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Informative Essay On Artistic Gymnastics

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Have you ever wanted to feel like you are flying? Artistic gymnastics is a good sport to take part in because it improves your strength, flexibility, coordination and balance, gives you the chance to build great relationships with others, and you will often experience the feeling of flying.There are five types of gymnastics, artistic, rhythmic, acrobatic, trampoline and tumbling, and aerobic, but artistic is the most popular. A gymnast will be taught a variety of skills from a kip on the uneven bars to a Yurchenko on vault. Artistic gymnastics can often be thought of as an individual sport because gymnasts win individual awards and perform routines alone, but it is a team sport. Similar to most other team sports, men and women do …show more content…

The floor exercise is performed on a thirty nine by thirty nine foot spring floor. Gymnasts perform to music, but incur deductions if the music has lyrics. The vault is a four by three foot table, that is four feet high. The vaulting table is a flat, cushioned surface that slopes down at the end closest to the springboard. The runway is the padded,115 by three foot area before the vaulting table. A balance beam is a sixteen foot long by four inch wide beam covered with leather or suede and is raised four feet off the floor. The beam can range from eight to sixteen feet long but the standard olympic length is sixteen feet. There are also low beams and floor beams, which are only used to practice and learn new skills. The uneven bars have a steel frame with wood coated fibreglass bars. Upper bars or high bars are 8.2 feet high and the lower bars are 5.6 feet high. The distance between the two bars depends on the height of the gymnast. A single high bar is used for practice because it is easier for the coach spot or help the gymnast. The uniform for gymnasts is a leotard, either long sleeve or sleeveless, and spandex shorts or leggings can be worn over top during practice. Gymnasts use grips on the uneven bars to increase their grip on the bar and protect their hands from rips. Chalk is also used to increase the grip and allow the gymnast to perform their skills …show more content…

The current format for an artistic gymnastics team is four-three-three, which means there are four gymnasts on the team, only three compete in each event and only those three scores count. In the team finals, gymnasts compete with their team and perform in all four events. Being part of a team is very important to the mental side of gymnastics. During competitions, a gymnast will always have her team with her to cheer her on. Having positive reinforcements from team members will improve the gymnasts overall performance. If a gymnast is becoming discouraged while trying to get a new skill, words of encouragement for teammates can make it easier for the gymnast to achieve the skills. Another relationship in a gymnastics atmosphere is rivals. A gymnast will almost always have a rival during , whether this it be a single person or an entire club. Gymnasts also usually have a great relationship with their coach, especially if they have been coached by the same person for years. Having strong bonds with teammates and coaches really benefits the total performance of a gymnast, in all

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