Skills and Events

Learn the basic shapes, flips and skill names.

• Start hereArtistic Gymnastics Moves: A Beginner’s Guide by Event
• Is a Backflip or Frontflip Easier? A Complete Breakdown
• Reading Gymnastics Skill Names: What “Salto” Tells You
• Which is Best for Beginners: Frontflip, Backflip, or Sideflip?
• 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
• PlannedHow Gymnasts Put a Tumbling Pass Together

  See how gymnasts combine entries, connecting skills and finishes into one tumbling pass.

• PlannedWhy Do Gymnasts Add a Whip Between Flips?

  Recognize a whip salto and understand its place between other tumbling skills.

• PlannedHow to Spot a Double Back and Count Its Twists

  Learn what to watch when a double somersault also includes twists.

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
• PlannedHow to Tell Gymnastics Turns Apart

  Use body position and rotation to recognize turns on beam and floor.

• PlannedWhen Do Two Beam Skills Become a Series?

  Understand what connects two beam skills into a series.

• PlannedFront Aerial, Side Aerial or Side Somersault? Spot the Difference

  Compare direction, body position and hand support to distinguish these beam skills.

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)
• PlannedWhat Does a Cast Do in a Bars Routine?

  Understand why a gymnast pushes away from the bar before the next skill.

• PlannedHow Gymnasts Swing All the Way Around the Bar

  Recognize giant swings and how they fit into a bars routine.

• PlannedWhat Changes When a Gymnast Changes Grip?

  See how changing hand position changes the movement around a bar.

• PlannedFrom Flyaways to Double Flips: Uneven Bars Dismounts

  Recognize the shapes and rotations used to finish an uneven bars routine.

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
• What Makes Biles’ Yurchenko Double Pike Vault So Hard?
• Gymnastics Vault Families: The Five FIG Groups Explained
• PlannedYurchenko Full, Double or Amanar? Watch the Twists

  Count the twists to tell these related Yurchenko vaults apart.

• PlannedCheng vs. Amanar: How to Tell Them Apart

  Compare the entry and flight of the Cheng and Amanar.

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
• Watching Pommel Horse: Circles, Flairs and the Details That Change a Skill
• 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
• PlannedThe High Bar Release Moves Worth Knowing

  Recognize the main high bar release families and what sets them apart.

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
• The Hardest Apparatus in Gymnastics: Which One Challenges Athletes the Most?
• Which Gymnastics Event Is the Hardest? (WAG vs. MAG Breakdown)
• 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?

Practice the basics and see how judges credit a skill.

• Balance Beam Basics: 5 Essential Exercises for New Gymnasts
• 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?