In Part 1, we looked at the symbols for basic tumbling skills. Now, let's look at turns and leaps. In part three we'll discuss some of the basic skills on bars and how knowing the symbols for tumbling and turns can help us there.
The very simplest turn is the full turn on one leg:
Full turn:
As you can see, this symbol is simply a full circle. Adding rotation to a turn is not quite as straightforward is it is for tumbling where we simply "double" a salto to get a double salto.
With turns, each additional half turn is shown by a line crossing the circle.
So, a 1 1/2 (540°) turn is drawn like this:
Double turn:
So far, so good. But how do we differentiate leg and arm position in a turn?
This is usually done by extending a line from the circle. If the skill already has a line in the circle because it has more than one full turn, one of those lines is "adopted".
Full turn with leg extended above horizontal (C on beam):
The same skill with a 2/1 (720°) rotation:
Other positions are can be seen n the symbols representing them:
Knee turn in arabesque:
Turn in prone position:
Here is an interesting symbol - the 450° spin on the back on balance beam:
And of course, everyone's old favourite on the beam - the triple wolf turn:
Before we look closer at this symbol, let's detour into leaps, hops and jumps. The wolf jump is essentially a tuck jump with one leg extended (and a few other technical requirements):
Tuck jump 1/2:
Wolf Jump:
You can see that the main drawings in these symbols are very similar, but the wolf jump shows an extended leg.
The small semi-circle shows the half turn. Looking back at the wolf spin - - we see the same symbol, with a circle on the end of the extended leg and a "3" written under the circle. Writing 3s and 4s is common as a judge simply runs out of room making tiny little marks for each half turn.
These small circles above the symbol showing the number of turns are also used in uneven bar notation.
Here are a few more symbols to memorize:
Split leap:
Switch leap:
Switch leap to ring position:
Sissone:
Cat leap 2/1 (720°):
One last important note! Jumps and hops performed on balance beam in the side position are shown with a dot above the symbol.
Pike jump half in side position:
Teza (Yang Bo in side position):
This should get you started on learning the symbols for leaps, jumps and hops. With this basis and the symbols you know from tumbling, many other skills' symbols become more logical and easier to commit to memory.
Good luck!
