The World of Gymnastics

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Level 6 Balance Beam Routine

The time limit for the level 6 balance beam routine is 1:10.

The Mount-Scissor leg swing mount with a half turn

• The first leg to swing (bad leg) must reach a minimum of 45 degrees below horizontal before you can switch to your good leg to finish the mount.
• Must continue through a half turn to straddle sit on balance beam. You must not slow down or stop before arriving in a sitting position.

V-Sit

• Extend your legs completely with pointed toes. You may bend or straighten your arms but you cannot push of the balance beam with your hands to perform the stand

Coupe, Side Developpe, Rond De Jambe

• Take one releve coupe step to end on your bad leg
• While standing on your bad leg extend your good leg sidewards to a minimum height of 45degrees.
• Once it reaches 45 degrees or above immediately pull your right leg in front of you at a minimum of 90 degrees and HOLD for 1 SECOND
• Make sure your leg is turned out while lifting it to 45 degrees, shifting, and holding it at 90 degrees.
• Your leg must not drop in height or you will receive a deduction, it can only raise!!!

Coupe Turn (heel snap turn)

• Drop your foot to ankle
• Go up in releve as you snap the heel around to complete a heel snap turn on YOUR BAD LEG!
• Once you complete your turn immediately drop heal to beam and pause before stepping back words to close- If your foot doesn’t go flat on the beam at the end of your heel snap turn, you will receive a deduction.
• Make sure to show the use of your arms

Straight Leg Leap

• Legs must separate on the leap and reach a minimum of 120 degrees.
• Gymnast must sustain straight legs and pointed toes throughout the entire leap and land in a low, paused, arabesque position.
• DO NOT bend the front leg on takeoff (this will be a staged leap and will receive deductions).
• The judge is looking for amplitude, great posture and an even leg separation (legs even, not one higher than the next)
• You may only take 1-3 steps into your leap
• Both feet must be turned out. Must show rocking through the use of plie going forward and backwards. Maintain an erect torso and smooth  fluid motion from beginning to end.

Weight transfer

• Both feet must be turned out.
• Must show rocking through the use of plie (4^th position) going forward and backwards.
• Maintain an erect torso and smooth fluid motion from beginning to end.

Back Walkover

• As you arch backwards you must lift your front leg (as if there is a string tied from your foot to your arms)
• You must show a continues motion of your leg lifting as you go into your back walkover
• Your leg cannot drop
• You must place your hands side by side (they cannot stagger meaning one in-front of the next)
• While in your back walkover your legs must separate a minimum of 150 degrees
• You must pass through a handstand position and lever out

Many people don’t know this but you can perform a BACK EXTENSION ROLL on the beam in place of the back walkover

• If you would like info on how to correctly perform a back extension roll on the beam just let me know by leaving a comment

Leg Swing

• Leg must swing forward to reach a minimum of 90 degrees
• Leg must swing backwards and reach a minimum of 45 degrees

Pivot Turn Right and Left

• Pivot turns much be very sharp and quick
• You must be in a locked (closed) position
• Each turn must be completed (180 degrees)
• Hips must stay squared
• Must stay in releve the entire time

Full Turn

• Kick in high releve
• Leg must reach a minimum of 90 degrees
• While you kick flick both arms out to the side
• Then prepare arms as you would any other turn-then pull arms to a crown while turning
• Complete a 360 turn on high releve
• Turn should be completed in passé (foot to knee)
• Stay in releve the entire time

Tuck Jump

• Do a stretch jump than pull knees toward chest until you reach a minimum of 90 degree hip to knee closure
• Completely open into a stretch position before landing back on the balance beam
• Show amplitude, quick tuck and extension, keep chest up

Split Jump

• Legs must separate 120 degree
• They must be even (must not have one leg higher than the next)
• Must land with feet close together
• Must show amplitude, and keep good body posture (chest up)
• Must connect the two jumps

Arabesque

• Must have chest up
• Raise leg to a minimum of 45 degrees
• Must hold for 1 second

Scale

• Keep chest up as much as possible
• Lift leg 45 degrees above horizontal
• Hold for 2 seconds

Dismount (Cross Handstand to Side Handstand)

• Hands must be side by side (not staggered) in cross handstand
• Cross handstand must be completely vertical and held for 1 second
• Make a ¼ turn into side handstand
• Hold side handstand for 2 seconds
• Maintain a straight body position with a neutral head from the start of your handstand until you land your dismount
• The dismount is extremely important, a gymnast can get over a 1.3 deduction on this one balance beam element

 

 

 

 

 

In gymnastics, hand rips from gripping bars are common and repairable. Did you know they are, in many cases avoidable? I will give you tips on how to avoid grip rips. I will also explain how to repair and treat them if you do get these hand rips.

Grip rips are part of being a gymnast, but it is important to keep them minimal. Tender loving care will help or possibly prevent these painful hand rips. I want to help you avoid ripping those callused hands. It not only causes pain, but can hinder a performance.

Calluses are the hardened or thickened parts of the skin. They are to help protect the area where there is a lot of friction. Calluses are located at the top of the palms and sometimes in the middle of the inside of the hand. The more friction that occurs, the deeper the calluses. If the calluses get too thick, then rips can occur. It is important to avoid hand rips by maintaining proper care.

In gymnastics before you see a gymnast start her bar routine, she will rub chalk on her hands. This helps decrease the friction, but it also dries out the hands.

The best way to a gymnast can care for her calluses is by shaving them down. Many stores sell callus razors.  Pumice stones may also be used. I have even heard of people using podiatric sanders as well. Anything that helps grind down or shave the unwanted layers of the calluses. Do not shave the calluses down too far. In gymnastics, these calluses are a must have, just don’t let them get too thick. Groom them every week to avoid hand rips. Shaving the layers of a callus will keep excess skin from growing. Also, use a good skin moisturizer. Before bed is a must, Bag Balm is my favorite. Although it moisturizes, it also seems to heal the skin. It is usually found at your local hardware, farm, or drug store.

In gymnastics it is important to take care of a hand rip properly and as soon as possible. It must first be cleaned out with an antibacterial type product to keep the wound from getting infected. I recommend using an antibiotic suave just before covering up the wound. There are H shaped bandages that may be used if your gymnastics facility has them in their first aid box. If not, I recommend  wrapping gauze and tape around the hand. This is a sure way to keep the wound protected. Wrapping the hand will also help the gymnast to go on with her bar workout. Also, be sure to cut a couple pieces of tape and adhere them from the bandage inside of hand, through the fingers, and attach it to the  back of the bandage. Keep the wound covered for 4-5 days. If it is not healed, repeat this process and try to avoid too much friction until it heals.

 

One gymnastics skill that every gymnast will have to learn at one point or another is a backwards roll. Many people wouldn’t think of a backwards roll as an important skill but believe me, it is! A backward roll is the foundation of many different skills such as: backward roll to pike, backward roll to pushup, back extension roll, back tuck, double backs, etc. Make sure you learn and practice your backward roll the correct way. Correct technique in a backward roll is very vital because it is the base of so many important and required gymnastics skills. Here is the step by step instructions on doing a correct backwards roll, hope this helps!

1. Squat down with your legs and feet together.
2. Bend your arms and place your hands right next to your ears with your palms facing the ceiling and your fingers facing backwards.
3. Tuck your chin to your chest
4. Round your back like a cat
5. Lean backwards and roll
6. Once your hands meet the ground make your arms straight and push off the floor.
7. Land on your feet in either a pike or a squat (do not land on your knees)

Many times gymnastics coaches use an incline gymnastics mat or wedge mat to teach a backward roll. It gives the gymnasts a little more momentum.

When spotting a gymnast on backward rolls you want to lift their hips so they don’t hurt their neck.

Before you introduce the backward roll to your gymnast you should try starting them out with a gymnastics drill. For this backward roll drill you should start just like normal but once you roll you should squash your hands against the floor and then re-roll forward. This is kinda like a candle stick but with bent knees and arms. Each time your gymnast tries this drill encourage them to push off their hands more and more.

Mistakes in a Backward Roll

The most common mistakes gymnasts make is arching and throwing their head and shoulders backward. When doing a backward roll you must round your back like a cat.

The second most common mistake I see kids make is not pushing off their hands. If they don’t push off their hands they usually hurt their neck and never make it over. Usually they go back and fall over to the side.

Here is a video to help you understand the gymnastics backward roll even more!

I have wrote many articles explaining how gymnastics pits are very helpful and a great training tool for all gymnasts. This is very true but like always, with every good thing comes a negative aspect or a downfall.

The benefits of a gymnastics foam pit greatly outweigh the downfalls, but as a coach I must warn people about each and every downfall.

First, the gymnastics foam pit is very forgiving and may teach kids to use bad form and technique. When gymnasts do skills in the foam pit they usually forget all about straight legs, pointed toes and correct form. They get so caught up in doing the skill into the pit that they forget about all the technique required to do it on the ground.

Second, it can give a gymnast a false sense of accomplishment. Time after time I have asked my gymnast if they can to do a specific skill and they say yes. But they leave out that they have only done it into the pit! Many gymnast think if they can do a skill into pit than they have that skill. This is not true!! This thought can be very dangerous. I cannot stress enough, just because you can do a skill into a gymnastics foam pit does not mean you can do it on the spring floor.

Third, the foam pit can cause many injuries. Every gymnast should watch how they land in the pit. Landing feet first can cause an ankle to roll or knee to buckle. Landing headfirst can cause neck and back injuries. Landing on your belly can also cause back and neck injuries. When tumbling into the pit make sure you don’t land short or undercut, this could make you land on the pit edge. If you tumble to far you could also land on the pit edge. I have seen several gymnasts knee themselves in their face when landing in the pit, so be careful.

Last but not least, foam pit dust may get in the gymnasts eyes. This can cause a great amount of irritation.

Time after time I have seen my gymnasts come into our gymnastics academy wearing a brand new leotard.  There is just one problem, it doesn’t look like a new gymnastics leotard. I see many new leotards that are super faded, have rhinestones missing and colors that bled together. This is very disappointing when a parent spends their hard earned money on a new gymnastics leotard and it gets ruined after one wash. To ensure sure this doesn’t happen to you and your new gymnastics leotard you need to follow the washing instructions on the tag. One problem is many gymnast say the tag is itchy so their parents cut it out. This means mom and dad no longer have the washing instructions and this usually leads to a disaster leotard. If this happens you should follow theses washing guidelines….

• Make sure you wash it with a very mild liquid detergent. Usually Woolite or baby detergent (baby magic, dreft, baby all) work the best.
• Always was the gymnastics leotard in cold water. Using hot water will make the colors bleed more
• It is always best to wash gymnastics leos by hand. If you decided not to wash them by hand you need to wash them in a gentle cycle with like items. This will eliminate pulls, snags, and bleeding from other clothes.
• Turn your gymnastics leotard inside out when you wash it. This will help the special finish on your leo to last much longer.
• When it comes to drying a gymnastics leotard it always best to hang dry it. If needed you can throw the gymnastics leo in the dryer for a bit on super low heat.

Follow these instructions and you will have a gymnastics leotard that will not lose its color or shine and will look brand new all the time.