Basic Gymnastics PositionsThere are many basic positions thatwe use in gymnastics (and move-ment). We need to define want todefine a few, even though they arealso mentioned on Card #22-30aStand (Basic): Stand on the feet, with a

turn-out of up to 45° in eachleg.Arms held straight over-head by the ears. The armswou Id be down in a dancebasic stand (1st position inballet), but we like to startteaching the children that mostgymnastics skills start and endwith the arms overhead. Thisposition is used in manyTum- c ,

bling and Balance Beam moves andmost dismounts.

Tuck: A position where the gymnast hastheirthighs pulled towardstheir chest and their feetpulled towards their but-tocks. There should be atleast a 90 degree bend atboth joints and the legs

should be together. A standing tuck may becalled a "squat".

OpenTuck: Similar to the tuck but with thejointsopen more than 90 degrees. Sometimes calleda Puck.

Straddle: A position where the gymnast's legs areapart and normally with the knees

straight. The amount of~ separation is usually wide,

since this is important in~ Artistic (Competitive) Gym-

nastics. It is often combined with thePike to make the Stradd Ie-pike. A bent

knee stradd Ie may be called asquat or a squaddle. ~

Pike: A pike occurs when the gymnast'ships are closed to at least 135 de-grees (90 degrees is more typical)towards the chest depending upon t: :oJthe discipline. The legs are normally together.

Hollow: This occurs when the gymnast's chestand abdominal muscles are flexedslightly, and thestraight legs, head

legs, head and shoulders are a short dis-tance above the mat. This can be trans-lated to any orientation. like 5 metresabove the trampoline while upside down.

Arch: Any time the gymnast hy-perextends the back. This may

also be trans-lated to anyorientation.

lunge: Start inthe basic stand and step forward with oneleg. The front leg should be slightly bent andboth feet should maintain their turnout. (Il-lustration on sheet #50-56a).Safety (Controlled) landing: There are sev-eral variations of this but it is basically a plie,When a gymnast lands from any height theyshould land in a basic stand (with anklesextended and toes overextended) and imme-diately flex the ankles, knees, and hips whilethe arms drop down. The arms then return toa high position as the hips and kneesstraighten back towards a basic stand (1IIus-

tration to below). There are several vana-tions on this.There are a few other positions like side archand puck but these should get you started.