Gymnastics Facts & Worksheets

Gymnastics is a very complex sport involving the performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, power, agility, coordination, grace, balance, and control. It requires a lot of dedication, practice, and patience.

See the fact file below for more information on the gymnastics or alternatively, you can download our 28-page Gymnastics worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

• The word gymnastics originated from the Greek words “gymnos” and “gymnazo” meaning to train, to exercise naked.
• The athletes practice in a gymnasium – the place where male athletes exercised unclothed.
• The Ancient Greeks also practiced gymnastics as a way to prepare for war. Activities like running and jumping, along with throwing a discus and wrestling were used to prepare the young Greek men.
• Gymnastics was coveted so much in the ancient culture that it was made mandatory for all Greek students.
• Boxing was also used and all of these activities helped develop the muscles needed for hand-to-hand combat. Additional fitness practices used by the ancient Greeks included methods for mounting and dismounting horses and a variety of circus performance skills.
• In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, two pioneer physical educators, Johann Friedrich GutsMuth and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn created exercises for boys and young men on several apparatus they had designed.
• Friedrich Jahn later became known as the “father of gymnastics.” He designed and introduced the horizontal bar, parallel bars, balance beam, side horse with pommels, ladder, and vaulting horse.
• In the early 19th century, educators began using gymnastics as a part of their training programs, and in the early 20th century, the armed services began using gymnastics and producing drill manuals featuring all kinds of gymnastics.
• By the end of the 19th century, men’s gymnastics was popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympic Games held in 1896. However, up until the 1950s, gymnastics in the Olympics included such things as synchronized team floor calisthenics, rope climbing, high jumping, running, and horizontal ladder just to name a few.
• Women first started to participate in gymnastic events in the 1920s and the first women’s Olympic competition was held in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. However, the only event in which to compete was synchronized calisthenics. Combined exercises for women were first held in 1928. Then, in the 1952 Olympics, the first full regime of events for women was in competition.
• By the 1954 Olympic Games, apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and scoring standards, including a point system from 1 to 10, were implemented.
• Modern Men’s gymnastics events are scored on an individual and team basis, and presently include the floor exercise, horizontal bar, parallel bars, rings, pommel horse, vaulting, and the all-around, which combines the scores of the other six events.
• Women’s gymnastics events include the balance beam, uneven parallel bars, combined exercises, floor exercises, vaulting, and rhythmic sportive gymnastics.
• In 1972, Nadia Comaneci showed the world that power, strength, and precision were not just qualities that could be seen in men’s gymnastics. Comaneci scored four of her perfect tens on the uneven bars, two on the balance beam, and one in the floor exercise.
• Mary Lou Retton was the first U.S. woman to score two perfect scores. She accomplished this in her All-Around competition at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

THE SPORT

• Olympic gymnastics are grouped into three divisions: the artistic (A), rhythmic (R), and trampoline (T).

• The Fédération Internationale Gymnastique (FIG) then introduced acrobatics as part of Gymnastics. Events include: women’s pairs, mixed pairs, men’s pairs, women’s trios, and men’s fours – all with musical accompaniments.
• Aerobics was also introduced as a competitive sport. Aerobic routines of less than two-minute durations are performed by individual men, mixed pairs, individual women, and trios.

Gymnastics Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the gymnastics across 28 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Gymnastics worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the gymnastics which is a very complex sport involving the performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, power, agility, coordination, grace, balance, and control. It requires a lot of dedication, practice, and patience.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• Gymnastics Facts
• What to Pack in your Bag
• Basic Skills in Gymnastics
• Basic Shapes and Jumps
• Travel and Balance
• Landing Beautifully
• Gymnastics Routine
• Artistic Gymnastics
• Rhythmic Gymnastics
• Trampoline
• Becoming a Gymnast
• The Legend

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Link will appear as Gymnastics Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 3, 2021