Gymnastics, as a form of physical activity, will keep your child active, promoting a healthy weight and improving balance and coordination. Depending on the age of your child, he will most likely use all of the gymnastics equipment: mats, bars, vaults, beams and rings, but very young children will probably start with specialty foam equipment to help teach tumbling in a safe way.
Mats
Mats provide an essential function in all of gymnastics exercise: protection. Whether your child competes at an advanced level or you enroll your toddler in a basic tumbling class, mats will always provide cushioning for falls. Young children will typically begin practicing barrel rolls, somersaults and frog-stands on thicker, softer foam mats that provide more cushioning and forgiveness for falls. As children advance and hone their skills, they will graduate to slightly stiffer mats that enable them to push off while performing advanced tumbling skills.
Balance Beams
Because gymnastics requires a high level of balance and coordination, most youth begin practicing on a balance beam almost immediately. Coaches adjust the height and the width of the balance beam surface based on the age and ability level of the child-athlete. Very young children use specialty beams mounted close to the ground. Sometimes coaches provide beams slightly wider than the regulation 4-inch width. As the ability level of the child improves, she will begin practicing on beams elevated from the floor until it reaches the regulation 4-foot height.
Bars
Women gymnasts compete on the uneven bars while men compete on the high bar. From a very young age, all gymnasts learn basic skills on a bar. Coaches know appropriate spotting methods so that athletes as young as three or four can practice basic balancing skills, progressing to mounts, turns, twists and dismounts.
Rings
Even though only boys compete on the rings, boys and girls can benefit from practicing on this type of equipment. The rings require strength, balance and coordination. From a young age children with careful supervision and spotting can start learning to hold themselves upright, swing, flip and release from the rings. Unlike most other equipment, because each ring hangs and moves independently, training on the rings requires equal strength on both the left and right side of the body.
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