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Learn Gymnastics

By Amy Van Deusen, About.com

Check out these skill tutorials to help you progress through the sport. Remember: Don’t try anything without a qualified coach and the right equipment!

How to Do a Split

A split is one of those moves that is really easy for some people and much harder for others. Even if you’re as tight as can be, though, you’ll still be able to master it if you work hard at your stretching.

Master a Center Split

Learning a center split is just as essential as a front split to your gymnastics. You’ll use a center split in straddle jumps, side leaps, press to handstands, stalders, flairs on pommel horse, and scales.

Here’s how to get a great center split, with stretches for all the different muscles you’ll use.

Perfect Your Handstand

© 2007 iStockphoto.com / Galina Barskaya
Mastering a handstand is one of the most important steps to becoming a gymnast. Sooner or later, you'll be doing a handstand on just about every event, and learning a solid one will help you improve quickly in the gym.

Learn a Back Flip

A back flip is considered a basic skill in gymnastics, but only because it is a building block to many other skills. It's not a simple move to learn, but once you do, you've achieved one of the biggest milestones of the sport.
Nick Laham / Getty Images

Beijing 2008: Live the Olympics

Dig into athlete profiles, lessons on how to play the sports, and image galleries of Olympians at play.

Explore Gymnastics

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