Beautiful Acro: What is Acro Gymastics and Why is it So Popular?

Although most Americans know what acrobatics are, the term acro gymnastics may be less familiar. However, it is just a short form of acrobatic gymnastics, a particular type of gymnastics that is growing in popularity.

Acrobatics has been considered a sport since the 19th century, but it was most popular in Europe. By the 1930s, competitions were organized in the Soviet Union, but American acro gymnasts did not compete until the 1970s. Since then, the sport has been slowly becoming more well known, helped along by the Cirque du Soleil since the late 1980s. However, when the AcroArmy appeared on America’s Got Talent in 2014, ending in third place, acro gymnastics exploded in popularity.

What exactly is acro gymnastics? And why do so many kids love it?

Defining the Sport

Acro gymnastics involves performing routines that focus on balance, stamina, and grace. Acro gymnasts work in pairs—men, women, or mixed—or teams of three or four men or women to perform complex routines featuring acrobatics. Each routine must include three elements: balance, dynamic and combined.

• Balance calls for strength, flexibility and stamina as one gymnast holds another team member in the air, who may in turn support yet another gymnast in static poses.
• Dynamic sections of a routine involve movement, such as somersaults and flips, similar to floor exercise in artistic gymnastics.
• Combined movements involve both balance and dynamics, such as a supported team member performing somersaults during a dismount.                                                                            

Why Kids Like It

If you ask 20 kids why they like being involved in acro gymnastics, you’ll probably get 20 different answers. They like flying through the air. They enjoy the challenge of finding their center of balance. They like giving their body a workout.

But one secret to the sport’s success may be that gymnasts don’t have to go it alone. It’s a lot easier to get out on the floor with the support of a partner or team members. And working in a team builds that spirit of comraderie, a useful skill for kids to develop early that will come back again and again through their school years and beyond. There is a lot of social interaction that goes on between team members who must be closely attuned to each other while learning and performing the moves of an acro routine.

If your child is interested, why not give it a try?

What is that Trampoline/Vault thing? Double-Mini Explained

Many casual gymnastics fans are not aware that the Olympic gymnastics events aired during prime-time hours showcase only one aspect of the sport. These events are collectively known as artistic gymnastics, for the reason that form is an essential component. However, the sport also includes rhythmic gymnastics and a third group called Trampoline and Tumbling.

What Is Trampoline and Tumbling?

Tumbling and Trampoline, also called T&T, is pretty much what its name implies. There are three events within this grouping and they all involve flying through the air and tumbling. In addition to the trampoline, this sport also utilizes long and narrow floor areas for tumbling runs as well as an apparatus called the double-mini trampoline. This looks something like a slide for small children; built low to the ground, it features a flat platform and a sloping platform, both of which are trampolines.

Double-mini vs. Vault

The first time you watch a gymnast performing on a double-mini, you’ll probably notice that the routine is something like a vault in artistic gymnastics. The athlete begins by running toward the apparatus. He then jumps onto the sloping trampoline, instead of a vault’s spring board, and flies up, landing on the flat trampoline. This catapults him into the air again and then he lands on a mat. During both flights he performs moves involving somersaults and twists and the landing must be solidly performed on both feet without a loss of balance. In a competition, each athlete makes two runs and the scores are added together.

Double-mini Candidates

Not all gymnasts, especially young ones, are thrilled with the slow pace of routines in artistic gymnastics. Apparatus such as the balance beam, parallel bars, and even floor exercise may be too exacting for kids who love speed and dynamic action. As an alternative, the double-mini offers both speed and action, plus the thrill of flying. What’s not to like here? Admittedly, as a parent you may find it difficult to watch at first, but the huge grin on your child’s face says it all.


Of course, double-mini lessons offer all the same benefits to your child’s development as other forms of gymnastics classes. She’ll learn the social skills of waiting for her turn, the mental skills of problem solving that will give her a boost in school, and the love of physical activity that will help keep her healthy throughout her life.