Somersault#Types
{{Short description|Acrobatic exercise}}
{{other uses}}
A somersault (also flip, heli, and in gymnastics salto) is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head.{{cite web |title=Gymnastics 101: Glossary of Terms |url=https://usagym.org/pages/gymnastics101/glossary.html |website=USA Gymnastics |access-date=9 September 2015 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116130425/https://usagym.org/pages/gymnastics101/glossary.html |url-status=dead }} A somersault can be performed backwards, forwards or sideways and can be executed in the air or on the ground. When performed on the ground, it is typically called a roll.
Etymology
The word 'somersault' is derived from Old Provençal sobresaut (via Middle French sombresault) meaning "jump over", from sobre, "over" (from Latin supra-, as in supranational); and saut, "jump" (from Latin saltus, the same root as salient).{{Cite web |title=somersault {{!}} Etymology of somersault by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/somersault |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}
Types
=Body positions=
Somersaults may be performed with different positions, including tucked, piked (bent at the hips), straddled, and layout (straight body).{{Cite web |last=Cano |first=Victor |date=2018-12-03 |title=The movement of the arms in the somersaults |url=https://synkrolovers.com/el-movimiento-de-los-brazos-en-los-mortales/?lang=en |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=SYNKROLOVERS |language=en-US}} Somersaults are often completed with twists.
=Direction=
The sport of tumbling does not require participants to combine both front and back elements, and most tumblers prefer back tumbling as it is easier to build momentum.{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Henrique |last2=Martinez |first2=José |title=The Running Athlete: A Comprehensive Overview of Running in Different Sports |date=2022 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-662-65064-6 |pages=151–152 |language=en |chapter=Running in Tumbling}}
Arabian saltos begin backwards, continue with a half twist to forwards, and end with one or more saltos forwards. They can be trained by beginning with an Arabian dive roll and adding a front salto to it.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=James Rollar |last2=Wardell |first2=David B. |title=Teaching and Coaching Gymnastics for Men and Women |date=1980 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-10798-9 |pages=400–401 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TeNLAAAAYAAJ&q=arabian+gymnastics |language=en}} They are counted as front tumbling in women's artistic gymnastics[https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_2022-2024%20WAG%20COP.pdf WAG COP 2022-2024] Section 7 Page 1 and back tumbling in men's artistic gymnastics.[https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_%202022-2024%20MAG%20CoP.pdf MAG COP 2022-2024], p. 39
=Multiple rotations=
By 2003, the tucked double back salto had become common in women's gymnastics.{{cite book |title=Scientific Aspects of Women's Gymnastics |date=2003 |publisher=Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers |isbn=978-3-8055-7476-1 |pages=29–30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLUuvuP1ZSoC&dq=layout+gymnastics&pg=PA30 |language=en}} The triple back salto exists in men's gymnastics but was rarely competed until 2017.{{cite news |title=The Return Of The Triple Back Somersault In Men's Gymnastics |url=https://deadspin.com/the-return-of-the-triple-back-somersault-in-mens-gymnas-1819041663 |access-date=8 November 2022 |work=Deadspin |date=3 October 2017 |language=en}}
In 2019, American gymnast Simone Biles was the first woman to complete a back triple double: two saltos backwards with three twists in a tucked position.{{cite news |title=The hardest floor skill yet to be performed? Jade Carey's triple-double |url=https://onherturf.nbcsports.com/2021/06/24/u-s-olympic-trials-jade-carey-plans-to-debut-triple-double-on-floor/ |access-date=25 October 2022 |work=On Her Turf |date=24 June 2021}}{{cite magazine |last1=Allain |first1=Rhett |title=The Twisty Physics of Simone Biles' Historic Triple-Double |url=https://www.wired.com/story/the-twisty-physics-of-simone-biles-historic-triple-double/ |access-date=25 October 2022 |magazine=Wired}}
See also
References
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