Somersault

2025-09-23T00:17:45Z

2A0C:B381:568:3600:64FD:36AD:4772:E9C4:

{{Short description|Acrobatic exercise}}
{{other uses}}

[[File:Saltovor1b.gif|thumb|Front tucked somersault animation]]
A '''somersault''' (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an [[acrobatics|acrobatic]] exercise in which a person's body [[Rotation#Sports|rotates 360° around a horizontal axis]] with the feet passing over the [[Human head|head]].<ref name=USAGlos>{{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 }}</ref> 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 (gymnastics)|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'').<ref>{{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}}</ref>

== Types ==

[[File:Pikefront.JPG|thumb|Front somersault in the pike position]]
[[File:Lauren Mitchell, 41st AG World Championship, 2009 (full tone blur).jpg|thumb|Back somersault on one foot]]

===Body positions===
Somersaults may be performed with different positions, including tucked, piked (bent at the hips), straddled, and layout (straight body).<ref>{{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}}</ref> Somersaults are often completed with twists.<ref name=scientific/>
===Direction===
[[tumbling (sport)|Tumbling]], a discipline of [[trampolining | Trampoline Gymastics]], does not require participants to combine both front and back elements, and most tumblers prefer back tumbling as it is easier to build momentum.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> They are counted as front tumbling in [[women's artistic gymnastics]]<ref>[https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_2022-2024%20WAG%20COP.pdf WAG COP 2022-2024] Section 7 Page 1</ref> and back tumbling in [[men's artistic gymnastics]].<ref>[https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_%202022-2024%20MAG%20CoP.pdf MAG COP 2022-2024], p. 39</ref>
===Multiple rotations===
By 2003, the tucked double back salto had become common in women's gymnastics.<ref name=scientific>{{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}}</ref> The triple back salto exists in men's gymnastics but was rarely competed until 2017.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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 on the floor.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> The skill was first performed four decades (1964) earlier in [[trampolining| Trampoline Gymnastics]] – where the skill is named a "miller", after its creator Wayne Miller. Subsequent skills have since been coined: "miller plus" (or "killer")—double somersault with four twists throughout—and "miller plus plus" (or "thriller")—double somersault with five twists throughout. <ref>{{cite news |title=Elements explained: The Miller on trampoline|url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?urlNews=2872484 |access-date=23 September 2025 | work=FIG News |date=16 April 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Aerial cartwheel]]
* [[Cartwheel (gymnastics)]]
* [[Roll (gymnastics)]]
* [[Trampolining]]
* [[Tumbling (gymnastics)|Tumbling]]
* [[Parkour]]
* [[Handspring (gymnastics)|Handspring]]
* [[Diving (sport)|Diving]]
* [[Tumble turn]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Gymnastics elements]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Somersault