Rules For The Balance Beam In Gymnastics

The balance beam is widely regarded as the most difficult apparatus in women's artistic gymnastics. Gymnasts must display both artistic and acrobatic excellence as they flip across the 4-inch-wide beam, standing 4 feet high in the air. The rules of the balance beam differ depending on the competition level. The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, also known as the FIG, sets the rules for the beam at the international level, including the Olympics.

The Beam

An FIG regulation balance beam must be 4.10 feet high as measured from the floor to the top of the balance beam. The balance beam is 16.4 feet long and 4 inches wide. The padded beam must be covered in either leather or suede. The beam must have a minimum 19.5-foot mat at one end of the beam and a 26-foot, 3-inch mat at the other end of the beam.

Equipment

A gymnast must wear FIG-approved attire and may perform barefoot or with special beam shoes. She may chalk her hands and feet and tape her feet against injuries. She is not allowed spotting or any coaching once the routine starts. She may mount the beam with the aid of a regulation springboard.

Time

The beam routine must last between 70 and 90 seconds at the international level. If a gymnast falls off of the beam, she has 10 seconds to remount the beam and continue the routine before she is disqualified. At 80 seconds, a 10 second warning bell sounds. If a gymnastic goes beyond 90 seconds, she receives a specific point deduction.

Skills

The FIG mandates that a beam routine must include a variety of acrobatic elements that connect one skill to the next including jumps, leaps, turns and step, as well as combinations of walking and running steps with wave and balance steps performed in a sitting, standing or lying position. The gymnast must use the entire length of the beam. When skills are not connected--when there is a pause between one jump and another--the gymnast receives fewer points. The specific set of required skills changes and becomes more difficult at each Olympics as the sport regularly evolves.