AY Honors/Tumbling & Balancing/Answer Key

1. List safety precautions each performer and spotter should follow.

First, always assist the beginner through the exercise the first few times and gradually reduce the physical contact as he improves. The in­structor must guide the performer so that he will be sure to get the feeling of the whole performance from the beginning. Second, spotting is very much a matter of handling weights. Weights are always lifted with the big leg muscles, not with the arms or back. When a man lifts or catches a weight, he gets under it. In tum­bling, this means that the assistant or "spotter" must keep close to his man, get under his elbows in somersaults, and always be near enough to anticipate and prevent falls. Spotting at arm's length cannot be effective.

1. Consider the performer as well as the exercise. Has he the right mental attitude for the stunt? Has he the proper physical development? Has he completed the preliminary work? Is he sick or tired today?
2. The confidence of the performer should be developed in him­ self and in the safety man. The instructor should personally initiate the timid beginner into the fundamentals of tum­bling. Use none but dependable bottom men, and once they are picked, they should seldom be changed.
3. The performer should be taught never to try new stunts until he has completed the preliminary work and has been passed by the instructor.
4. The attention of the performer should always be kept away from the dangers of an exercise. He should be allowed to think only of the fundamentals for proper execution. Fear causes tension and distracts from the ability to concentrate on fundamentals.
5. The springboard is dangerous and its use should be per­mitted only under the closest supervision of an experienced instructor.

2. Describe the basic positions:

a. Tuck

In a tuck a gymnast is bend at the hips and the knees. Sit on the floor with your legs in front of you. Bend your knees so that your knees are touching your chest and your feet are "tucked" in close to your body. A variation on the tuck is called a "cowboy" tuck in which the gymnast pulls their knees out to the side somewhat in order to compress the tuck further. This enables faster rotation.

b. Pike

In a pike a gymnast is bent only at the hips. Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Pikes of varying degrees including where a gymnast is essentially folded in half at their hips are used in gymnastics.

c. Lay-out

In a layout a gymnast is not bent at the hips nor the legs. A layout is the term used for a rotating skill in which the gymnasts body is essentially straight. A layout can be performed either hollow or arched.

d. Hyper-extension (arch)

In an arch a gymnasts hips are pushed forward, chest is open. Lie on your stomach with your arms by your ears. Lift your heels while keeping your legs straight, and lift your arms while keeping your arms straight.

f. Straddle

In a straddle a gymnasts legs are separated with neither leg being forward or backward of the other. A straddled pike is a straddle in which the hips are closed or "piked" to some degree.

4. Perform with form and poise any six of the following stunts with a partner:

c. Knee-shoulder balance

Have base lie back with legs bent. Have flyer straddle, putting their hands on the base's knees. Have the base put his hands on the fliers shoulders. Have the flyer go into a headstand/handstand position.