Beginner Gymnastics Skills

It is a well-documented fact that children benefit from participating in sports for a variety of reasons. Signing your child up for a gymnastics program is a particularly valuable option when it comes to organized sports. Gymnastics is such a great choice because it packs so many benefits into one activity: physical exercise, mental stimulation, social engagement, team building, and more. While most sports allow the opportunity for physical activity, this discipline incorporates strength, balance, speed, coordination, and flexibility.

As you can see, recreational gymnastics benefits the overall development of your child and can help prepare them to be both active and more confident as they grow. It’s important to tackle some basic skills in gymnastics before moving onto more advanced movements. Soon, your little gymnast will be conquering amazing feats and shining like a star.

Essential Skills for Beginner Gymnastics

Splits

Splits are a demanding exercise to learn and they definitely require patience. This level of flexibility usually cannot be achieved overnight. Advanced versions include the front and side- splits. Gymnastics focusses on strengthening and stretching adductors, hip flexors, hamstring, glutes, and groin muscles in order to reach this goal.

Forward Roll

Forward rolls are one of the most fundamental gymnastics skills. You can practice on a mat or use the front roll technique. It’s recommended to practice by breaking the movement into smaller steps until you gain confidence in the complete movement. This motion can also be an important skill to have in your repertoire of muscle memory as a fall from a head or handstand can swiftly be transitioned into a forward roll to mitigate the chance of injury.

Cartwheel

Learning cartwheels is tricky but is a must-learn for a gymnast. Learning this move does require a certain amount of strength and balance. However, once the motions are mastered, it will become second-nature.

Back Roll

It is best to master the front roll before progressing onto our next move. The safest method to introduce this move is to do so slowly and gradually. Learning the technique properly is straightforward, but it requires patience and practice.

Handstand

Handstands are essential and impressive gymnastics skills. They help to build the type of balance and strength that helps in maneuvering for all sorts of other gymnastic feats.

Headstand

A Headstand is definitely a physical challenge. While it is pretty fun, it also requires the full body to work and builds up stabilizing muscles. Initially, practice using a chair and practice until you can display proper form independently.

Backbend

The backbend is a graceful and fun move stretching your back and chest. Begin with simple stretches and practice bridging. Initially, you can back-bend on the wall and over time you can foster the flexibility to complete the move without additional support.

Candlestick

The candlestick is probably the most fundamental skill for beginner gymnastics. It keeps the body in a line. Practicing the position of the candlestick will develop body awareness, core strength, and control translating into movements such as pull-ups, muscle-up, and toes-to-bar.

Pullover

Being able to complete a pullover on bars in gymnastics is imperative. As you start with training, it depends on how you mount the bar and perform the pullover move. In advanced gymnastics, tougher mounts are used.

Split Leap

A split leap in gymnastics is an important skill. The initial step is learning a perfect split leap. It helps in mastering split jumps so that it looks like you are in mid-air.