The World of Gymnastics

The level 4 gymnastics vault is a handstand flat back. This gymnastics vault is competed on a gymnastics skills cushion that must be a minimum of 32 inches high, 5 feet wide, and 10 foot long. The gymnastics skills cushion may be a resi mat or a stack of landing mats, or an inflatable mat. You can add gymnastics skills cushions to make it higher based on your gymnast’s vault capabilities. Every vaulting mat must have a tape line that is 32 inches from the front of the vault mat (this is the landing zone). This tape line must go across and down the sides of the mat. The gymnast must have her hands contact within this landing zone. If her hands go past the tape line, she will receive a deduction from her overall gymnastics vault score.

LEVEL 4 GYMNASTICS VAULT- MAIN GYMNASTICS VAULT SKILLS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DEDUCTIONS!

*Run must show accelerate

*Must not slow down when contacting the spring board

*When punching  the board, feet should be in front of body

*In the pre-flight, shoulders need to me open, head in a neutral position, with a straight extended body (no arch or pike)

*Keep straight legs and pointed toes throughout

*Contact mat with both hands, straight arms, in an inverted vertical position.

*Hands must be within the landing zones

*Do not take steps or hops with hands

*Be sure to land in a straight, stretched out lying position on the mat. Do not arch or bent legs. Keep toes pointed the entire time.

Each gymnast gets two chances to perform a gymnastics vault. The judge will award the gymnast the best score out of the two. A gymnast may have three running approaches without any penalty if they do not touch the springboard or vaulting mat. A level 4 gymnastics vault will be voided if the gymnast does the wrong vault, does a handstand and returns back to the springboard, is assisted by a coach between the time of leaving the board to touching the mat stack, or touches the mat stack or springboard without doing the vault.

Gymnastics Vaut Table

Who in their right mind would sprint at the speed of lighting down an eighty-two foot runway toward a big stationary object? A gymnast! And this stationary object that she is running towards is a gymnastics vault table.

The vault table is an apparatus that both men and women artistic gymnasts use. Vault is very different than all the other apparatuses, this is the only event where there is no routine performed.  If you turn your head or blink your eyes you could miss the vault; within seconds it’s over. Luckily, a gymnast gets two chances in a row to perform vault; the judge will judge both vaults and take the higher of the two scores. Another very unique thing about vault is, if a gymnast baulks they get no deductions and have thirty seconds to start over and attempt a new vault. If a gymnast baulks this means the gymnast runs down the runway and stops before he/she reaches the spring board. If a gymnast touches the spring board then stops and doesn’t go over the vault then this is considered their vault and they will receive a zero from the judges.

Vault is probably the hardest event to judge because it is so quick. The slightest mistakes can drop your score a whole lot. When vaulting a judge looks at many different things depending on the vault the gymnast will perform (there are many different types of vaults). There are five steps in a vault no matter what vault you attempt; there is the run, pre-flight, hand contact, post-flight, and the landing. Here are a few things the judge always judges when dealing with these five vaulting steps: how fast a gymnast runs, if their run accelerates as they get closer to the vault, the angle the gymnasts punches the spring board, the angle of their shoulders as they hit and leave the vault table, head position (must be neutral), the block off the vault (no bent arms), the height and distance when leaving the vault table, and a stuck landing. These are only some things a judge looks for no mater what vault the gymnast performs. A judge will look for much more with each specific vault.

Vault may take a split second to perform but is worth the same as any other event. There is so much energy, power, speed, and technique that go into a proper vault. If you follow and succeed at the five vaulting steps you will have a great, high scoring vault.

springboard