition or worn during a gymnastics practice. For women, this is most commonly called a leotard.
Gymnastics: Physical exercises designed to develop and display strength, balance, and agility, especially those performed on or with specialized apparatus. Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of sequences of movements requiring physical strength, flexibility, and kinesthetic awareness, such as handsprings and handstands. It developed from fitness exercises used by ancient Greek soldiers, including skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and circus performance skills. There are numerous uses of the term gymnastics for other gymnastics/dance-like activities. On our site the term gymnastics is generally refers to artistic gymnastics, the Olympic competitive version of gymnastics consisting of four events for women (Vault, bars, beam, floor) and six events for men (Floor, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, vault and high bar). Tumbling and trampoline, especially as they are used as training for artistic gymnastics are also extensively covered. There is room on this site for the discussion of rhythmic gymnastics, general gymnastics, sports acrobatics, etc. but the main focus is artistic gymnastics.
Half-in, Half-out: A tumbling skill and bar dismount that consists of a double salto with a half twist on the first salto and a half twist on the second salto, usually done like an arabian double front with a half.
Hamstring: The muscle at the back of thigh which is stretched when bending forward in a pike position with the leg straight.
Hand Guards: Also called Grips Designed to help gymnasts on the bars, P-bars and rings. They are usually made up of a strip of leather and a wrist strap and held on with either a Velcro strap or a buckle. The strip of leather has finger holes up the top. The gymnast’s fingers should go down to the first knuckle and the number of these holes in the grips depends on the apparatus. On women's uneven parallel bars and men’s high bar, the grips only go over the third and fourth fingers, but men's rings grips go over the index finger as well. Wrist guards are normally worn under grips and are cotton or foam padded bands. Some coaches and gymnasts make simple grips out of athletic tape. Gymnasts use varying amounts of water, spit and chalk to prepare their grips just he way they want them. In general, with dowels produce a better grip on the bar and grips are used to help reduce friction between the bar and as the less friction that is generated, the less likely that rips (torn open blisters) will occur.
Handspring: A front or back tumbling skill that takes off the feet onto the hands and back onto the feet. It is commonly a set-up for a front or back salto. See also Flip-Flop, Front Handspring, Back Handspring.
Handspring Front: A term used to indicate either a tumbling pass or vault involving a handspring and front salto. The handspring front vault is a double front vault with a handspring on the front side and a front salto on the back side. The tumbling pass is two skill performed in sequence a front handspring directly connected into a front salto.
Handstand: An inverted gymnastics control skill performed by supporting the body on both hands, with the arms straight and the body vertical. It is a core gymnastics skill and used or passed through on every gymnastics event. Performing a solid handstand requires above-average upper body strength. In a proper handstand, the legs are together, but there are a large variety of optional leg positions used on floor and beam.
Hang: When the body is entirely below the bar(s) or still rings.
Hayden: This is a high bar skill named after U.S. gymnast Daniel Hayden. It consists of a double salto backward in layout, with full twist over the bar. It has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill.
Head In: This is a body position in gymnastics, usually in a handstand, during tumbling or during a giant, where the gymnast’s head is down, with their chin tucked in on their chest or close to it. This is the correct head position on handstands and many tumbling, bars and beam skills. It is a commonly heard coaching correction.
Head Out: A gymnast’s head is up and their chin is tilted back. This automatically causes an arch in the back, which is a weak body position. There are very few skills in gymnastics and virtually none on bars where having the head out is desirable.
Healy: A common maneuver on the parallel bars and now on uneven bars, high bar, beam and floor where a gymnast starts in a handstand and then falls forward, lifts one arm and executing a full-turn. On the P-bars, a gymnast re-catches the bar in a support position and usually continues swinging to a handstand. On high bar and unevens, the gymnast re-catches the bar in a L-grip and continues swinging. On floor and beam, the gymnast lands out of a healy in a seated position
Heel Drive: Coaches use this term or correction to inform their gymnasts that they want them to drive their heels harder up and over on the front side of a handspring vault or front handspring on floor. Increasing heel drive creates more rotation and potential for block and power to be utilized on vault or tumbling.
Henrich: A balance beam skill named after U.S. gymnast Christy Henrich. The skill consists of a stag-split,r split leap or jump forward with ½ turn, landing on both feet or in a one-two step-out. It can also refer to a split jump in side position with bending of rear leg backward upward that starts from a cross stand. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a C level skill and its FIG number is 2.301.
High Bar: This term denotes either the men’s horizontal bar apparatus or event. It can also refer to the top bar on the women’s uneven bars.
Hip Circle: A very basic bar circling skill done on the uneven bars or high bar in which the body circles around the bar with the body touching the bar at the hips and the hands and arms supporting the body. There are both front hip circles (usually done out of a kip) and back hip circles (done out of a cast). Neither of these skills are used in optional competition any more. Back hip circles are a progression of free hips. Both hip circles are currently used as USA Gymnastics Compulsory skills.
Hip Flexors: The set of leg muscles and ligaments including the iliopsoas muscle and the iliofemoral ligament which helps control the turnout of the legs from the hip and are primarily responsible for lifting the leg upward. While raising the leg to the front, the hip flexors contract. When the leg is raised to the rear, the hip flexors are stretched and extended.
Hitch Kick: A hop with the free leg held straight out and the other leg briefly leaving the mat.
Hollow: A term referring to a gymnastics body position, where hips are turned under, the butt is tucked in and the chest is rounded forward. This is a very important body position in the sport of gymnastics and must be memorized and strengthened. It is often subtly used in connection with a slight arch position to initiate or control gymnastics movements on every event.
Hop: When a gymnast takes off from one foot and lands on the same foot.
Horizontal Bar: A men’s gymnastics competitive apparatus consisting of uprights holding a metal bar 240 centimeters (8 & ½ feet) long and 2.8 centimeters (1.1 inches) in diameters, and set at a height of 275 centimeters (9 feet off the floor. The bar is designed to deal with a force of around 200,000 pounds per square inch of force and is bolted to the floor and held down with four cables to deal with the tremendous G-forces generated during circling skill and tap swings. A 2.4cm thick steel bar raised 2.5m above the landing area is all the gymnast has to hold onto as he shows giants (revolutions around the bar), release skills, twists, and changes of direction. By using all of the momentum from giants and then releasing at the proper point, enough height can be achieved for spectacular dismounts, such as a triple-back somie. Leather grips are usually used to help maintain a grip on the bar. Also referred to as High Bar.
Horse: Formerly, the official gymnastics apparatus for vaulting for both men and women. It was long and narrow and women vaulted over it sideways and men vaulted over it the long way. It is no longer used for vaulting and has been replaced by the new vaulting apparatus – the vault table.
Hristkieva: A vault with a Yurchenko entry, ½ turn off, then a front layout.
Humphrey: A floor skill named after U.S. gymnast Terin Humphrey. She first performed it in international competition in 2004. It consists of switch split leap forward with a ¼ turn to side split leap or straddle pike position. It has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and its FIG number is 3.406.
Hurdle: This term refers to a gymnastics transition from a run to a tumbling skill, most commonly a round-off or a front handspring. A hurdle resembles a skip. In actual gymnastics competition, the hurdle is done from a full-speed run. For training purposes, a power hurdle is often done where the hurdle is done from a two-foot stand. This term also refers to the transition skill from the vault run to the two-foot landing on the vault springboard or into the round-off in Yurchenko vaults. Hurdle steps onto the vault springboard should be long and low to best transfer running momentum to vault momentum. This is a very critical skill to master for both tumbling and vaulting as it will determine the upper limit of power that can be created.
Inbar Skills: On horizontal bar or uneven bars, a skill where the body bends and comes in close proximity with the bar. Stalders, toe-ons and free/clear hips are examples of inbar skills.
Inlocate: The opposite of a dislocate. This rings move is typically performed by kicking your heels high behind you in a back swing. On the top of the swing, your head rolls forward and your hands and arms rotate inwards, putting you once again into a pike position.
Inverted: When the body is suspended or moves backwards.
Inverted Cross: A gymnastics skill performed on the still rings. It is an inverted handstand position, with the arms stretched straight out from the shoulders perpendicular to the body. Essentially it is an upside-down iron cross.
Inverted Giant: Front giant with hands turned 360 degrees inward and the wrists being the first body part to break the vertical plane. The body then hits a handstand position as the rest of the body catches up with the wrists.
Inward Turn: A gymnastics or ballet turn on the feet (foot) in the opposite direction of the supporting leg. In other words, if a gymnast does a traditional full turn on the left leg turning it to the left, an inward turn is done on the same leg and turns to the right. Inward turns are also known as reverse turns. See also Full Turn.
Iron Cross: A strength move performed on the still rings, in a straight body or " L" position, with the body perpendicular to the floor and the arms stretched straight out perpendicular to the body. A high degree of difficulty manuever done in mens' gymnastics on rings. A gymnast begins from an upright position called a straight body press with his arms straight down and his body vertically aligned. In a feat of incredible strength, he opens his arms away from his sides until they are perfectly horizontal. The shape his body makes is a perfect cross, one of the most beautiful images in all of athletics.
Isometric Muscle Contraction: An isometric muscle contraction when your muscle contracts, but does not change in length. A common example of an isometric muscle contraction is hanging from a chin-up bar with your arms bent at 90 degrees. In this case the bicep muscle contracts, but does not change in length because you're not moving up or down. Examples in gymnastics would include and iron cross An example is any static hold (L sit, iron cross, etc).
Isometric Stretching: Isometric stretching is a type of static stretching (meaning it does not involve motion) which involves the resistance of muscle groups through isometric contraction of the stretched muscles.. The use of isometric stretching is one of the fastest ways to develop increased static-passive flexibility and is much more effective than either passive stretching or active stretching alone. Isometric stretches also help to develop strength in the tensed muscles (which helps to develop static-active flexibility), and seems to decrease the amount of pain usually associated with stretching. The most common ways to provide the needed resistance for an isometric stretch are to apply resistance manually to one's own limbs, to have a partner apply the resistance, or to use an apparatus such as a wall (or the floor) to provide resistance.
Jaeger: A high bar and uneven bar gymnastics skill consisting of a front salto release to a re-catch of the bar. It can be done in the tuck, pike, straddle and layout positions and also with twisting. An alternate spelling is Yaeger.
Jam: On high bar or uneven bars, movement from a position with the body piked and the legs directly between the hands backward until body is stretched and hands are turned 360 degrees outward.
Jeté: A gymnastics and ballet movement where a gymnast throws their leg and takes off from one foot and lands one foot. It also means to throw or to toss or a sharp movement that either describes a throw of the leg or a jump with a throw of the leg. There are many forms of this movement including jeté fermé, jeté ouverte, grand jeté, grand battement jeté, jeté entrelacé.
Johnson: A gymnastics floor skill named after U.S. gymnast Brandy Johnson. It consists of a switch-split leap forward with leg change and ¼ turn to side split leap or straddle pike position. The skill has been rated by the FIG as an A level skill and the FIG number is 1.205. This is a good example of how a relatively easy skill still can be original.
Jump: When a gymnast takes off from two feet.
Kasamatsu: A vault family in which vaults start with a quarter-turn onto the vault, a push off the hands and a back salto with a full twist before landing. Difficult to distinguish from a Tsukahara, but the majority of men vault from the Kasamatsu family.
Khorkina: A vault with a Yurchenko entry, ½ turn on, pike Cuervo off.
Kip: A gymnastics bar skill move designed to move from a glide or hang on the bars to a support position. It is done on high bar, unevens and the parallel bars. The skill is uses transfer of momentum and is done by swinging or gliding (to a fully extended position), bringing the toes to the bar, jamming up the leg and pulling with straight arms up to a front support position. This is a basic bar skill and is first used in the USA Gymnastics compulsory at Level 5.
Kip-cast: A common method used to get to a handstand on uneven bars and high bar. Also known as "cast to handstand."
Kolman: The Kolman is a gymnastics release move named after Yugoslavian gymnast Alojz Kolman. It is a full-twisting double tuck over the bar. The gymnast lets go of the bar, performs two back flips and a full twist, then catches the bar. Also Known As: full-twisting Kovacs.
Korbut: This is an uneven bar skill created by Russian gymnast Olga Korbut. It consists of a backwards flip from a stand on the high bar to a re-catch of the high bar. Gymnasts no longer do either release moves or dismounts from a stand on the bars.
Kovacs: A high skill move performed on the high bar during which the gymnast releases from a back giant with double backward salto over the bar to a regrasp.
L Cross: A strength move performed on still rings during which the gymnast, in performing a cross, raises his legs to be parallel with the floor.
L Grip: A bar hold in which the hands are rotated outward and backward, with thumbs outside of grip, pointing away from each other.
Layout: In a layout a gymnast is not bent at the hips nor the legs. A layout is the term used for a rotating skill in which the gymnasts body is essentially straight. A layout can be performed either hollow or arched.
Layout Step-Out: A tumbling skill used on beam and sometimes on floor. During a back layout salto the legs are split and the landing is on one foot and then the other. Most often used now as part of a back tumbling series on beam.
Leap: When a gymnast takes off from one foot and lands on the other foot.
Leg Circle: A basic and standard pommel-horse move where a gymnast keeps the legs together and swings them in a full circle around the horse, with each hand alternately lifted in turn from the pommel to let the legs pass. It is also performed on some of the other gymnastics apparatuses including floor, parallel bars and balance beam.
Leg Mount: A balance on one leg, with the other leg fully extended in a front, side or rear split position.
Leg Swings: One of the three basic swings on pommel horse, leg swings are sideways swings with the legs apart. Leg swings move in the same direction as the horse and are the basis for scissors, leg cuts and undercuts.
Leotard: A one piece, fitted garment, usually made of a light stretch fabric that fits closely to the skin to cover a gymnast’s body. It allows for complete freedom of movement in order to be able to perform any gymnastics skill. Leotards are worn for classes, practice and competitions. Long sleeve leotards are required for high-level gymnastics competitions.
Lever: A position during which the gymnast's body is perfectly horizontal, supported by straight arms.
Limber: A frontward or backward gymnastics flexibility skill that is similar to a walkover except the legs remain together at all times. The skill begins on the feet, passes through a handstand and finishes on the feet again in a stand. A front limber requires more shoulder and lower back flexibility than a walkover.
Long Horse: Formerly, the men’s gymnastics apparatus for vaulting. Basically the old vaulting horse was a pommel horse without the pommels and men vaulted over it the long way. The horse is no longer used for vaulting and has been replaced with the vault table for both men and women.
Luconi: A vault with a Yurchenko entry, ½ turn on, back tuck off.
Lunge: To do a lunge start standing feet together. Take a large step forward. Bend your front leg. Both feet should be turned out somewhat. Arms should be extended upwards so that the line from the rear foot to the hands is straight.
Magyar: A move prformed on pommel horse. Aa travel. A) a backward travel the length of the horse with circles; B) one circle with a simultaneous full counter-turn of the body.
Maloney: An uneven bar skill named after Kristen Maloney. She first performed it in international competition in the 1997 World Championships. It consists of a pike sole circle backward to handstand with a 360° turn after the handstand phase to mixed-L or L grip. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and the FIG number is 7.409.
Maloney: Another uneven bar skill named after Kristin Maloney. She first performed the skill internationally in the 1997 World Championships. The skill begins from an inner front support on the low bar and consists of a pike sole circle backward through a handstand with flight to a hang on the high bar The skill has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and the FIG number is 7.410.
Maltese Cross: A strength move on still rings in which the gymnast holds his body parallel to the floor with the rings extended at the side level with his body. A Maltese cross is a D value skill. A Maltese cross is performed when the body in a straight position parallel to the floor at rings height. The rings must remain still throughout the routine. Also seen on the men's floor exercise and parallel bars. It is also called a swallow.
Mat: A term that refers to the various types of covered soft polyurethane foam landing equipment. Mats are used for safety, dismount landings and for performing on.
McCool: A balance beam mount named after Courtney McCool, who first performed the skill in international competition in 2004. The beam mount approaches toward the end of the beam and is a flyspring forward with flight before and after the hand support on the beam and lands on both feet - approach at end of beam. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and the FIG number is 1.409.
McNamara: An uneven bar mount named after Julianne McNamara. She first performed the skill internationally in 1981. The mount is performed with a jump to hang on the high bar into a free hip circle to handstand with 1/2 turn in the handstand. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and the FIG number is 1.415.
Melissanidis: A vaulting skill in which the gymnast performs a round-off entry onto the vault table and after blocking off the vault table, rotates a 2 ½ back somersault. It is named after the Greek gymnast, Melissanidis, who performed it first in international competition.
Mill circle: Revolution on the high bar in which the legs are astride and the bar between them.
Miller: An uneven bar skill named after Shannon Miller. It consists of a cast to handstand, with a 1 ½ turn after the handstand to a mixed-L grip. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and the FIG number is 2.401.
Miller: Another skill named for U. S. gymnast Shannon Miller, this one on the balance beam. It consists of a back dive with a quarter twist to a handstand, followed by a half pirouette.
Mixed Grip: On the bars, this term refers to a grip with one hand in regular grip and the other in reverse grip, which means on one hand the fingers are facing away and are facing in on the other hand finger.
Mount: This term is used both to identify the first skill with which the gymnast starts a gymnastics routine and also means to get up onto a gymnastics apparatus.
Movement: One part of a routine. Also called a "skill".
Nail: To hit a routine, landing, or dismount as planned. Same as stick.
Neck: Part of the long vaulting horse furthest from the gymnast. Part of the pommel horse to the gymnast's left.
Needle Scale: A gymnast balance arabesque type element usually done on beam (but also possibly on floor) balanced on one foot, with the other leg lifted high (preferably showing a 180 degree split) to the back. The body is typically dropped forward with the chest down and the hands either flat on the floor, gripping the ankle or grasping the beam.
Neutral Deductions: Deductions that are not part of a gymnasts' A- or B- score, and are made after the gymnasts' total score is calculated. For example, an out-of-bounds deduction is a neutral deduction.
Okino: An uneven bar dismount named after Betty Okino, who first performed the skill in international competition. It consists of a free hip underswing with ½ twist to layout back salto. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and the FIG number is 8.402.
Okino: An balance beam skill named after Betty Okino, which she first performed in the 1991 World Championships. It is a triple pirouette (triple turn). The skill has been rated by the FIG as a E level skill and the FIG number is 3.501.
Olympic Order: This refers to the order in which gymnastics events proceed in international competition. Unless there are other valid meet planning reasons not to do so, it is the order at every other gymnastics competition, also. The Olympic order for women is vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. The Olympic order for men’s competition is floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. Olympic order for rhythmic gymnasts is rope, hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon.
Omelianchik: A balance beam skill named after Romanian gymnast Oksana Omelianchik. It is a back dive with ¼ (or ¾) twist to land in a handstand.
Omelianchik: A vault with a Yurchenko entry, ½ turn on, front tuck salto off. Nowadays, gymnasts usually use this vault when working towards a Khorkina or Podkopayeva vault.
O'Neill: An still rings skill named after U.S. gymnast Paul O-Neill. It consists ofa stretched double feige backward to a hang. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a E level skill.
Onodi: An Onodi is performed by women on beam and floor and is named after Hungarian Olympian Henrietta Onodi. When performing it, the gymnast jumps backwards, then does a half twist into a front handspring.
Open/Closed Hips: Opening the hips is proceeding towards an arched position. Completely closed hips is a fully piked position where the gymnasts chest is flat against their legs.
Open/Closed Shoulders: Completely closed shoulders is defined as your arms being down so that your fingers are touching your legs. To "open" your shoulders lift your arms straight out in front and continue upwards until your hands are pointed straight at the ceiling.
Open scoring: A sSystem of scoring in which marks given by each individual judge are made visible to the audience.
Optional: A routine in which the gymnast may perform skills of their choosing under the constraints of special requirements. The skills can be performed in any order but must fit the requirements as specified in the FIG code of points.
Optionals: A category of competition in which gymnasts and coaches individually create routines in which the gymnast may perform skills of their choosing which meet the rules as specified in the FIG code of points and under the constraints of listed special requirements. Optional gymnasts present their best skills in their routines. Optional gymnasts are higher level gymnasts than Compulsory gymnasts are.
Overgrip/Undergrip: Overgrip is gripping a bar so that your palms are facing the same direction as your face. Undergrip is gripping a bar so that your palms are facing the opposite direction as your face.
Overgrasp: Hands grasping the bar or bars with the palms down.
Overgrip: Hanging onto the bar with your fingers facing away from you.
Overshoot: A release move from the high bar to the low bar. It starts on the on high bar facing low bar. The gymnast swings up and over the low bar with a half turn to a catch of the low bar. Also called an Underswing.
Pas: In gymnastics and ballet, means step or dance, as in Pas De Chat, which means “step of the cat.”
Pak Salto: An uneven bar move in which the gymnast releases the high bar, does a backward flip, and catches the low bar. Named for North Korean gymnast Gyong Sil Pak, who created it.
Parallel Bars: A men's event performed on a gymnastics apparatus consisting of two bars, each 195 centimeters high and 350 centimeters long, and positioned 42 to 52 centimeters apart. A parallel bar routine is made up mostly of swing and flight elements and should include at least one release move. Men hold themselves on two bars slightly further than a shoulder's width apart and usually 1.75m high while performing a series of swings and balances that require great strength and coordination. Also commonly called p-bars.
Part: A single movement or skill.
Passé: A basic gymnastics and dance balance position where one leg is turned outward with the thigh at horizontal, knee bent and toes touching the inner knee of the other leg. Commonly used in hops, jumps and turns.
Passive Stretching: A general term used to describe a static stretch in which an external force (such as the floor or another person) holds the performer in the static position.
Peach Basket (1958-B): A rings gymnasts perfoms a pike in a hang, then quickly extends to an arch while pulling up. With a slight swing at the start he could avoid most of the pike and whip right up to the handstand with very little effort.
Peel: Peeling off of a gymnastics apparatus refers to a situation where a gymnast involuntarily lets go of the apparatus with their hands causing their body to fly away from the apparatus and often resulting in an almost immediate impact with the ground. Peeling off occurs primarily on bars, but can also occur on p-bars and rings.
Phelps: A vault named after American Jayce Phelps. The vault consists of a half twist on, half twist off into a front layout. It has been rated by the FIG as a D level difficulty skill. Its FIG number is 3.407.
Phillips: A balance bean skill done by American gymnast Kristie Phillips. It was first performed in 1987 World Championships A handstand straddle split, with a 90 degree backbend, originally performed on the balance beam and press to side handstand, front walkover to side stand on both legs. The Phillips has been rated as a D level skill and its FIG number is 7.404.
Pig: A gymnastics slang term for the pommel horse, not necessarily an affectionate term.
Pike: A gymnastics body position used in jumps and saltos with the body bent forward at the waist with the legs kept straight. Judges look for more than a 90 degree bend at the hips for correct execution. Somersaulting skills done in pike position are more difficult than the ones in tuck position and easier than saltos done in layout position.
Pipe: A term commonly used to refer to a men’s high bar.
Pirouette: A term used in both gymnastics and dance to refer to a turn around the body's longitudinal axis. It is used to refer to both handstand turning moves on bars and p-bars and also to refer to a dancing element, e.g. to turn on one foot. Turns for both are measured in degrees or increments of ½ turns. The dance term liiterally means “whirligig,” which is an old fashioned name for a child’s top. Pirouette is now used to describe the many kinds of turns that gymnasts and dancers do on toe.
Pit: A gymnastics safety training constructions in which a large quantity of soft foam is used to cushion landings or any falls off another gymnastics apparatus. Pits are used to train for almost every gymnastics event (not used for pommel horse). Three are a number of different types of gymnastics pits, including in-ground, above ground, loose foam, 32” thick mats and bungee pits where the loose foam or mat is suspended on a trampoline like structure. Though injury is still possible in a pit, the extra margin of safety greatly reduces the risk. Pits are used in virtually every high level gymnastics training program.
Pivot: A dance or gymnastics turn on the ball of the foot.
Planche: A gymnastics skill performed on the still rings, parallel bars, beam, and floor exercise in which the body is held supported by the hands and arms only in a straight position parallel to the floor.
Plié: A gymnastics and dance movement. Most movements in ballet technique begin and end with a plié, which is a bend and stretch of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Demi- and grand-pliés are done as an exercise at the beginning of the barre work and are done as half-bends and full-bends of the knee.
Plyometrics: Plyometric exercise is defined as a special type of strength training where the muscles are trained to rapidly contract. In gymnastics it is most commonly used to increase the “punch” power of a gymnast for tumbling and vaulting.
PNF Stretching: PNF is an abbreviation for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation A technique for increasing flexibility which combines muscle tension with passive stretching. Also sometimes called isometric stretching.
Podkopayeva: A vault with a Yurchenko entry, ½ turn on, front pike off with ½ turn.
Popa: A full twisting straddle jump.
Pointe: In classical ballet, when a dancer uses special shoes (called pointe shoes or toe shoes) to dance en pointe (on their toes). The arch of the top of the foot is at its maximum when the dancer "pushes over", causing the heel of the foot to be almost directly over the toes. Children do not begin to study pointe until they have years of experience and sufficient ankle strength, as well as being old enough to ensure that their bones are strong enough.
Pointed Toes: Toe point is an important factor in gymnastics. When the toes and foot are pulled downward so that the line from the knee to the tip of the toes is essentially straight and there is no angle in the ankle. This emphasizes a long straight leg and body line.
Pommel Horse: A men’s gymnastics event performed on an apparatus 115 centimeters high, 35 centimeters wide, and 160 centimeters long, with two pommels on the top, adjusted between 40 and 45 centimeters apart. A pommel horse routine consists of a series of circular movements and required scissors elements performed with one or both hands on the pommels. No other part of the body may touch the apparatus. This is considered one of the most difficult of the men's events and requires flawless control of balance and body position.
Pommels: The handles on top of the pommel horse.
Port de Bras: This term literally means carriage of the arms. It refers to the set positions of the arms as well as the manner in which the arms are moved from position to position during gymnastics dance and ballet.
Preflight: The part of a vault before the gymnast touches the horse.
Press Handstand: A fundamental strength skill in which the gymnast slowly lifts the legs backward to an inverted position while supported on the hands.
Pronation: Forearm pronation is where your hands are rotated inward towards palms facing down. Pronation of the ankle is rolling the ankle inward to place pressure on the inside of the foot.
Puck: A puck is a slang gymnastics term used to refer to a gymnastics salto body position that is a cross between a pike and a tuck. It can range from a very open tuck position to a pike with bent knees. It is not an acceptable competition salto position.
Punch: A gymnastics term that refers to bouncing off of the floor, vault board or beam as opposed to jumping. “Punching" refers to an almost perfectly straight leg quick plyometric movement. Punching movements allow gymnasts to more fully utilize the inherent spring in the gymnastics equipment. Jumping involves bending the legs and pushing.
Punch Brani: A gymnastic movement like a punch front except add a 1/2 twist. Can also be done in tuck, pike, and a straight position.
Punch Front: A front salto with take-off from two feet. Usually done out of other tumbling elements for bonus on floor. Can be done in tuck, pike, or layout position. Forward moving flip punching off both feet
Punch/Rebound: Bouncing off of the floor or apparatus rather than jumping. Jumping involves bending your legs and pushing, while "punching" involves anticipating the floor and springing off using both any spring in the floor as well as power in your legs.
Push-up Arch: A move starting from a sitting position with the legs bent in front of the body and one hand behind the body for support. The gymnast pushes up into a standing back arch (or back flexion) and ends in a standing position.
Quadriceps or Quads: the major four-part large muscles of the front thighs primarily engaged in extending the leg at the knee. The quadriceps femoris flexes the leg at the hip and extends the knee.
Quadriffis: Any quadruple somersault with a twist.
Quad Twist: A single layout somersault with four twists. First performed in U.S. women's competition by Nastia Liukin.
Randolph: A front somersault (usually done in layout) with 2½ twists. Done in tumbling passes on floor exercises or as a beam dismount. Also known as a Randy.
Ray: An uneven bar skill named after U.S. gymnast Elise Ray. The skill is performed facing inward and is a stalder backward with release and counter movement forward to catch the high bar. The skill has been rated as a “C” level skill by the F.I.G. and its F.I.G. number is 6.305. Ray: An uneven bar skill named after U.S. gymnast Elise Ray. The skill is performed from a handstand on the high bar to a pike sole circle backward into a backward counter straddle-reverse hecht over over the high bar and a recatch. The skill has been rated as a “D” level skill by the F.I.G. and its F.I.G. number is 7.411.
Ray: An double twisting double layout uneven bar dismount named after U.S. gymnast Elise Ray. The skill is performed facing inward and is a stalder backward with release and counter movement forward to catch the high bar. The skill has been rated as a “Super E” level skill by the F.I.G. and its F.I.G. number is 8.605.
Re-grasp: On uneven bars and high bar, the act of grabbing the bar again after releasing from it.
Rear stand: Stand with the back to the apparatus.
Rear vault: Vault with the rear of the body facing the bar.
Referee: A neutral judge in overall charge of the judging of a competition who arbitrates if arguements occur.
Regrasp: The catch, with a swing through, after a release skill on the apparatus.
Release: On uneven bars and high bar, to let go of the bar in order to perform another gymnastics move before grasping it again. There are many bar release moves, including somersault and twisting moves. In general, they belong to the very difficult elements.
Relevé: In ballet and gymnastics to rise or lift onto the ball of the foot.
Rep: Rep is shortened version of repetition. When doing an weightlifting or gymnastics exercise, a rep is one cycle of the action or motion.
Repetition Rule: Only one skill in a gymnast's routine may be repeated for bonus points. Any additional bonus skill performed a second time will not be recognized for additional points, but form deductions will be taken if performed incorrectly.
Reuther board: The most common type of springboard, used in vaulting.
Reverse Turn: In ballet and gymnastics, a turn in the direction of the supporting leg; also known as an "inward turn".
Rhythmic Gymnastics: Officially called Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics (RSG). An Olympic sport for either one woman or 5 women in group competition consisting of a floor exercise dance with leaps, turns, balance elements and flexibility moves while moving and tossing handheld apparatus: a ball, a rope, a hoop, two clubs, or a ribbon. Significant tumbling is not allowed. Rhythmic gymnasts are known for their extreme flexibility.
Ring Leap: A jump with head thrown back and knees bent (one to the front and one to the back) and raised towards the head.
Rip: In gymnastics, a "rip" occurs when a gymnast works so hard on the bars or rings that they tear off a flap of skin from their hand. The injury is like a blister that breaks open.
Rotation: This is the name for the circular motion around an axis of the body. In gymnastics there are salto rotations and twisting rotations.
Roethlisberger: A pommel horse skill named after U.S. gymnast John Roethlisberger during which the gymnast performs a Russian underswing with 1 ½ turn and three travels. (Also named after Wu Guonian in the Code.).
Roethlisberger: A P-bar skill also named after John Roethlisberger during which the gymnast performs a high wende and salto backward tucked or piked.
Roth: A pommel horse skill named after U.S. gymnast Bill Roth. The skill is performed from a cross support, rearways, reverse Stockli, wendeswing forward to reverse Stockli to cross support forward on other end, without touching pommels. The skill has been rated as a “C” level skill by the F.I.G.
Round-off: A floor or beam skill similar to a cartwheel, but with both feet landing at the same time. It is almost always the beginning skill for all back tumbling passes.
Routine: In gymnastics, a routine is combination of skill elements on one apparatus or event. The number and difficulty of skills depends on the competition format, and skill level of the competitors.
R.O.V.: Acronym for Risk, Originality, and Virtuosity.
Rudi: A vault with a handspring entry, forward salto off with 1 ½ twists.
Rudolph / Rudy: A front layout somersault with 1½ twists.
Saddle: The middle portion of the pommel horse.
Salto: Another term for flip or roll. A rotation about the transverse axis. A flip rotating about the waist.
Scale: In ballet or gymnastics, when the leg is raised high (ideally to a 180 degree split) while balancing on the other leg. Typically done on beam and may be done to the front, back or side and with the upper body lowered slightly.
Scissor Kick: A jump from one foot to the other alternately kicking one leg up and then the other with legs straight, simulating the motion of scissors.
Scissors: A combination requirement in a competitive routine on the pommel horse, which combines single leg, cuts and undercuts. It begins in a stride support and ends up in the opposite stride support.
Scissors Leap: (also called switch leap or a switch split leap) A leap in which the legs exchange positions while in the air, showing a split with both legs in one jump.
Sequence: Two or more skills which are performed together creating a different combination skill.
Set: A set is the initiation of most aerial skills. e.g. A set for a back tuck is when the gymnast leaves the floor stretching their arms towards the ceiling, lifting their chest, and spotting the wall in front of them. A set is often counterintuitive and therefore takes focus and determination to maximize its effectiveness.
Sheep Jump: A jump with back arched and both legs bent backwards and raised towards the head.
Shushunova: When a gymnast jumps up in straddle position, and rotates her body forward to become parallel to the mat or beam. She then falls to lie face down. Also may done with ½, 1/1 or 1 ½ twists. On floor, this element is often combined with other leaps such as Popas, Johnsons or wolf jumps. On beam, the Shushunova usually takes place facing perpendicular to the beam.
Side aerial: The side aerial is a no-handed cartwheel. It's performed on the floor and beam, and is often a required skill in the United States' Junior Olympic program. In the skill, the gymnast lunges forward onto one leg, then pushes off of her leg and rotates both legs over her head. She lands on the opposite leg in a lunge position.
Side horse: Another name for the pommel horse.
Sissone: A leap where the gymnast takes off from two feet and jumps up in split position with the back leg higher than the front.
Sole circle: Revolution on high bar or the uneven bars in which the feet, as well as the hands, remain on the bar.
Somersault/Salto: An acrobatic movement where the body makes a complete aerial turn (360 degrees) in the transversal axis. Can be done forward, backward and sideward. It is performed as mount, dismount or during a routine. Also called a flip or a somie.
Somi-And-A-Half: Another way of saying one and a half somersault.
Specialist: A gymnast that competes selected events as opposed to competing All Around. A gymnast that competes only pommel horse would be referred to as a pommel horse specialist. This often, but not always, allows for a higher degree of competency on the specialized event.
Spindle: A move for both pommel horse and floor exercise which consists of a double leg circle or flair-circle with ½ turn of the body in the opposite direction of the leg circle(s).
Split: Any front or sideward body position in which the legs are extended apart as far as possible in opposite directions with the ideal angle of the legs being 180 degrees or more apart. Splits are designated as side splits or straddle splits.
Split, Side or Front: In a side split one leg is forward, the other leg back. Hips are kept as square as possible. To get the splits or other flexibility it is more important to stretch often than to stretch for a long time in one sitting.
Split Leap: To perform a split in the air while jumping from one foot and landing on the opposite foot and assuming a split position in mid-air. Ideally done with a split of 180 degrees or slightly more. In a side split one leg is forward, the other leg back. Hips are kept as square as possible. To get the split flexibility required to do a aplit leap correctly it is important to stretch often.
Sports Acrobatics: An international sport featuring tumbling, balances, lifts and pyramids. Athletes may compete in Mixed Pair (male base / female top), Women's Pair, Men's Pair, Women's Trio or Men's Foursome. The athletes perform a floor routine to music consisting of balance and tempo elements, as well as individual acrobatics elements. The tumbling consists of three series of acrobatic elements performed on the run, including back handsprings and somersaults. This sport is now commonly administered by the same federation that manages artistic gymnastics.
Spotting: Spotting or to "spot" someone in gymnastics means to assist them in safely completing a skill. The amount of spot can range from simply tapping a leg to completely carrying the gymnast through the motion. A spot can be used to reduce risk of injury, or to ensure proper technique. Spotting can be done hands on or without. Physical contact is not always needed when spotting.
Spotting Belt: A spotting belt is a belt that a gymnast wears that is attached to ropes or cables that are generally attached to pulleys connected to the ceiling or a tower. This device allows a coach to "catch" a gymnast when working multiple flipping or twisting skills in a situation when a hand spot would be unfeasible.
Springboard: The takeoff board used for vaulting and performing mounts on other events.
Stag Jump: A jump in which the rear leg is straight, front leg is bent. A double stag is done with both legs bent.
Stalder: On the high bar or uneven bars, a giant swing with the legs stradled, body piked, or moving into a handstand. Named after Josef Stalder of Switzerland.
Stall Bars: A gymnastic athletic apparatus used for strengthening or stretching exercises. It consists of uprights fastened to a wall and connected by horizontal rungs, which make it look lie a ladder attached to the wall.
Start Value: This is a term that refers to gymnastics scoring. The start value of a routine indicates the relative difficulty of the routine. Compulsory routines all start from a 10.0 start value and deductions are made from 10.0. Currently, in lower level optional competition in the United States, gymnasts must accumulate bonus points to have their routine start from a 10.0. New Elite and International rules allow unlimited difficulty, which means the start value of routines will be as high as a gymnast can make it.
Static Strength Skill: Any move demonstrating strength that is held for three seconds. Some examples are v-sit, planche, maltese and Manna.
Static Stretching: A type of stretching in which a relaxed position is held without moving for a significant period of time. As opposed to dynamic stretching in which the limb is moved vigorously to stretch.
Step Out: On tumbling skills, this means that a gymnast lands on one foot and then the other as opposed to landing on both feet simultaneously. The action is done is a straight line and resemble walking steps. Also called a walk-out.
Stick: To stick a landing is to land, and remain standing without requiring a step. A proper stick position is with legs bent, shoulders above hips, arms forward. Sticking consistently takes regular practice.
Still Rings: A men’s gymnastics apparatus and event. The equipment apparatus consists of a tower, 575 centimeters high, from which two wooden/fiberglass rings are suspended by a cable and straps. The cable and straps are 300 centimeters long and 50 centimeters apart. A ring routine commonly includes a series of swings, presses and strength holds, finishing with a somersaulting dismount. The rings must remain absolutely still and in the gymnast's control at the conclusion of each skill and throughout he whole routine. Still Rings is arguably the most physically demanding event. He must perform a routine demonstrating balance, strength, power, and dynamic motion while preventing the rings themselves from swinging. At least one static strength move is required, but some gymnasts may include two or three. A routine must begin with an impressive mount, and must conclude with an equally impressive dismount.
Stöckli-B: On the pommel horse, the main component of "flops".
Stoop: Vault in which the body is bend forward as the feet pass over the horse.
Straddle: In a straddle a gymnasts legs are separated with neither leg being forward or backward of the other. A straddled pike is a straddle in which the hips are closed or "piked" to some degree.
Straddle Glide: A swinging movement usually done into a kip in which the legs are spread wide apart to each side usually to make it easier to hold up the legs as oppose to a pike glide.
Straddle Split: A split in which the legs are extended to the left and right, until a 180 degree angle between the legs is reached.
Straight Position: A gymnastics body position, usually in tumbling or somersaulting dismounts in which the body is straight. The elements performed in this position are more difficult than ones done in tuck or pike. Also called the layout position.
Strug: A floor exercise skill named after U.S. gymnast Kerri Strug. It is done by performing a tour jete with additional ½ turn and a landing on both feet. It has been rated by the F.I.G. as a “C” level difficulty skill and its F.I.G. number is 1.309.
Stutz: A common swing used on the parallel bars where the gymnast starts from a handstand atop the bars and swings backward between the bars and returning to the handstand position executing a half-turn along the way to face the opposite way.
SuperFans: Those who exhibit undying support for the team (also known as "gymnasties").
Supination: Supination of the forearm is rolling the hands outward towards palms facing up. Supination of the ankle is rolling the foot outward to place pressure on the outside of the foot.
Support position: A position in which the gymnast supports his or her body weight with the hands and arms, above the equiptment.
Swan dive: The gymnast leaps from a standing position into a roll or handstand.
Swedish Fall: An athletic dance move done on floor exercise in which a gymnast falls from a stand to a push-up like position on the ground with their leg up in back in a scale like position.
Switch Leap: switch slit leap beginning with one leg in front, switching to other mid-flight.
Switch Spit Side Leap: A leap beginning like a switch-split leap, but with a ¼ twist in the air and a sideways landing.
Talavera: A balance beam skill named after Tracee Talavera, who was the first to do it in international competition. The skill consists of pommel horse like move with the circle done like a flair. The skill has been rated by the FIG as a C level skill and its FIG number is 3.308.
Tap: Typically a dynamic motion used to generate momentum. The term is most often used on swinging events to describe the kick used to generate the required speed and rotation for a skill. (IE. Tap Swings)
Thomas: A floor exercise tumbling skill named after Kurt Thomas. It consists of a 1 ½ salto backward in a tucked or piked position with 1 ½ twists rated as a “D.”
Thomas Flairs: A pommel horse skill named after Kurt Thomas. It is a circling skill with alternating straddled lifted legs rated as a “B” level difficulty skill.
Tight: This term is used by coaches A LOT, but what does it really mean? A tight body position is not simply straight, or extended, but taught. The muscles involved in the extension are squeezed. Positions are held rigid so that different parts of the body can move together. Any flexing in the joints can reduce the effectiveness of certain motions. Much of a gymnasts strength training is to enable "tightness".
Timer: A drill that simulates the feel of a skill, or the set for a skill without the risk of completing the skill. e.g. a 1 1/4 back to a stack of mats is a timer for a double back.
Tkatchev or reverse Hecht: A release move named after Russian gymnast Alexander Tkatchev performed on uneven or high bar from a handstand to a giant swing down releasing to a backward straddle release over the bar to regrasp.
Total Score: The gymnasts' A-score and B-score added together.
Tour jeté: A ballet and gymnastics jump with a half-turn and switch split action of the legs taking off one foot and landing on the other the other.
Travel: Movement of the gymnast from the saddle of the pommel horse to either end or vise versa
Trick: A movement or gymnastic skill.
Triffis: A triple salto with at least 1/2 twist on one of the salto.
Triple Full or Triple Twist: A backward salto with three twists.
Tsukahara: A men’s or women’s vault named after Japanese gymnast, Mitsuo Tzukahara. It consists of a ¼ or ½ on to a back salto off the vault table. A vault category during which the gymnast jumps off the springboard and then does a ½ twist before pushing off the horse backwards. One Tsukahara vault that is common today is the Phelps, where the gymnast is supposed to do a ½ turn onto the horse, a ½ turn off and then a front layout.
T-shirt: Used as a projectile in-between rotations at each gym meet
Tuck: In a tuck a gymnast is bend at the hips and the knees. Sit on the floor with your legs in front of you. Bend your knees so that your knees are touching your chest and your feet are "tucked" in close to your body. A variation on the tuck is called a "cowboy" tuck in which the gymnast pulls their knees out to the side somewhat in order to compress the tuck further. This enables faster rotation.
Tuck Position: A gymnastics body position where the knees and hips are bent and drawn into the chest with the hands holding the knees. This body position is used in somersaults to rotate faster. Variation on the tuck position include the open tuck and cowboy tuck positions.
Tumbling Pass: In floor exercise and tumbling, this term is used to indicate a series of connected tumbling elements.
Turn: A gymnastics and ballet movement where the rotation occurs upright on the body's axis on one or both feet. A minimum of a full turn is often a requirement on floor exercise and beam.
Turners: For more than 150 years, they have formed Turnvereinen, or "gymnastic unions", which are not only athletic, but also political, "nationalistic gymnastic" organizations in Europe. The German movement was started by Turnvater Jahn and was instrumental in German unification after 1848. The American Turners were instrumental in the popularization of gymnastics in America.
Turnout: In gymnastics and ballet, a rotation of the leg which comes from the hips, causing the knee and foot to turn outward, away from the center of the body. This allows for greater extension of the leg, especially when raising it to the side and rear and for better balance when performing dance skills and on beam. This characteristic most distinguishes ballet from other forms of dance. It refers to the outward rotation of the legs in the hip socket, so that if one were to look at the feet in first position (heel to heel), they would appear to make a straight line.
Turnover: When the term "turnover" is mentioned in gymnastics, it is referring to rotating the body along the axis through the hips perpedicular to line of sight with the head straight forward. For example aggressive turnover on the front swing on rings means to quickly drive your toes towards the ceiling, thus inverting your body and enabling your swing to travel upward.
Twist: A movement in acrobatic skills where the rotation is about the longitudinal, or vertical, axis. This is the axis that runs from head to toes. Twisting is usually defined in terms of which shoulder moves backwards first. A right twist is defined as the right shoulder going backwards, the opposite is true for a left twist. Twisting usually refers to an action that occurs simultaneously with a somersault so the body is both twisting and flipping.
Twisting Degrees: Fractions and degrees are used in order to describe twisting movements. A ½ twist is a 180-degree twist, a full (1/1) twist is a 360 degree twist. A 1& ½ twist is 540 degrees of twist. A double twist (2/1) is 720 degrees of twist. A 2& ½ twist is 900 degrees. A triple twist is a 1080-degree twist. A 3& ½ twist is 1260 degrees. A quad twist is a 1440-degree twist.
Undergrasp: Holding a bar with the palms towards face.
Undergrip: Hanging on a bar with your fingers facing you.
Underswing: A release move from the high bar to the low bar. It starts on the on high bar facing low bar. The gymnast swings up and over the low bar with a half turn to a catch of the low bar. Also called a Shoot Over or Overshoot.
Uneven Bars: A women’s gymnastics apparatus consisting of two fiberglass composite bars - a low bar 148 centimeters high and a high bar 228 centimeters high and set a maximum of 150 centimeters apart.
Upstart: Same as a Kip.
Vault: A gymnastics event performed over the vaulting table by both men and women. Gymnasts sprint down a runway, which is a maximum of 25 metres in length, before hurdling onto a spring board. The body position is maintained while "punching" (blocking using only a shoulder movement) the vaulting platform. The gymnast then rotates to a standing position. In advanced gymnastics, multiple twists and somersaults may be added before landing.Successful vaults depend on the speed of the run, the length of the hurdle, the power and strength the gymnast has in the legs and arms and shoulder girdle, the kinesthetic awareness in the air, and the speed of rotation in the case of more difficult and complex vaults. At the lower level, each competitor performs two vaults and the scores are averaged. In Elite and international competition, only one vault is performed, except in Finals. In high school competition, only one cault is performed.
Vaulting Horse: The former men and women’s vaulting apparatus was 35 centimeters wide by 160 centimeters long. It was placed long ways for men and width wise for women. It has been replaced internationally and in the united States by the vault table.
Vault Table: The vault table is the new vaulting apparatus for both men and women. The new vault table is designed to be safer by offering a wider and longer top surface to provide a better margin of error for hand placement, especially on round-off entry vaults. The men's vaulting horse was 135 centimeters high, the women's 120 centimeters high.
Victorian Cross: A still rings move during which the gymnast performs a front Lever with the body held at the level of the rings. Or, perhaps, an Inverted Maltese Cross.
Virtuosity: A term that in relation to gymnastics refers to the artistry, or the degree of rhythm and harmony, displayed when a movement is executed to its maximum in terms of style and elegance. In general, the more gracefully flowing and seamless a series of skills appears to be, the greater the virtuosity and the higher the score.
Voluntary Routine: This is a term sometimes used to refer to an optional gymnastics routine. The term is not commonly used in the United States.
V-sit: A body position used in gymnastics where the legs are raised off the floor in a deep pike position and the entire body is supported by the hands form the general appearance of a "V" shape.
Walkover: A gymnastics floor and beam move where a gymnast moves from a standing position through a handstand position to a standing position while "walking" through the air with the feet. Starting from standing on one foot, go through inverted split and one footed bridge positions to return to stand. Can be done forward and backward.
Wells: A men’s parallel bar named after Trent Wells. The skill is a giant swing backward with in-locate forward. The skill has been rated by the F.I.G. as a ”D” level skill.
Wheel: Circle on bar with arms and body full extended. Also called a "giant".
Whip Back: A backwards somersaulting tumbling movement similar to a back handspring, except that the hands don't touch the floor. Whips are used as both direct and indirect connections into other tumbling skills.
White: An uneven bar skill named after Morgan White. It consists of a front stalder into an L-grip to handstand with ½ turn in handstand. It has been rated by the FIG as a D level skill and its FIG number is 6.403.
Wolf Jump (also known as Fish Jump): A pike jump with one leg straight out in front and the other bent sharply back with knees together.
Yamashita: A handspring vault with the body in a piked position before the landing. Created by Haruhiro Yamashita of Japan.
Yamawaki: A movement performed on rings during which the gymnast performs a double front flip in the back swing or a double front salto to a hang. Named after the Japanese Olmpic gymnast Kyoji Yamawaki.
Yang Bo: A jump with legs in oversplit and back arched. Yang also invented a switch leap with the same head position.
Yurchenko: A gymnastics vault now performed by both men and women, consisting of a roundoff onto the springboard, then a back handspring like movement onto the vault, followed by some type of back somersaulting movement off of the vault table. Named for Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, who created it.
Yurchenko-Double Twist: A vault where the gymnast does a round-off onto the springboard, a back handspring onto the horse, and a double twisting flip off of the horse. A round-off entry onto the board, flic-flac onto the horse and one of the following off the horse: layout, full twist, one-and-a-half twist or double twist, etc. (very common vault).
Yurchenko (with twists in preflight): The newest and final category describes vaults in which the gymnast performs a round-off (Yurchenko) entry and then ½ or more turns before pushing off the horse. An example is the Podkopayeva, where the gymnast does a round-off onto the board, a ½ turn onto the horse, and a piked forward salto off with ½ turn.
Zero: The score a gymnast receives if they do not compete in a gymnastics event or do something which voids their score, like not touching the vault table with their hands when they vault.
Other Resources
- 5 Rings of Mental Toughness
- Description of Women's and Men's Gymnastic Events
- Gymnast's Quotes
- Gymnastics - An Olympic Sport
- NAIGC Gymnastics Meet Hosting Checklist
- Strategies to Minimize Injuries and Lost Time in the Gym
- The Treatment of "Rips" (Wounds) on the Gymnasts' Hands
- Tulsa World of Gymnastics Tips
- Why Gymnastics?
- You Might Be a Gymnast if ...