If you are looking for ways to get your child moving while building their strength, agility, and mental discipline, gymnastics and tumbling are excellent options. While tumbling is part of the gymnastics curriculum, the two activities have notable differences. Below is a breakdown to help you decide which is best for your child.

What Is Gymnastics?

The sport consists of different events and apparatuses for students to learn. For females, there are four: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. For males, there are six: floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal or high bar.

Students are trained to use all pieces of equipment, learning specific skills in strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination. Floor routines often incorporate elements of dance when choreographed for showcases or competitions, and each apparatus tests how students can transfer skills from one area to the next. For example, a gymnast might learn how to do a back handspring on the floor and then apply it to the balance beam, which requires a narrow take-off and landing area.

What Is Tumbling? 

Tumbling is more acrobatic and is often practiced and performed along a spring runway. Unlike floor routines, tumbling includes eight skills and two passes along the track. Also, only a person’s hands and feet may touch the runway during competition. Typical skills displayed include round-offs, twists, somersaults, handsprings, tucks, and dismounts.

Tumbling classes build strength, agility, coordination, and flexibility. Many of the same skills, stretches, and exercises are used to condition students in both sports, making it easy for a student to transition to gymnastics if they want to try events like vault or balance beam.

For gymnastics and tumbling classes in Phoenix, AZ, head over to IMPACT Gymnastics Academy. The school offers sessions for children of all ages and levels, including competitive gymnastics, private lessons, camps, and more. There are even pre-school gymnastics for younger kids. To learn more about their programs or to schedule a trial, call (602) 870-7574. Visit them online for a look at all of their offerings.