Gymnastics Vault Basics: Equipment, Phases and Your First Lessons
A first gymnastics vault lesson does not have to end with a flip over a table. Beginners may work on a run, a jump from a springboard, a landing or a handstand shape on a mat stack. These smaller tasks help a coach see how a gymnast moves before combining the parts.
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On a full table vault, the gymnast approaches along a runway, takes off from a springboard, places the hands on the table and leaves it to land on mats. Vault is one of four events in women’s artistic gymnastics and one of six in men’s. The beginner equipment and exercises can look quite different from the Olympic version.
This guide explains what you are seeing in a supervised class. It is not a sequence for building a vault station or teaching yourself an inverted vault at home.
What Each Piece of Vault Equipment Does
| Equipment | Its job | What a beginner should know |
|---|---|---|
| Runway | Provides the approach to the board. | The coach chooses a starting point for the task. A longer run is not automatically a better one. |
| Springboard | Compresses and rebounds under the gymnast’s feet. | It is a takeoff surface. The board and its position are part of the coach’s setup. |
| Vault table | Provides the hand-support surface between the two flight phases. | Many early exercises use a different surface before a gymnast vaults over the table. |
| Mat stack or training block | Provides the surface needed for a particular teaching exercise or beginner competition vault. | A deliberate flat-back finish on a mat stack is different from a feet-first table-vault landing. |
| Landing mats | Provide the designated landing area. | Mat type, position and condition matter. Padding does not make an unsuitable skill risk-free. |
| Hand mat and safety collar | Serve different roles around a roundoff-entry setup. | The hand mat is in front of the board; the padded collar surrounds the board. |
The last distinction is easy to miss on television. During a Yurchenko-style entry, the roundoff hands contact the runway or designated hand mat. The feet then contact the springboard, and the hands next contact the table. The safety collar is not the intended hand-placement surface.
For competition measurements and the differences between programs, use our vault equipment guide. An elite table height is not an instruction for setting up a child’s first lesson.
The Phases of a Table Vault, in Plain English
The movement happens quickly, but separating the contacts makes it easier to follow. The approach and landing surround two airborne phases with a brief hand contact in the middle.
| Phase | What happens | A useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Approach and board contact | The gymnast runs into the entry and reaches the springboard with the feet. | The hurdle or roundoff before the board is separate from the board takeoff. |
| First flight | The gymnast travels from the board to the table. | Different vault families use different entries and turns here. |
| Support and repulsion | The hands contact the table and the gymnast leaves it. | Coaches often call the repulsion a block. |
| Second flight | The gymnast travels from the table toward the landing. | A handspring vault need not add a separate somersault; advanced vaults may include saltos and twists. |
| Landing | The gymnast finishes on the landing surface. | The intended finish depends on the vault or exercise being performed. |
A salto is an airborne somersault. A twist turns the gymnast around the head-to-foot axis. Neither is required simply for an activity to count as beginner vault training.
For recognizing full vaults in a meet, see vault names and families. The table above explains the event’s structure; it is not a list of technique cues to execute at speed.
What Beginners May Work on in a Lesson
A coach can separate the approach, board contact, body shapes and finish instead of asking a new gymnast to solve them all at once. One station might emphasize a controlled approach; another might focus on the shape of a jump or the finish on a mat. The equipment changes with the exercise and the gymnast.
That explains why two children in the same class may have different starting marks or work on different stations. Readiness includes more than enthusiasm or the ability to run fast. A coach needs to see the movement, the gymnast’s understanding of the task and how consistently it can be repeated in that setup.
In some early women’s competition vaults, the gymnast passes through a handstand shape and finishes lying on the back on a mat stack. This is often called a handstand flat-back. It is a complete task with its own requirements, not a failed attempt to land a table vault.
Watch National NAWGJ’s “Level 2 Vault 2022” on YouTube. In the first example, around 0:08–0:16, look at the springboard and mat stack, then the intentional flat-back finish. This is historical judging footage, useful for recognizing the setup rather than copying a training progression or learning today’s deductions.
For the current compulsory competition tasks, our USAG Levels 1–5 vault requirements separates the levels. Boys’ programs have their own pathway, covered in how boys learn vault. A class name such as “beginner” does not identify a single national competition level.
What to Notice When Watching a Lesson
Look for a clear task rather than the biggest vault. A gymnast should know where to start, what surface to contact, how the exercise finishes and where to go afterward. Small improvements in those details can matter before a more advanced skill appears.
| What you notice | A useful question for the coach |
|---|---|
| The gymnast slows down or changes steps near the board. | “What rhythm or starting point are you working toward in this exercise?” |
| Different mat heights are used. | “What part of the vault does this setup help teach?” |
| The gymnast repeats a shape instead of going over the table. | “What would show that this part is ready to combine with the next?” |
| A landing looks different from the one on television. | “What is the intended finish for this task?” |
A single visible error does not reveal its cause. Bent arms, a changed run or an awkward landing can have different explanations. Changing the board distance, adding speed or raising mats without that assessment can create a different problem. Let the coach make equipment and progression changes.
How Judging Differs From Learning
In competition, judges assess the vault allowed by that program and how it was performed. Depending on the rules, they may consider body position, hand support, flight and the finish. A tidy landing is only one part of the result.
International elite scores separate difficulty from execution. Many U.S. developmental and college formats use a maximum starting score, called a Start Value, with deductions taken away. Our comparison of vault scoring systems explains why scores from those meets should not be read as interchangeable.
In lessons, progress may show up before a score does: understanding the task, repeating a consistent approach, holding the intended shape or finishing where the exercise requires. There is no universal number of lessons after which every beginner should move to a handspring or a roundoff-entry vault.
Final Takeaway
Beginner vault is about learning connected parts with appropriate equipment: approach, board contact, support, flight and finish. A springboard-and-mat-stack exercise can be meaningful progress even when the gymnast is nowhere near an Olympic vault. Understand the task, keep the equipment under the coach’s control and use the correct program’s rules when discussing competition.
Main Sources
- World Gymnastics, Women’s Code of Points 2025–2028, Section 10: vault phases and evaluation.
- USA Gymnastics, 2024 Winter Cup technical information: separate identification of the roundoff hand mat and safety collar. Used for equipment terminology, not current competition deductions.
- National NAWGJ, Level 2 Vault 2022: historical visual example of a mat-stack vault.