A Wise Athlete Sport and education. Both.
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A park or a ground with a grown-up

Gymnastics at home

A soft mat or carpet and a grown-up for shapes, balances, rolls and landings; vault, bars, beam, trampoline and anything upside down at a club.

7 cards at home 1 for a park or court 5 for the club

What should we practise today?

Tell us where you are and who is playing. You get one card and the reason.

Where are you?
Who is playing?

Start a session

New to gymnastics? The game in a minute

Read this once before the first card.
The sport in short

Gymnasts perform short routines of jumps, balances, turns, rolls and swings that show strength, balance and control. In artistic gymnastics women compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor, and men on the floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar. Rhythmic gymnasts perform to music with a hoop, ball, ribbon, clubs or rope. Trampoline is a gymnastics sport too.

How a routine is scored

Judges give two marks: one for how hard the skills are (difficulty), and one out of 10 for how well they are done (execution). Bent legs, wobbles, steps on landing and falls take marks off. The highest total wins.

Rules children break first
  • No handstands, headstands or flips at home without a coach.
  • Never on a home trampoline.
  • Land with bent knees, and tuck the chin in every roll.
  • The head is never used to hold a balance at home.
  • A child may always say "no" to trying something.
At home you stay low and soft

Shapes and balances, jumping and quiet landings, rolls, falling safely, apparatus play with a hoop, ball and ribbon, partner balances and short sequences, all on a mat or carpet. Anything upside down, in the air or on apparatus is at a club.

Words you will hear (25, in plain language)
Shapes
Body shapes. Tuck: knees hugged to the chest. Pike: legs straight, folded at the hips. Straddle: legs straight and wide apart. Star: arms and legs spread wide. Straight: the body long and tight.
Pointed toes
Toes stretched away from the body, as gymnasts hold them.
Body tension
Squeezing the whole body firm so it holds a shape.
Balance
Holding the body still on a small base, such as one foot.
Long sit
Sitting on the floor with the legs straight out in front.
Squat
Crouching with the knees bent and the bottom near the heels.
Pencil roll
Sideways rolls. Pencil: long and straight. Egg: tucked tight. Teddy bear: sitting in a straddle, rolling round across the back to sit up again.
Forward roll
Rolling head over heels forward, or backward, with the chin tucked.
Cartwheel
A sideways move from hands to feet, like a turning wheel: hand, hand, foot, foot.
Round-off
A cartwheel that lands with both feet together facing back the way you came.
Handstand
Balancing upside down on the hands, or on the head and hands. Club only.
Spotter
A trained adult who stands close and supports or guides a gymnast through a skill.
Quarter turn
Turning a quarter, half or whole way round in a jump.
Counter balance
Two partners pushing toward each other (counter balance) or pulling away while holding hands (counter tension) to balance together.
Base
In a partner balance, the base holds the weight and the top is supported.
Sequence
Moves joined together without stopping, with a start and a held finish.
Unison
Doing a sequence at the same time as others, or one after another.
Apparatus
The equipment gymnasts use: vault, bars, beam, rings, a hoop, a ribbon.
Vault
Artistic apparatus. Vault: running and springing over a padded table. Bars: swinging on high bars. Beam: a balance beam 10 cm wide. Floor: a sprung square for tumbling and dance.
Rhythmic gymnastics
Routines to music with a hoop, ball, ribbon, clubs or rope.
Trampoline bed
The bed is the stretchy middle you bounce on; the frame and springs are round the edge.
Seat landing
Landing on the trampoline bed sitting, lying face down, or on the back.
Inversion
Being upside down, and being in the air without touching anything.
Code of points
The rule book that says how much each skill is worth.
Wheelbarrow walk
Walking on the hands while a partner holds the legs.

Try it, nothing to buy

Mark the space once. Every card starts from it.
A suggested first ten sessions (optional)
  1. b1 · Shapes and balances
  2. b2 · Jump and land softly
  3. b3 · Rolls: pencil, egg, teddy bear
  4. b4 · Forward roll with support
  5. b5 · Falling safely: back and side
  6. b6 · Hoop, ball and ribbon play
  7. b7 · Partner balances

The cards, level by level

Nobody is late. A beginner of any age starts at Basic.
Basic 7 cards · show· hide Body shapes, balance, jumping and soft landings, rolls, and simple sequences, with fun and no formal competition. Keep it to a few hours a week alongside other sports.

Move on when the child meets the self-checks on b1 to b5 (b6 and b7 are extra paths, not gates).

Intermediate 4 cards · show· hide Specialising in a discipline, with physical preparation, the handstand and cartwheel family, backward roll, round-off, vault and beam basics. Around 9 to 12 is an important time for skill learning; watch flexibility through the growth spurt. This is a CLUB level for most skills.

Move on when the coach confirms clean, consistent skills and routines.

Advanced 2 cards · show· hide High-difficulty skills, flight elements, release moves on bars, tumbling passes, routines built for the code of points, load management and wellbeing. Age counts by body development, not the birthday, and education comes before competition goals.

Teaching this at home

More space and a second person. A grown-up can run every card.

You do not need to know the sport. Each card tells you where to stand, what to say and what to look at. Pick one thing to say in a session and say only that. The first week looks messy; that is normal. End every session on one that works.

Cards marked At a club are taught by a coach. They tell you what the coach teaches, what is safe at home, and what to ask the club before your child joins.

How to warm up before playing is at workonfitness.com. The rules of the game are at sportsmaze.com.

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