Top Five Most Popular Skills in Rhythmic Gymnastics

Within rhythmic gymnastics, each routine is vastly different. However, most of them are made up of a combination of the same basic skills that have been transformed and stylized. If this was not the case, judges would not be able to score the routines because they would have no baseline for assigning difficulty to any of the skills. Here is a comprehensive list of five of the most common skills that gymnasts almost always include in their routines in some shape or form. Next time you're watching rhythmic gymnastics, see if you can spot which skills exactly the gymnasts are doing.

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1. Walkovers

Walkovers can be done forwards or backwards, with one hand or both. Walkovers can involve sustaining the handstand or one leg extended positions midway through or completing the movement quickly depending on how the gymnast would like to manipulate their apparatus. Gymnasts often use front and back walkovers to throw or swing the apparatus with their foot as they complete the skill. Additionally, gymnasts sometimes toss their apparatus into the air and then perform some type of walkover to put their body into a position that allows them to bounce the apparatus back into the air off their torso, head, foot, etc.

2. A La seconde (balances and turns)

Since rhythmic gymnastics is rooted in ballet, many of the technical terms to describe skills are the same as ballet terms. The position in which a gymnast extends their leg out into a straight, turned out position on the side of their body is called a la seconde (as in a ballet second position). Gymnasts will often do sustained balances in this position while swinging clubs or manipulating a ribbon. The position can also lend itself to a turn in which a gymnast spins on one leg continuously with their other leg suspended at 90 degrees by using a plie (bending motion) to propel them on each revolution.

3. Penche (balances and turns)

A penche is also a ballet term. In a penche position, gymnasts invert their bodies,bringing their chest toward the ground, but still keeping upright. As the gymnast descends, she keeps her weight on one leg and lifts the other to a split position, forming a 180 degree line. Gymnasts can do sustained balances in this position while bouncing a ball or swinging a hoop around their body, or they can upgrade the skill to a turning penche.

4. Attitude (balances and turns, stretched and normal)

Attitude is a general term used to describe a position of the body when one of the gymnast's legs is bent. Gymnasts can do pivots in which one leg is raised in a 90 degree attitude position while they keep an apparatus in motion. However, due to the level of flexibility expected of senior level rhythmic gymnasts, most gymnasts opt to do their turns in an overextended attitude position. In an over-extension, gymnasts pull their attitude leg behind their back and stretch it to the top of their head. Gymnasts also commonly do balances in the overextended attitude.

5. Leaps

A leap is a very general term to describe several different kinds of jumps that a gymnast can perform within their routine. Jumps are a skill that is scored under body difficulty in the execution category. In a leap, a gymnast should have their legs in a split position at at least 180 degrees, or in an over-split past 180 degrees. Gymnasts can do variations on a leap by performing a switch leap in which they switch their legs mid-air to their split on the opposite side. Gymnasts can also do multiple leaps in a series or they can do a leap that rotates a full 360 degrees in the air.