Rules and Regulations of Gymnastics (Senior 6 Physical Education): free lessons | Ganzaa

Rules and Regulations of Gymnastics

Lessons

Senior 6 · Physical Education

Rules and Regulations of Gymnastics

3 lessons

Lesson 1 of 3

Safety rules and correct use of apparatus

25 min

Five times your body weight

A gymnast who lets go of the high bar and drops 1.8 m reaches the mat at almost 6 m s⁻¹. In the next fraction of a second the mat has to stop her, and how hard it pushes depends on how long the stopping takes. That is why every rule about mats, spotting and progression in gymnastics is really a rule about force and time. In Senior 2 you learned to check apparatus and land safely. Now you study the standards behind those habits: the measurements the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) sets for each apparatus, the physics of a safe landing, how a coach plans the safe learning of a new skill, and what to do when a fall goes wrong.

Definition

Apparatus norms: the FIG's official specifications for every piece of competition apparatus: its size, height, materials, elasticity and the mats around it. National and school competitions use them as the standard.

Landing mat: a thick, soft mat (20 cm for competition dismounts) placed where a gymnast lands, to lengthen the stopping time.

Spotting: physical help given by a trained person, at the right moment and place, so that a gymnast can learn a skill without falling dangerously. Example: a coach's hands at the hips and back during a first back walkover.

Progression: learning a skill in easier stages before the full version, for example a cartwheel on a line, then on a floor beam, then on the high beam.

Risk assessment: identifying each hazard, judging how likely and how serious harm would be, and deciding the control that reduces it.

The apparatus and their norms

Men's artistic gymnastics (MAG) has six apparatus and women's (WAG) has four. The heights below are those of the FIG Apparatus Norms, measured from the floor.

Apparatus	Who	Key norm	Main hazard
Floor	M and W	12 m × 12 m area inside a 1 m safety border; sprung surface	Over-rotated landings; colliding with the edge
Pommel horse	M	Top 1.15 m high, 1.60 m long	Wrists; striking the horse with the legs
Rings	M	Rings hang 3.00 m below their attachment point	Shoulders; a fall from the hang
Vault	M and W	Table 1.35 m (M) or 1.25 m (W), 1.20 m long, 0.90 m wide	Missed hand placement; landing short
Parallel bars	M	Bars 2.00 m high, 3.50 m long	Falls between or off the bars
Horizontal bar	M	Bar 2.78 m high	Release moves; the highest falls in gymnastics
Uneven bars	W	Low bar 1.70 m, high bar 2.50 m	Release moves; hands slipping
Balance beam	W	5 m long, 10 cm wide, 1.25 m high	Missed footing; falls across the beam

Worked example

Worked example 1: why a thick mat matters. A 45 kg gymnast drops 1.8 m from the bar. Find her landing speed and the force the surface must exert on her if she stops in 0.15 s on a landing mat, and in 0.05 s on a thin mat. Take $g = 9.81\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-2}}$ .

Landing speed: $v = \sqrt{2gh} = \sqrt{2 \times 9.81 \times 1.8} = 5.94\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-1}}$
Net force to stop her (impulse = change in momentum): $F_{\text{net}} = \frac{m\,\Delta v}{\Delta t} = \frac{45 \times 5.94}{0.15} \approx 1780\,\mathrm{N}$
The surface must also hold up her weight, $mg = 45 \times 9.81 = 441\,\mathrm{N}$ , so it pushes with about $2220\,\mathrm{N}$ : about 5 times her body weight.
On the thin mat: $F_{\text{net}} = \frac{45 \times 5.94}{0.05} \approx 5350\,\mathrm{N}$ , plus 441 N, about $5790\,\mathrm{N}$ : 13 times her body weight.

Tripling the stopping time cut the force to well under half. The stopping times are illustrative, but the principle is exact: a soft, thick mat and bent knees on landing both lengthen $\Delta t$ .

Worked example

Worked example 2: a risk assessment for the school beam. The class wants to practise turns on a full-height beam.

Hazard	Likely?	Serious?	Control
Fall onto the hard floor beside the beam	Medium	High	Mats along both sides and the ends, overlapping, no gaps
Beam not level or legs loose	Low	High	Check the height, the locks and the stability before each lesson
New skill tried at full height	High	Medium	Progression: line on the floor → floor beam → low beam → high beam
Queue of pupils standing under the beam	Medium	Medium	One gymnast on the beam at a time; others wait 2 m away

The controls go first to the hazards that are both likely and serious.

Safe practice: before, during and after

Stage	Rules
Before	Check every apparatus: height set, locks and cables tight, no splinters or tears. Lay mats flat, edges touching, with landing mats where dismounts land. Hair tied back; no jewellery, watches or chewing gum. A teacher or coach is present before anyone mounts.
Warm-up	Follow a RAMP order: Raise the heart rate and body temperature (jogging, skipping); Activate the key muscles (core holds, shoulder bands); Mobilise the joints the routine uses (wrists, shoulders, spine, ankles); Potentiate with short, sharp versions of the skills (jumps, handstand kick-ups).
During	One gymnast per apparatus. Learn by progression and use a spotter for every new skill. Use chalk on dry hands and grips on bars where needed. Stop when tired: most falls happen late in a session, when strength and focus fade.
After	Cool down with easy movement and stretching. Report any damaged apparatus and put mats away flat or hung, never folded under heavy weight.

Important

First aid after a fall from apparatus (ERC Guidelines 2025)

A fall from height in sport is a reason to suspect a neck (cervical spine) injury.
If the gymnast is awake and alert, minimise movement of the neck: ask her to stay still and keep her own head in a comfortable, stable position. Never force a person into a position.
If she is unresponsive and lying on her back, kneel behind the head and hold the head and neck still (head squeeze or trapezius squeeze). If the airway must be opened, roll her as one unit with helpers, keeping the neck in line.
Do not apply a cervical collar: first aiders are advised against it.
Call an ambulance: 912 in Rwanda. If she is unresponsive and not breathing normally, start CPR.
Any sign of concussion after a blow to the head (headache, dizziness, confusion, sickness, blurred vision) means she stops for the day and is seen by a health worker.

Tip

Remember the physics. $F = \frac{m\,\Delta v}{\Delta t}$ . Every landing rule (thick mats, bent knees, rolling out of a landing) increases $\Delta t$ ; every progression rule reduces $\Delta v$ by keeping falls short.

Warning

Common mistakes. Pupils spot each other on skills they have never been taught to spot: only a trained spotter should support a new skill. Mats that slide apart leave a gap exactly where a foot lands. A gymnast who "feels fine" after a blow to the head is not cleared to continue.

✦

Practice

Name the four women's and the six men's artistic apparatus.
State the height of the balance beam and of the high bar of the uneven bars.
A 50 kg gymnast lands at 5.0 m s⁻¹ and stops in 0.20 s. Calculate the total force the mat exerts on her (g = 9.81 m s⁻²).
Explain, using impulse, why gymnasts bend their knees on landing.
Put these stages of learning a beam cartwheel in order: high beam, floor line, low beam, floor beam.
Write two rows of a risk assessment for the vault: one hazard each from the run-up and the landing, with a control for each.
After a fall from the bars a gymnast is awake but has neck pain. Describe what the teacher should do, following ERC 2025.
Evaluate this statement: "A spotter makes every skill safe, so progressions can be skipped."

Show answersHide answers

Women: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor. Men: floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar.
Beam 1.25 m; high bar 2.50 m.
Net force = 50 × 5.0 ÷ 0.20 = 1250 N; weight = 50 × 9.81 = 490.5 N; total ≈ 1740 N (about 3.5 times body weight).
Impulse F × Δt equals the change in momentum, which is fixed by the landing speed. Bending the knees lengthens Δt, so the average force on the body falls.
Floor line → floor beam → low beam → high beam.
For example: run-up: slipping on a wet runway, so dry and check the runway; landing: landing short or off-centre, so place a 20 cm landing mat that extends well beyond the table.
Call 912; ask the gymnast to keep still and hold her own head comfortably; do not move her unless she is in danger; do not use a collar; stay with her and watch her breathing and responsiveness.
False. A spotter cannot catch every error, and a skill tried at full height before it is learned produces bigger falls. Spotting and progression work together: progressions keep falls small while the spotter guides the movement.

Remember

The FIG Apparatus Norms fix the size and height of every apparatus; check them before you train.
Landing force falls as stopping time rises: thick mats, bent knees, rolling out.
Progression and trained spotting for every new skill; one gymnast per apparatus.
After a fall from height, suspect a neck injury: minimise movement, no collar, call 912.

Sources and credits

Artistic gymnastics, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Balance beam, Uneven bars, Vault (gymnastics), Horizontal bar, Parallel bars, Pommel horse, Rings (gymnastics) and Floor (gymnastics), Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0: apparatus measurements from the FIG Apparatus Norms. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Djärv T. and others, European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2025: First Aid, Resuscitation 215 (2025) 110752, European Resuscitation Council: the spinal-injury and concussion steps are summarised, not copied.
912 ambulance number: SAMU Services, Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
Apparatus height diagram, risk assessment, worked examples and practice: written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Five times your body weight

2The apparatus and their norms

3Safe practice: before, during and after

Five times your body weight

The apparatus and their norms

Safe practice: before, during and after