Tumbling is a popular gymnastics discipline. It is also regarded as power tumbling in which the gymnasts perform a series of acrobatics skills such as rolling, twisting, handsprings and somersaults on a 25 m track. Each series of the tumbling event has eight elements in which the tumblers showcase their gymnastic skills. The routine is usually performed on equipment known as “rod floor” made from fibreglass rods. The rods have pads covered around with an upper layer of suitable flooring material and also offer an extra bounce. The skills can also be performed on a trampoline.
Tumbling doesn’t involve the use of any apparatus such as rings, bars or pommels. The sport held its roots from ancient China, Egypt and Greece. Each participant is judged according to their performance and difficulty of the routine. The International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) is the highest governing body of trampoline events which includes tumbling events as well.
Tumbling can be performed individually or in groups of 3 to 4 members. The tumblers focus on pulling-off the most challenging routine with clean forms and demonstration against the music of their choice. The judges provide scores according to their performance difficulty and execution. The participants with the highest score win the round. Skills such as round-off and handsprings contain low difficulty value or points whereas somersaults with more number of flips and twists are difficult.
The everyday routine of tumbling has two to four passes or "
trips down the mat". One of the two routines should possess the backward moves and forward moves in the other.
History of Tumbling
Tumbling is believed to be originated from various regions across the world such as China, India, Japan, Egypt and Iran. It was included in the military training programs by the Romans and was a part of the educational system in ancient Greece. During the medieval period, tumbling was performed in the royal courts for entertainment.
Later in 1881, FIG was founded but was regarded as the European Gymnastics Federation. It was formed to promote and regulate gymnastics events and competitions in Europe. Later in 1999, tumbling was officially included in the FIG. Before it, the International Trampoline Federation used to govern the sport. In 1981, tumbling was included in the World Games and since then has been an avid part of the tournaments.
In America, the Amateur Athletic Union used to regulate tumbling events since 1886. In 1938, it included the women’s tumbling event as well. Tumbling was included as an official event at the 1932 Summer Olympics and was organized only for men. In 2019, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recommended to include acrobatics and tumbling as a sport to the Emerging Sports for Women Programme.
