Women's Gymnastics

If your athlete has previously competed in gymnastics or has been training with a pre-competition team, trying out for our team would be a great step. Our gym trains and competes athletes in USAG XCEL for the lower levels then we switch to the USAG Jr Olympic track as they approach the higher levels. We believe that beginning as an XCEL athlete is a great introduction to the competition world. The XCEL track is more flexible in rules and, from the very beginner level (bronze), allows the competitor the flexibility and freedom to express their strengths and creativity in their routines. Throughout their training, these athletes will learn the discipline and structure of gymnastics to help prepare them for the upper level Jr Olympic competitive track.   

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Gymnastics is unique in that it is both an individual and team sport where individual scores are used to rank the individual gymnasts but the highest scores on each event are totaled to rank teams against each one another. 

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Women's artistic gymnastics is a challenging sport that requires strength, flexibility, agility, and technical precision. Gymnasts perform exercises on four apparatuses: the uneven bars, balance beam, vault, and floor exercise.

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Vault
Gymnasts perform complicated vaults in different body positions, such as tucked, piked or stretched. The best vaulters are explosive off the springboard, as well as when pushing off the table.

Judges watch for proper body alignment, form, quick repulsion, the height and distance traveled, as well as the number of flips and twists. Generally, the more flips and twists, the higher the difficulty value of the vault. In addition, gymnasts should "stick" their landings by taking no extra steps.

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Uneven Bars
Often a crowd favorite, the uneven bars demand excellent upper-body strength, split-second timing and an aggressive approach.

The entire routine should flow from one movement to the next without pauses, extra swings or additional supports. The most daring parts of the routine are often in the high-flying release moves and dismounts. Release moves can go from low bar to high bar, from high bar to low bar, or from releasing one bar and regrasping the same bar. Many gymnasts also use pirouetting into release moves to earn a high difficulty value. Exact handstand positions are expected with large deductions for even minor deviations.

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Balance Beam
Just four inches wide, the balance beam challenges gymnasts because they must execute routines that give the impression that they are performing on the floor. The world's best seem to "attack" the beam and are very confident while demonstrating excellent height, flexibility and power.

The beam routine must cover the entire length of the beam. Gymnasts must use acrobatic and dance movements to create high points or peaks in the exercise, consisting of two or more elements performed in a series.

Depending on level, gymnasts also complete several requirements other than the acrobatic and gymnastics series. For example, she must complete a turn of at least 360 degrees on one foot and she also must perform a leap or jump with 180 degrees forward split of the legs. If a gymnast does not successfully complete one of the several requirements, a deduction is taken.

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Floor Exercise
The floor exercise gives gymnasts the chance to express their personalities through their music choice and choreography. Gymnasts often get energy from the crowd and they usually welcome audience participation in clapping to the beat. Throughout the routine, the gymnast must harmoniously blend dance elements and tumbling while making versatile use of floor space, changing both the direction and level of movement.

The quality of grace may be disguised by movements of playful theatrics, but look for a dancer-like command of music, rhythm and space. The gymnastics elements should flow freely into each other while the leaps cover impressive distances and the pirouettes and turns add excitement to the routine.

The floor routine is choreographed to music, lasting no more than 90 seconds and covering the entire floor area. There are several special requirements, such as leaps and turns, and the trend is to have four tumbling passes.