Events

There are 4 different events in gymnastics, Floor, Beam, Vault, and Bars.

Floor: The floor exercise has become a creative art form designed to project the personality of the performer. The composition of the exercise must express the temperament of the gymnast through the combination of tumbling and dance skills that is both vibrant and exciting. Floor exercise music must be harmonious with the movements of the gymnast and contribute to the expressiveness of the total routine. The music should be phrase to retard fatigue t, to coordinate movements and to motivate the gymnast. Tumbling movements executed slowly and rapidly should be interspersed with exciting jumps and suspended leaps. The entire floor area must be used in order to create and interesting pattern. The floor routine is require to be between 1-1.5 minutes in length. And include a set of minimum requirements in order to avoid mandatory deductions.

Balance Beam: The balance beam is an extremely difficult event because it requires an innate snese of balance and must be performed on a very restricted area which is only 4 inches wide, 16feet and 4 inches long and 3 feet 11 inches high. Like the floor exercise, the balance beam routine is required to be 1-1.5 minutes in length. The exercise begins when the gymnast’s feet or hands leave the floor or board and ends when the performers’ feet touch the floor. The routine should show turns, leaps, jumps, dance movements, flexibility and confidence. The gymnast is required to use the entire length of the beam at least 3 times and display a well composed routine which moves smoothly with many changes of level, direction and rhythm. Three poses are permitted without penalty but it is important to minimize interruptions by connecting each move within the routine.

Vault: The horse vault consists of two principle parts: the preflight and the after flight. Proper technique during both parts is essential to the proper execution of the vault. Vaulting requires the unique entwining of explosive power, agility, timing and kinesthetic awareness. All vaults must be preformed with the hands placed on the horse. There are three basic types of vaults: inverted, twisting and rotating. In vaulting, the gymnast is allowed to perform two vaults (which can be different) and the better of the two scores is used. Judges are looking for sufficient preflight (the height and distance from the springboard to the horse). Correct body position, a fast repulsion form the horse, a high and long after flight and a balanced landing. Vaults have a maximum point values which are assigned based on the difficulty of the vault ranging from 7.5 to 10.0.

Uneven Bars: The uneven parallel bar routine must be continuous, dynamic and rhythmic. The routine is required to incorporate a variety of swing movements and changed in direction. The length of the routine is determined by the number of difficulties and connections. The average routine will include 8-13 moves, including the mount and dismount which must equal the difficulty of the entire routine. Quick and light grip exchanged from one bar to the other and with regrasps on the same bar must be shown. In addition work around both bars in both directions should be balanced. Movements passing through the inverted handstand position and movements of a twisting nature are valuable elements of difficulty. Only dismounts requiring a manual hand grasp are allowed.