Artistic Gymnastics

What is gymnastics?

Gymnastics is considered a sport in which the skills of strength, flexibility and body control are the most important. At competitions, gymnasts perform acrobatic feats such as somersaults, handstands, flick flacks and many other impressive displays that they have practised and trained for months beforehand. The athletes compete either as individuals or in a team. In competitive sports, women's and men's teams are separated. In school sports or children's gymnastics, however, there is no such separation. Here, the focus is primarily on the fun factor and the first encounters with gymnastics equipment.

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What gymnastics equipment is available?

There are many types of gymnastics equipment.
The most common are:

• Wall bars
• Balance beam
• Parallel bars/steps bars/parallel bars
• Trampolines
• Horizontal bars
• Gymnastics mats
• Minitramp
• Rolling mats
• Springboards
• Vaulting boxes with leather and imitation leather cover
• Vaulting tables
• Gymnastics horses
• Gymnastics trestles

What types of gymnastics are there? Competitive gymnastics, floor exercises and more.

Performance gymnastics

Performance gymnastics is about using body tension and strength to perform exercises on apparatus that look elegant and light. Gymnastics equipment such as balance beam, uneven bars, floor mats, etc. are used.

The concrete difference in competitive gymnastics is mainly due to the amount of training and the associated higher-level competitions.

Floor exercise

In floor exercise, artistic exercises such as double somersault, flick flack, backward roll etc. are performed on a floor exercise mat. In competitions, this mat is 12 m x 12 m. In school sports, these exercises are often performed on so-called light floor exercise mats.

Apparatus gymnastics/artistic gymnastics

Apparatus gymnastics (or artistic gymnastics) is considered both an individual and a team sport, whereby certain exercises must be performed on apparatus according to predefined criteria. Technique and posture are the main criteria. In competitions, this is also referred to as the D-score (degree of difficulty) and the E-score (execution of the exercise), which are evaluated.
The (club) athletes perform their exercises on large apparatus such as high bar, parallel bars, rings, balance beam and vaulting apparatus (trestle, box, horse, vaulting table). But also on the floor with corresponding floor gymnastics mats, given exercises are performed.

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Gymnastics apparatus and disciplines

Disciplines

The classic gymnastics disciplines are primarily apparatus gymnastics and trampolining. However, general gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, aerobics, acrobatics, rope skipping and some other types of gymnastics are also disciplines on and with gymnastics apparatus. These include floor exercises such as somersaults or handstands and the discipline of vaulting. In floor exercises, acrobatic tricks are performed on a mat. In the vault discipline, gymnasts jump over a vaulting table and perform tricks such as spins or cartwheels before landing.

Gymnastics apparatus for women

What apparatus do women use? Classical gymnastics disciplines for women at a competition are in particular the uneven bars and the balance beam. The uneven bars differ from the bars for men in the height of the bars. In this case, the upper bar is higher than the lower bar (about one metre), whereas the bars for men are at the same height.
At BENZ Sport you can even get height-adjustable uneven bars, which can thus serve as multi-purpose bars.

Gymnastics equipment for men

On which apparatus do men do gymnastics? In addition to the parallel bars and the high bar, there is the gymnastics discipline rings for men, where two rings hang from the ceiling. Here the gymnast has to perform exercises in the air. He performs swinging movements and holds certain positions while holding them, which are evaluated.

In pommel horse, on the other hand, the gymnast does not hang but supports himself over the pommels. Here, too, the body and especially the legs are moved in the air (above the pommels). An acrobatic exercise for the pommel horse would be, for example, crossing the legs or gyrating leg swings.

Why is gymnastics so important?

Gymnastics is an excellent foundation for other sports. Gymnastics mainly improves strength, flexibility, coordination, speed and balance. Many elements can be found in other sports, such as the quick run-up or jump, which is needed in athletics, but also in football. Balance and agility are also important in dancing or synchronised swimming. Coordination and agility are also important.

Gymnastics is very important for the body's overall motor skills. Gymnastics is a good basis, especially because gymnastics involves rather unfamiliar movement sequences. Likewise, the fear of parallel bars or high bar must be overcome, which helps a person's development a lot.

Children's gymnastics, for example in kindergarten, is particularly important for discovering and developing the child's physical abilities. Even small children have a great urge to move and enjoy movement. It is important to encourage this, because fit children not only develop in a physically healthier way, but also expand their mental abilities. The whole apparatus "human being" gets going.