What Are the Basic Gymnastics Positions?
The six basic body positions in gymnastics include the arch, pike, tuck, straddle, hollow and lunge. The skills of gymnasts, such as the ability to jump over a balance beam, fly over a vault through the air in a powerful way and swing very high on parallel bars, may seem very difficult to learn, but extensive practice is what makes them successful.
The arch and the hollow positions are usually contrary to each other and of similar extreme, which means that the body retains the same basic position, but with some few major differences. The best way to practice this hollow gymnastic position is by taking a lot of hollow rocks exercise, which involves lying on a mat with the lower back on the mat, lifting the head and the legs slightly off the mat and focusing the eyes on the toes and finally rocking the body slowly back and forth.
Beginners in gymnastics skills classes, irrespective of their ability and age, learn pike, straddle and tuck positions, which start with rolls then flips and finally the release of moves on bars. As for the arch position, an extensive superman exercise is needed to be an expert while a rock ‘n’ roll exercise is needed to practice the tuck position. Each of the six basic positions has a specific practice exercise for better performance.
