Floor Exercise Essay, Research Paper

Floor Exercise

Floor exercise is a sequence of tumbles, leaps, and balances, which make a gymnastics performance. No equipment is used, only a mat and open space. At competitions, judges look for good posture, proper technique, continuity, and variety.

Floor exercise builds confidence and character. Your self confidence increases as you learn body control. As you become involved you will gain self discipline. You will learn valuable lessons about exercise, eating correctly, and getting the proper amount of rest, leading to a healthy and longer life.

Competitive acrobatics have various levels at which people can participate and gain recognition for achievements. Most important, floor exercise is fun. More challenging the than other activities.

Tumbling is considered the basis of all acrobatics. Although it is not one of the four Olympic competitive events, tumbling is important because the skills you learn will help you perform the other events. For example, the basic forward roll can also be performed on the balance beam and in the floor exercise, and is important even when learning the vault and the uneven bars.

The best way to learn floor exercise is through progressions. A progression is a step by step method of learning skills, beginning with the easy ones and gradually mastering the more difficult ones. If you wanted to learn a forward somersault, you would not just start out trying to do the somersault. Instead, you would learn a whole series of skills one by one, moving along to the next one only after you mastered the first. It is important to be patient when learning floor exercises through progressions. Do not move on to the next skill in the progression until you and your coach have determined that you are ready. This method will allow you to learn a large number of skills while having fun and developing confidence.

If you find a skill to be particularly difficult to learn, perhaps you are trying to take too big of a step, or too many, in your progression. Ask your coach for assistance. She or he can almost always give you smaller steps that will help you reach your goal.

In learning acrobatics or any other sport it requires that you also learn the language of the sport. The language of acrobatics is quite complicated. For example, a forward roll is done on the ground, but a forward somersault or salto is done in the air. Someone might think that you have learned a front flip, but you will know that this is really a salto.

Floor exercise is fun and one of the best overall physical fitness activities that there is provided that you and your coach use common sense and pay attention to the rules of safety. This sport involves flipping and twisting. Therefore floor exercise carries a risk of physical injury. No matter how careful you and your coach are, no matter how many spotters are use, the risk cannot be eliminated. Reduced, but never eliminated.

The risk of injury in floor exercise includes minor injuries such as bruises and serious injuries such as broken bones, dislocations and muscle pulls. Unfortunately, as in practically every sport the risk also includes very serious injuries, such as permanent paralysis or even death from landing or falls onto the back, neck, or head.

It is important for you to learning floor exercise from a good coach in a well-equipped gym and to listen carefully to your coach and follow the safety rules that your gym has set.

There are things that you can do to make sure that floor exercise is safe:

1. Never participate unless you have a proper supervisor. Every floor exercise class, practice, or workout should be supervised by a trained teacher or coach.

2. Dress appropriately. Use chalk, handgrips, tape and protective body equipment where needed. When in doubt, consult your instructor.

3. Communicate clearly with your coach. Make sure that you both know exactly what, when, where, how, and why you are to perform a particular skill and how you will be spotted. If you have questions, ask.

4. Be sure that you are feeling physically, as well as mentally, at your best and ready to perform. Total fitness is very important for safe floor exercise.

5. Master the basic skills first. Do not try to skip ahead and move too fast. Follow the steps your teacher lays out for you to learn skills. Be sure to know the skill. This includes having a clear idea of what the skill is and knowing how to begin, execute, and complete the entire movement.

6. Always follow through. Once you commit to performing a skill, follow through to its completion.

7. Finally, know your limitations. You should develop a healthy awareness and respect for what you can do and what you cannot do in learning and performing floor exercise. Don t be impatient. There is plenty to learn and plenty of time in which to learn it.

The Forward Roll

1. Start from a squatting position

2. Place the hands at shoulder width on the ground.

3. Duck the head under, while pushing off with the legs.

N.B. The weight of the body should be carried by the arms as long as possible, until the upper back and shoulders make contact.

The Backward Roll

1. Start from a squatting position with hands at shoulder with on the ground.

2. Rock forward, and then push off backwards quickly.

3. When the hands leave the ground, move the arms backwards while rolling, and keep the knees and chin tucked.

4. Place the hands above the shoulders, and roll over onto the feet.

The Back Extension

1. Start in same position as backward roll.

2. Raise the legs upward, and lift yourself onto the hands.

3. Snap out of the position by lowering both legs at the same time.