Skills & Events

Learn the basic shapes, flips and skill names.

• Start hereGymnastics Moves Library: Drawings, Steps and Levels
• Is a Backflip or Front Flip Easier? Front, Back and Side Flips Compared
• Reading Gymnastics Skill Names: What “Salto” Tells You
• What Is a Belly Beat in Gymnastics?
• Gymnastics Dismounts: Perfecting the Last Step of Your Routine
• What is a Straddle in Gymnastics?
• What Are the 3 Main Types of Splits in Gymnastics?

Recognize body shapes, rotations and tumbling combinations.

• Start hereFrom Rolls to Roundoffs: A Beginner’s Guide to Tumbling Skills
• Cartwheel vs. Roundoff: Why the Landing and Next Movement Differ
• Walkover, Handspring or Aerial? How to Tell Gymnastics Skills Apart
• Tuck, Pike and Layout: How to Recognize Gymnastics Body Shapes
• Flip or Twist? How to Tell Gymnastics Rotations Apart
• The Hardest Women’s Floor Skills: Biles II, Moors and the H-Rated Contenders
• How Gymnastics Floor Music Works: Compulsory, Optional and Elite
• Women’s Floor Exercise Explained: Tumbling, Dance and How the Routine Fits Together
• 10 Best Upbeat & Sassy Gymnastics Floor Music Ideas for 2026
• How to Make Your Own Gymnastics Floor Music from Scratch
• Planning a Floor-Music Timeline: Match the Cues to the Routine
• Gymnastics Floor Music Showdown: Best Websites Ranked (2026)
• Compulsory Floor Music for USAG Levels 1–5: Finding and Using the Official Tracks
• Choosing Floor Music for Optional Gymnastics: From Shortlist to Meet Day
• The Pike Position in Gymnastics: Recognizing the Shape Beyond Straight Legs
• What Makes a Gymnastics Skill a Layout? Reading the Stretched Shape
• What Is a Full-Twisting Back Layout? Shape, Rotation and Skill Credit
• Half, Full and Double: How to Read Gymnastics Twist Names
• What Music Adds to Women’s Floor Exercise

Follow the balances, dance, acrobatics and dismounts.

• Start hereBalance Beam Skills: What to Watch from Mount to Dismount
• Dance Skills in Gymnastics: Leaps, Turns and the Movements Between Them
• The Wolf Turn in Gymnastics: What Makes It So Special?
• Beam Mounts Explained: Entry Types, Difficulty and Routine Choices
• Seven Difficult Beam Skills Compared: Mounts, Acrobatics and Dismounts

Get to know swings, circles, releases and transitions.

• Start hereHow to Follow an Uneven Bars Routine
• How to Recognize Uneven-Bars Transitions
• Tkatchev, Jaeger and Gienger: A Guide to Recognizing Bar Releases
• 7 Basic Uneven Bars Skills for Beginners
• A Comprehensive Guide to Bar Circles in Gymnastics
• Uneven Bars Release Moves: Names, Types and Examples
• The 8 Most Difficult Uneven Bars Skills (2025–2028 Code of Points)

Start with the entry and compare vault families.

• Start hereGymnastics Vaults: How to Recognize the Names and Families
• The Basics of Gymnastics Vault: How Beginners Get Started
• Tsukahara vs. Yurchenko: How to Recognize the Entry and the Complete Vault
• The Hardest Vaults Ever Performed in Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics
• Yurchenko Double Pike: Simone Biles’ Record-Breaking Vault
• Gymnastics Vault Families: The Five FIG Groups Explained

Learn what to watch on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, high bar and men’s floor.

• Start herePommel Horse for New Fans: Circles, Scissors and Travels
• Start hereStill Rings Skills: Holds, Swings and Dismounts to Recognize
• Start hereHow to Follow a High Bar Routine
• Start hereWhat to Watch in a Parallel Bars Routine
• Learning Circles and Flairs: How Coaches Build Pommel-Horse Progress
• Mushroom vs. Pommel Trainer vs. Full Horse: When to Progress
• Men’s Floor Exercise Explained: Tumbling, Transitions and the 2025–2028 Rules
• Four Core Turning Skills on the Mushroom (Pommel Horse Basics)
• Why Still Rings Demand So Much Strength—and More Than Strength Alone
• Reading Difficult Men’s Floor Skills: Five Examples Beyond the Twist Count
• Classic Still Rings Positions Explained (Beginner to Advanced)
• Magyar and Sivado Explained: How Pommel-Horse Travels Work
• Iron Cross vs. Maltese: Body Position, Difficulty and Training Demands

See what the events share and where men’s and women’s gymnastics differ.

• Start hereMen’s and Women’s Gymnastics Events: What They Share and Why They Differ
• The Hardest Gymnastics Routines: Women’s vs. Men’s Events
• Men’s vs. Women’s Floor Exercise: Key Differences Explained
• Uneven Bars vs. High Bar: Equipment, Skills and Routines Compared
• Men’s and Women’s Vault Compared: Height, Skills and Scoring
• Pommel Horse vs. Rings: How These Men’s Gymnastics Events Differ

Meet the skills named after gymnasts, the ones that were banned and the hardest in the Code of Points.

• Start hereHow Do Gymnasts Get a Move Named After Them?
• The Most Difficult Gymnastics Moves in MAG and WAG (2025–2028 Code)
• Banned Gymnastics Moves: What’s Really Banned, and What Just Disappeared
• Simone Biles’ Signature Moves and Other Famous Skills Named After Gymnasts
• What is the Biles II Move?
• What Is the Thomas Salto, and Why Is It Banned?
• What Is The Dead Loop In Gymnastics And Why Is It Banned?
• The New Skills Submitted at the 2026 Gymnastics Worlds

Practice the basics and see how judges credit a skill.

• Balance Beam Exercises for Beginners: Walks, Balances, Jumps and Turns
• Learning to Walk on a Balance Beam: Foot Placement, Pace and Control
• Learning a Kip on Bars: Timing, Drill Purpose and Signs of Progress
• 5 Essential Bar Exercises for Gymnastics Beginners
• How Gymnastics Judges Decide Whether a Skill Gets Credit
• Gymnastics and Dance: Which Skills Transfer—and Which Need New Coaching?