Level 4 Gymnastics Bar Requirements

When a gymnast is performing their level 4 gymnastics bar routine they will only use one bar, the low bar. A gymnast may use a mat or a spring board to mount the bar; this must be removed as soon as the gymnast mounts. If the gymnastics mat or spring board is not removed the gymnast will receive a deduction from her gymnastics bar routine score.

MAIN LEVEL 4 GYMNASTICS BAR SKILLS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DEDUCTIONS!

*Glide Swing- Must take off with two feet and land with two feet. Must have great body extension. Hands must remain on the bar between the glide and pullover.

*Pullover-Must pull over with two feet. Do not jump, hop, or step into the pullover. Make sure the landing is in a front support with straight arms and a tight body.

*Front Hip Circle-Maintain a straight hollow body. Must connect a small cast while coming out of the front hip circle.

*Shoot Through (Single Leg Squat Through)-Leg /foot cannot contact or touch the bar when shooting through. Show a stride support at the end of the shoot through (hands are the only thing touching the bar).

*Mill Circle (Forward Stride Circle)-Must show clear stride support at the beginning and end (only thing touching the bar is your hands). Do not hook knee on the bar when doing this skill. Be sure to  flip your hands backwards before doing this gymnastics bar skill.

*Cut Back- Be sure to change your hand position before cutting back. Keep arms straight and end in an extended front support when cutting back.

*Cast- Keep proper body alignment. Maintain a hollow, straight body from shoulders to toes.

*Back Hip Circle- Keep a straight hollow body position while maintaining hip/thigh contact on the bar the entire time. Must connect the back hip circle and underswing dismount.

*Underswing Dismount-Once again, maintain a straight hollow body with straight arms and a great body extension with flight. Stick your landing!

A gymnastics bar routine should not be choppy but should show connections and fluidity throughout the entire routine. Each gymnastics bar skill should lead to the next without any breaks in rhythm.

Level 4 Gymnastics Beam Routine Requirements

Gymnastic beam is one of two events in gymnastics that are timed. A level 4 gymnastics beam routine time limit is 50 seconds. If a gymnast goes over her time she will receive a 0.10 deduction from her beam score. Based on the height of the beam and gymnast, a mat or spring board may be needed to mount the gymnastics beam. This is allowed as long as the extra mounting surface is removed as soon as the gymnast mounts. If it is not removed the gymnast will receive a deduction from her beam score.

LEVEL 4 GYMNASTICS BEAM- MAIN GYMNASTICS VAULT SKILLS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DEDUCTIONS!

*Leg Swing Mount-Must turn 180 degrees in a continuous motion ending in a straddle sit with correct body position

*V-Sit to Tuck Stand-must maintain a straight and hollow body position until both feet are above the beam. Once legs are above the beam pull them in to land in a tuck stand.

*Heal Snap Turn-When stepping in coupe you must remain on toe until foot arrives next to ankle. Once the foot arrives at ankle go flat then rise in releve to perform a heal snap turn. Once the turn is finished, immediately drop to a flat foot and pause.

*Leap-leg separation on the leap must be a minimum of 60 degrees. Must maintain straight legs and pointed toes throughout the leap and land in a low, paused, arabesque position

*Handstand-Handstand must be ¾ minimum. Be sure to lever in and out of the handstand while stretching out body and closing legs at the top. Hands must be side by side while in the handstand; they cannot be staged.

*½ Turn-Must complete a 180 degree turn on toe; show control before stepping out to finish.

*Straight Jump (Stretch Jump)-Push through toes to get great height while maintain a straight body and close feet together during the jump.

*Tuck Jump-Tuck must be a minimum of 90 degrees. Tuck must be tight and quick and must open before landing back on the beam

*Arabesque- Back leg must lift behind at a minimum of 45 degrees and must be held for at least 1 second.

*Scale- Back leg must lift a minimum of 90 degrees and be held for at least 2 seconds. The Gymnast must keep both legs locked out and chest up while performing both the scale and arabesque.

*Pivot Turn-Stay in full releve while completing a sharp and tight 180 degree turn.

*Dismount- Must maintain a straight tight body while doing a cartwheel to side handstand. Once at the top legs much touch together and be held for a minimum of 1 second. After being held, do a ¼ turn dismount. Body should remain straight from start to finish.

Gymnastics beam is all about balance. Make sure your routine is not lacking in connections and/or rhythm. Each gymnastics skill needs to lead into the next with grace and aggressiveness.

Level 4 Gymnastics Floor Requirements

USA Gymnastics has specific required routines for compulsory levels (gymnastics level 1 through level 6). USAG has precise guidelines, rules, time limits, and a code of points for each event. USA gymnastics level 4 floor routine has specific gymnastics skills that have required guidelines one must meet. If these guidelines are not met, the gymnast will receive deductions from their overall score.

LEVEL 4 GYMNASTICS FLOOR ROUTINE- MAIN GYMNASTICS FLOOR SKILLS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DEDUCTIONS!

*Split Jump- Leg separation in the split jump must have a minimum of 90 degrees.

*Handstand Straight Arm Forward Roll- when performing a handstand forward roll the gymnast must hit vertical with legs together and hold for a minimum of 1 second.

*Handstand Bridge Kick-Over- While doing a handstand bridge kick over, arms must remain straight and up at ears the entire time. When the gymnast hits the top of the handstand legs must me together before continuing into the bridge. When in the bridge you must shift shoulders over hands before kicking over. Make sure a minimum leg split of 120 degrees is achieved when kicking over. Show a levering action and obtain control throughout this gymnastics skill.

*Leap Step Hop- Push off with front leg when taking off for leap. Leap must have a minimum of a 90 degree split. Make sure legs swings forward to a minimum of horizontal on the hop.

*Split- Must be all the way down with straight legs.

*Straight Arm Backward Roll into Pushup- Hands must touch the ground before rolling backwards. While rolling, maintain straight arms and land in a push-up position.

*Coupe Half Turn- When turning one must complete 180 degrees turn while in releve (on toe) and coupe (your foot at your ankle). Show control throughout the entire turn.

*Round-off Back Handspring Rebound- When performing a round-off back handspring rebound the gymnast must show acceleration. Be sure the round-off passes through vertical and both feet land at the same time.

Legs must stay together throughout the back handspring and it must be landed with two feet. As soon as the back handspring is landed, immediately rebound , stick and control the landing.
Make sure you keep good fluidity and rhythm throughout the entire level 4 gymnastics floor routine.

Gymnastics Floor Exercise

In womens artistic gymnastics there are four apparatuses: gymnastics floor exercise, uneven bars, vault table, and balance beam.
Gymnastics floor exercise is one out of two events that are competed by both men and women. Out of all the events, floor exercise is favored by most. Floor takes a vast amount of strength, power, endurance, flexibility, grace, and gymnastics dance.

The floor exercise has springs underneath, for this reason many people refer to them as spring floors. The standard size for a spring floor is 12 meters by 12 meters. This size makes it a perfect square.

A spring floor is made out of tons of small springs that are covered by plywood, the plywood is covered by thick foam padding, and the foam padding is covered by carpet. The carpet has four taped lined along the outside, these are called the boundary lines. A gymnast must stay inside these lines when performing his/her routine. If a gymnast steps outside these lines they will receive a deduction.

Levels one through six all have the exact same choreographed gymnastics floor routine. Once a gymnast becomes a level seven they get to pick their very own floor music and have a gymnastics floor routine choreographed to fit her skills and style.

Floor Exercise is where the gymnasts get to express who they are as a gymnast. A gymnast expresses her character and ability through the tumbling, leaps, jumps, skill, turns, etc. she puts into her routine. Her personality also gets expressed though the music she chooses, and the type of gymnastics dance she selects and puts in her routine.

How to Select the Perfect Gymnastics Leotard!

Gymnastics leotards are so cute theses days compared to when I was a gymnast. Back then (only 10 years ago) there was one main style and all were solid colors, yuck! How boring is this?
Today’s gymnastics leotards are a totally different story. There is such a wide selection: sparkles, studs, rhinestones, shimmers, glitter, cutouts, crisscross, velour, lycra, high cut, low cut, embroidery, flowers, hearts, flames, razor back, metallic, long sleeved, three quarter sleeved, sleeveless, etc. Variety is the keyword for gymnastic leotards of the twenty-first century!

It is very hard to pick out the perfect leotard because of the great variety but variety is what makes it so much fun! Here are a few tips that will help you and your gymnast pick out the perfect gymnastics leotard specifically for her.

• MATERIAL- Make sure you select a material that your gymnast like the feel of, especially if they have sensitive skin. Many of my gymnasts are picky and if they select the wrong material they tend not to wear it because it is, “too itchy.”

• CUT- This is usually all about your gymnast preference, do they like high cut or lower cut styles around their legs?

• SLEEVE STYLE-Do they like sleeveless, three quarter sleeves, or long sleeves. Many people choose sleeveless because it much cooler when working out and doing gymnastics.

• CUTOUTS- These are cute, little holes that are cut out on the sides or in the back of a leotard. You and your gymnast have to decide if this is appropriate for her and if she would be comfortable in it.

• STRAPS- There is many different strap types. Gymnastics leotards now have spaghetti straps, crisscrossed, racer back, etc. Make sure you select one that is comfortable for your gymnast. If she wears a bra please select one that doesn’t show her straps or any part of her bra; this is extremely tacky.

• COLOR and DESIGN- First you must decide what style, cut, material, and straps, you want. Now comes the fun part! It is now time to select the color and design that you have been longing for!

Competition Gymnastics Leotards VS. Gymnastics Workout Leotards

One of the things a gymnast needs for gymnastics is a leotard; but not just any leotard, they needs to be a girls gymnastics leotards. Girls gymnastics leotards are much different then dance leotards. Gymnastics leotards are tight around the thighs which reduces wedgies. Dance leos are loose around the legs and are cut much higher which is not suitable for gymnastics.
Leotards for gymnastics have come a long way. Back in the day they were extremely plain and not very colorful; now days they are super cute. They come in all different colors, styles, patterns, materials, and designs.

There are two different types of gymnastics leos: workout and competition. A workout leotard is used only at gymnastics practice. They can consist of any color, cut, or style. Workout leotards are picked out and chosen by the gymnast based on their personal preference. Competition leotards are only used at gymnastics meets or gymnastics competitions. A Competition gymnastics leotard consists of the gymnast’s team colors and is more professional looking. They cannot contain holes in the back (cutouts), have crisscrossed straps, or be high cut. They have to have at least two inch straps but are usually long sleeved. A Competition gymnastics leotard is usually decided on by the gym owner, coaches, or the whole team.

When picking out competition leotards you must keep in mind to pick something that bra straps won’t hang out of. At gymnastics meets the gymnast can get a deduction if their straps (or any undergarments) are showing.