A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Acrobatic Elements (Acro) – Elements of gymnastics that require control, balance, strength and flexibility. Examples include slower skills like a front walkover for women or corner skills for men. Movements such as saltos and handsprings fall into this category as well. Also know as Acrobatics.
Aerial – A gymnastics move, in which the gymnast rotates in the air without touching the apparatus or ground with his or her hands. Also referred to as an aerial cartwheel, no-handed cartwheel, aerial walkover or front walkover.
All-around – A category of gymnastic competition that includes all of the events. The person with the highest total score from all the events is the all-around champion.
Amplitude - Reaching the maximum height, extension, stretch, or swing for any movement.
Apparatus – A piece of equipment used in gymnastics competitions. The common apparatuses used in gymnastics include: the balance beam, parallel bars, uneven parallel bars, pommel horse, vault, floor, still rings and horizontal bar.
Arabesque - Dance position standing on one foot, with the other lifted and held in the rear 45°.
B
Back extension - A backward roll with straight arms that extends to a handstand.
Back flip – A backwards somersault in the air performed in either the tuck, pike or layout position.
Back Handspring - Also called a flip-flop, flic-flac, or back flip. A jump backward onto the hands, followed by a quick push from the hands to the feet.
Back walkover – A control skill where a gymnast starts in the standing position, arches her into a backbend and kicks her legs over her head to land on her feet in a step-out landing (one leg followed by the other). It is performed as one continuous movement.
Backbend – A gymnastic skill where the body bends backwards in an arch position and the feet and hands touch the floor simultaneously.
Balance beam – A long and narrow apparatus used by women in a routine designed to emphasize grace and balance. It is a solid piece of wood that is four feet high, four inches wide and 16 feet long. A balance bar routine includes a variety of acrobatic and dance skills that last for 70 to 90 seconds and ends with a dismount.
Balk - Beginning a skill and not completing it. On vault, an attempt which does not touch the board or the horse.
Bar – An apparatus used by both men and women in gymnastics. Men use the high bar and the parallel bars. Women use the uneven parallel bars. Also referred to as a rail.
Block - (Repulsion) Strong push downward (on the horse) to add lift to the body.
Bridge – Another name for a backbend. Normally started by lying on the back, the hands and feet remain on the floor and the body is pushed up with the back arching and the stomach facing the ceiling.
C
Cartwheel – A common gymnastic skill where a gymnast starts on one leg and places his/her hands on the ground while kicking his/her legs up into a side handstand, before continuing the motion and landing with one foot on the ground followed by the other.
Cast - A swinging movement on the bars – begins in a front support, legs swing forward, then backward, finishes in a clear support.
Choreography – A series of artistic elements, ballet movements and acrobatics that create a floor or balance beam routine.
Clear Hip - Movement around the bar with a straight body which does not touch (clear=free) the bar, the legs rise as the arms open.
Compulsories – Required routines that all gymnasts in certain levels (Level 4,5,6) must complete. These routines have elements and skills that gymnasts in a certain level of gymnastics should be able to perform and are determined by a governing body such as USA Gymnastics or International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG).
Connection - (Series, Sequence) Elements linked together with no pause, steps or extra movements between.
D
Deduction – An error that causes a gymnast to lose points in his/her score.
Dismount – The exit from an apparatus at the end of a routine; usually performed with a difficult twist or somersault.
Dive roll – Describes a flying front somersault on the ground. The gymnast runs, leaps into the air and dives onto the floor in a handstand position and does a forward roll at the end.
Dynamic - (Quality) Applying a high level of effort in order to move with strength and speed.
E
Events – The routines done by men and women on the different apparatuses. There are four events for women: balance beam, vault, uneven parallel bars and floor. There are six events for men: vault, pommel horse, still rings, horizontal bar, parallel bars and floor exercise.
Execution – How a routine is performed; the level of form and technique used to complete a routine. A good execution might include tight legs, a good toe point, and a stuck landing.
Extension – The height and stretch of the legs or arms that are raised during a dance movement.
F
Flexibility – The ability of the body to stretch into various positions without pain or damage.
Flip – A tumbling element where the body does a somersault in the air without the hands touching the ground. Also called a somersault or salto.
Floor exercise – A routine consisting of a variety of dance and acrobatic maneuvers and is performed on a 40 foot square spring floor.
Flyaway - A bar dismount performed from a long swing that finishes with a salto.
Front handspring – A forward tumbling skill that starts with a step or a hurdle. The body then bounces onto the hands and rotates through a handstand before landing on the feet.
Front hip circle - A forward movement around the bar with the hips resting on the bar and the body rotating around the bar.
Front somersault – A forward flip performed in the air without hands. It can be performed in either the tuck, pike or layout positions. It can also refer to a forward somersault on the ground.
Front walkover – A gymnastic skill where the gymnast performs a forward handstand then moves into a backbend and up to his/her feet. The entire skill is performed in a continuous motion.
G
Giant – A skill on bars where the fully extended body circles around the bar.
Grips – Leather straps that gymnasts wear on their hands to help them maintain a firm and solid grasp of the bar and reduce friction. Also known as hand guards.
Gymnastic Elements (Gym) - Movements that include turns, jumps, and leaps.
H
Handspring – A hand touch somersault used on various apparatuses where the body springs from the feet onto the hands and lands back on the feet. It can be performed in either forward or backward direction; it is usually used to link movements of a routine together.
Handstand – A movement where the body is balanced on the hands and the feet are in the air, with the legs together or in a straddle or split position.
High bar – This term can refer to men’s horizontal bar apparatus or the women’s top bar on the uneven parallel bars.
Hip circle – A circle around the bar in either the forward or backward motion where the hips are resting on the bar throughout the circle.
I
J
K
Kip - Usually performed on the bars, a movement that takes the gymnast from below the bars to above the bars. Involves a rapid opening from a pike to a straight body, ideally performed in a gliding motion. It is a compulsory requirement for level 5 gymnasts.
L
Layout position - A stretched and extended body position.
Leotard – A one piece uniform, similar to a bathing suit, that is standard for women’s gymnastics.
Limber – A term that describes a gymnast’s flexibility in the forward and backward direction.
M
Mat – A piece of gymnastics equipment that is soft and made of polyurethane foam to help cushion landings on dismounts from apparatuses such as the bars, balance beam and vault. It is also used when a gymnast is learning new gymnastics skills.
Mount – The entry onto apparatuses like the balance beam, parallel bars, uneven parallel bars, horizontal bars and pommel horse. It is also used to describe the first element in a gymnastics routine.
N
Nail – (see stick) Refers to a perfect dismount from an apparatus or a tumbling pass where the feet make no movement once they touch the ground.
O
Olympic order – The competition order for international competition, decided by FIG. The order for women: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.
Optionals – A category of gymnastics competition where the gymnasts and coaches create their own routines with individual skills and the required elements that are determined by the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG). Optional gymnasts are ranked higher than compulsory gymnasts.
Overshoot – A release move from the high bar to the low bar. The gymnast starts on the high bar, swings up and over the low bar, does a half twist and catches the low bar.
P
Parallel bars – One of the events that men perform in artistic gymnastics. It consists of two bars that are the same height (195centimeters) and length (350cm) and about 52cm apart from one another. It is also referred to as p-bars.
Pike position – When the body is bent forward 90° at the hips with the legs straight.
Pirouette – Turning around while in a handstand.
Q
R
Release – A term that refers to the body leaving the bar. The body leaves the bar to perform an execution and then re-grasps the bar at the end of the execution. A release can performed on the uneven parallel bars, high bar or parallel bars.
Rip – The tearing of a flap of skin from a gymnasts hand while performing on the bars.
Round-off – A common gymnastic movement that leads into many more difficult skills. It is performed by pushing off one leg, swinging legs quickly in a cartwheel motion and landing on two feet. It is usually the initial skill in a tumbling pass.
Routine – A combination of skills and dance moves, sometimes performed to music, on a singular apparatus.
S
Salto - A forward, backward, or sideward flip (somersault) without the use of the hands.
Scale - Balancing on one leg or knee while holding the other leg in one of several positions.
Split – A stretching position of the legs. One leg is stretched in front of the body and one leg is stretched behind the body. Done correctly, the legs are parallel to the floor and straight without any bend to the knees. It can be performed in a jump, on the floor, or in a handstand and in a front to back position of straddle.
Spotting – The physical assistance of a gymnast while performing a new or dangerous skill. It helps to ensure that the gymnast will complete the skill safely.
Stick – Slang term used for a landing that is executed with correct technique and little to no movement.
Straddle – A position of the legs where one leg is extended to the left side of the body and the other leg is extended to the right side. The legs are straight without a bend to the knees. This position is executed in jumps, handstands, on the floor, on the bars, and on the balance beam.
T
Tuck – A body position where the knees are bent and drawn up to the chest and the body is folded at the waist.
Tumbling pass – A series of connected tumbling elements in a routine on the floor exercise.
Turnout – Refers to the rotation of the hips, legs and feet in an outward direction away from the body.
Twist – A rotation around the body’s longitudinal axis.
U
Uneven bars – A women’s apparatus and event that consists of two fiberglass bars: A low bar that is 148 centimeters high and a high bar that is 228cm high, set apart at a maximum of 150cm. A routine consists of release moves, swinging maneuvers from one bar to the other, circling skills and pirouettes.
USA Gymnastics – The governing body of gymnastics in the United States.
V
Vault – Men and women’s apparatus and event performed over a vaulting table. The gymnast runs down the vaulting runway, springs off a springboard, vaults onto the table and lands on his/her feet on the mat behind the table.
Vaulting table – The new vaulting apparatus that is used for both men and women. It has a wider and longer top surface which gives the gymnasts a larger margin of error for hand placement.
W
Walkover – A maneuver in which the body is bent forward or backward from an upright position, the hands are placed on the floor, and the legs arc one after the other over the hands, and is finished when the gymnast resumes an upright, standing position.