Tumbling (sport): Difference between revisions

{{short description|Tumbling Gymnastics discipline}}

| IWGA = [[1981 World Games|1981]] – present

'''Tumbling''', sometimes referred to as '''power tumbling''', is a [[gymnastics]] discipline in which participants perform a series of acrobatic skills down a {{convert|25|m|ft}} long [[Sprung floor|sprung track]]. Each series, known as a pass, comprises eight elements in which the athlete jumps, twists and flips placing only their hands and feet on the track. Tumblers are judged on the difficulty and form of their routine. There are both individual and team competitions in the sport.<ref name="FIG Code of Points">{{cite book |last1=Grandi |first1=Bruno |last2=Gueisbuhler |first2=André F. |last3=Kunze |first3=Horst |publication-date=2017-11-01 |title=FIG Code of Points - Trampoline Gymnastics |volume=2017—2020 |section=Tumbling |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_TRA%20CoP%202017-2020.pdf |page=19}}</ref>

''Tumbling'' can also refer more generally to similar acrobatic skills performed on their own or in other gymnastics events, such as in [[floor exercise|floor exercises]]s or on the [[balance beam]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/sports/tumbling-acrobatics |title=Tumbling |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2015-01-28 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. |access-date=2020-01-11}}</ref>

Tumbling is governed by the FIG, the [[International Federation of Gymnastics]], and is included as an event within [[trampoline gymnastics]]. Although tumbling is not currently an [[Olympics|Olympic]] event, elite tumblers competing at the international level can compete in various events organised by the FIG, continental confederations as well as at the [[European Games]] and [[World Games]].

While the origins of tumbling are unknown, ancient records have shown acts of tumbling in many parts of the world including [[China]], [[India]], [[Japan]], [[Egypt]] and [[Iran]]. Tumbling became part of the educational system of [[ancient Greece]], from which early Romans borrowed the exercise for use in military training.<ref name="Carter">{{cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Ernestine |last2=Orlofsky |first2=Fred |publisher=Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc. |publication-date=1971 |publication-place=Belmont, California |title=Beginning Tumbling and Floor Exercise |year=1971 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780534006464 |url-access=registration |chapter=History |isbn=9780534006464}}</ref>{{rp|2}} During the [[Middle Ages]], [[minstrel|minstrels]]s incorporated tumbling into their performances, and multiple records show tumblers performed for royal courts for entertainment.<ref name="Goodbody">{{cite book |last=Goodbody |first=John |publisher=Hutchinson Publishing Group |publication-date=1982 |publication-place=London |title=The Illustrated History of Gymnastics |chapter=The Early Days (to 1896) |year=1982 |isbn=0091433509 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto0000good }}</ref>{{rp|12}} It is at the end of this period in 1303 that the verb ''tumble'' is first attested in this sense in English.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/207350 |title=tumble, v. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=December 2019 |website=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=2020-01-11}}</ref> There was renewed interest in formalised physical education during the [[Renaissance]], and shortly thereafter gymnastics began to be introduced into some physical education programmes, such as in [[Prussia]] as early as 1776.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Loken |first1=Newton C. |last2=Willoughby |first2=Robert J. |publisher=Prentice-Hall, Inc. |publication-date=1977 |publication-place=Englewood Cliffs, N.J. |title=Complete Book of Gymnastics |chapter=History and Values of Gymnastics |year=1977 |edition=3rd |isbn=0-13-157172-9 |page=2}}</ref> The FIG was officially formed in 1881, then known as the European Gymnastics Federation.<ref name="Goodbody" />{{rp|18}} Tumbling, however, was not governed by the FIG until 1999. Before this time, the [[International Trampoline Federation]] governed the sport since its founding in 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/pages/disciplines/hist-tra.php |title=Trampoline Gymnastics: History |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique |access-date=2020-01-11}}</ref> National federations have even longer histories, such as the [[Amateur Athletic Union of the United States]] which included tumbling in events as early as 1886.<ref name="Carter" />{{rp|3}}

The [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] previously included tumbling as an event, but removed it in 1962 to emphasise [[artistic gymnastics]].<ref name="Carter" />{{rp|3}} More recently in 2019 the NCAA recommended ''acrobatics and tumbling'' be added as a sport to the [[NCAA Emerging Sports for Women|Emerging Sports for Women programmeprogram]].,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/acrobatics-and-tumbling-women-s-wrestling-get-backing-join-ncaa-emerging-sports |title=Acrobatics and Tumbling, Women’sWomen's Wrestling Get Backing to Join NCAA Emerging Sports |author=Gail Dent |date=2019-06-03 |website=NCAA.org |access-date=2020-01-11}}</ref> and this addition became official in the 2020–21 school year.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/acrobatics-and-tumbling-women-s-wrestling-added-ncaa-emerging-sports-women-program |title=Acrobatics and tumbling, women's wrestling added to NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program |publisher=NCAA |date=June 17, 2020 |accessdate=June 23, 2020}}</ref>

Tumbling competitions consist of two rounds. The first of these is a qualifying round for all participants, and the second is the final round for the top eight participants or teams. In the qualifying round, every participant performs two passes. In the final round, individual competitors perform an additional two passes while teams perform one pass per member. Each pass comprises eight elements. The first element of a pass may begin on the run-up but must land on the tumbling track. Passes are only allowed to move in the direction of the landing area, with the exception of the final element which may be performed in the opposite direction. A pass must have at least 3 elements to be scored and can be considered interrupted for a variety of reasons, such as the gymnast being out of bounds, the spotter touching the gymnast or a fall during the pass. All passes must end with a [[somersault]], meaning the gymnast must flip at least once in the final skill.<ref name="FIG Code of Points" />{{rp|19-2319–23}}

In each round, a participant is not allowed to repeat the same element, with some exceptions. Some common moves with low point value are excluded from this rule. Elements can differ by the number of somersaults, twists or even the position of the gymnast's body. The same element may be repeated if it is preceded by a different element, and a skill with at least two somersaults and a twist may be repeated if the twist happens in a different phase of the skill.<ref name="FIG Code of Points" />{{rp|19-2219–22}} For instance, a double somersault with a twist may be repeated if the twist happens during the first somersault in one element and during the second somersault in the other.

Federations are allowed to add requirements to the passes in the qualifying round or even make a particular pass required. At FIG events special requirements are placed on the qualifying passes such that the first pass does not award any difficulty points for twists greater than a half-twist and the second does not award difficulty points for the final element if it does not include at least a full twist and deducts points for not including two somersault skills with at least a full twist each thereby focusing the first pass on somersaults and the second on twisting. As a result, these passes are respectively known as the salto pass and twisting pass.<ref name="FIG Code of Points" />{{rp|19-2019–20}}

Tumbling passes are judged on two major components: difficulty and execution. Both are calculated to the tenth of a point. Scores are determined by a panel of eight judges. There are twoTwo judges who are responsible for the difficulty score,. fiveFive are responsible for the execution score. andAnd one who oversees the panel and handles miscellaneous andor contested judging issues regarding judging.<ref name="FIG Code of Points" />{{rp|23-2523–25}}

Difficulty judges are given competition cards before the gymnast performs this pass. These cards lay out the intended skills of the pass, and these judges are responsible for deducting points when the gymnast fails to perform the intended skills. Each skill has a pre-defined point value. Common connecting skills such as [[roundoff|round-offs]] and [[handspring (gymnastics)|handsprings]] have low difficulty values, and [[cartwheel (gymnastics)|cartwheels]] have no value at all. Somersaults are given difficulty points based on how many flips and twists the gymnast performs and the position of their body during the skill.<ref name="FIG Code of Points" />{{rp|21-2421–24}}

Difficulty scores are consistent throughout all types of competitions with two exceptions. In youth competitions, skills have a maximum difficulty score of 4.3. In women's competitions, there is a 1.0-point bonus for each additional element with a difficulty value of at least 2.0 beyond the first.<ref name="FIG Code of Points" />{{rp|23-2423–24}}

The gymnast's final score comes from adding the 3 execution scores and the difficulty score and subtracting any penalties incurred for things such as improper dress, improper procedure or an improper pass. Final scores are rounded to three decimal places. <ref name="FIG Code of Points" />{{rp|20-2520–25}}

|+Common Typestypes of Skillsskills in Tumblingtumbling

|End Skillskill

|The skill competed at the end of the run,; this is either a double/triple somersault, a twisting somersault or a combination somersault.

| Double Somersaultsomersault

|Triple Somersaultsomersault

|The gymnastsgymnast launches into the air and rotates three times vertically before landing on their feet. This skill is done in a tuck or pike position and has yet to be competed in the straight position.

| Twisting Somersaultsomersault

| A single somersault in which the tumbler rotates horizontally. This is can be done as a single 'full' twist, a double twist or a triple twist.

|Combination Somersaultsomersault

|A somersault that is a combination of double/triple and twisting skills. For example, in a double -twisting double straight, the gymnast will rotate twice vertically and twice horizontally before landing. The hardest combination somersaults performed would be either the full in triple pike in which a gymnasts rotates vertically three times in a pike position with a full twist in the first rotation or 'the miller' in which a gymnast rotates horizontally four times and vertically twice.

|Transition Skillskill

|This is where a gymnast performs either aA double somersault or a combination somersault in the middle of theira run as opposed to doing it as an end skill. No triple somersaults or combination somersaults involving a triple vertically rotation has yet to be competed.

| {{flagIOCathlete|[[Yang Song|Song Yang]]|CHN}}

| {{flagIOCathlete|Viktor Kyforenko|RUSUKR}}

| {{flagIOCathlete|[[Yang Song|Song Yang]]|CHN}}

| {{flagIOCathlete|[[Yang Song|Song Yang]]|CHN}}

| {{flagIOCathlete|[[Yang Song|Song Yang]]|CHN}}

| {{flagIOCathlete|Marine DebuaveDebauve|CHNFRA}}

==FIT-era Eraworld World Championschampions==

| [[EdwinEd Gross]]

| {{USAFRA}}