Q&A for How to Be a Gymnast

Gymnastics specifically is not a team sport. When you're training with a group of girls or boys, you're effectively competing against each other. It's really important to have those team-building skills and friendships for life, so you're always rooting for each other and having each other's backs.

Place your hands parallel, about 1.5 ft (46 cm) away from your chest in front of you. Then, use your back legs to walk up the surface of a wall, like a bedroom door or concrete partition. Just practice moving your feet up and down, over and over again. Then, start moving your hands right to left and left to right, so you can gauge your balance. Focus on keeping your stomach tight and your head down.

You just have to believe in yourself. But don't try to do anything that you are not ready for.

You can be a self taught gymnast with the help of YouTube, and wikiHow. Work on exercises from the easiest to harder ones, for example work on your side aerial and back walkover, at different times. Another possibility is to find the closest gym that you could possibly train in and find out who goes there and lives close to you. You could ask them to take you along in their car, and contribute to gas costs or do shared car lifts. You don't have to move just to become a gymnast.

Usually you just wear a leotard. You can find basic ones at Walmart or Target, or go to a dance store if you want more variety.

Not at all. 6 is a great age to start. Just keep working at it!

A back walkover is the first skill you need to master. Once you learn to jump into your back walkover you should learn your back handspring easily.

You can start gymnasticks at any age, however if you want to become a professional, you should start at a young age.

Here are some ideas: Grips and grip bag - this includes pre wrap,tape and wristies. Gloves and loops - these are used on metal bar to practice higher level skills. An emergency kit - tape,wrist supports, knee supports, sanitary ware and spare hair ties. A drink. Your chalk box - used mainly in bar. Your phone, just in case.

Get someone you trust to push your legs up as you kick up. If you are too scared to kick up, try a Spider-man handstand first.

You don't have to compete if you don't want to. If you go to a gymnastics facility, tell your coach or whomever is in charge that you are not interested in competing; you can be a gymnast without competing.

Check out How to Do a Handstand for detailed advice.

Tell your coach. She will give you a pep talk. Know that you can do this.

If you feel like you are ready for more advanced material and your classes are not advancing, talk to your coach about it and most likely they will help you out, because they care about your acceleration as a gymnast. If not, you should definitely look into changing gyms.

You can be a self-taught gymnast by watching professionals on YouTube. Or get advice from your friends that do gymnastics. It requires a lot of practice.

Watch a professional on YouTube to see how they perform the exercises. Then try them with an someone spotting you. When starting out, practice on soft surfaces like a trampoline or a mat.

Of Course! You might not make it to the Olympics, but I'm sure you will have fun and make a good gymnastics team member.

Yes, you can start training at any age.

You must dive in and push off with your back leg and land. So you kind of have to split your legs.

It is possible.

If you don't have any equipment at home, you can always go to a trampoline park or gymnastics gym or any other facility that has equipment.

You will have to gain the flexibility by stretching for the skills a gymnastics has. But you don't necessarily need to be flexible to start out.

Try putting down tape on the floor, make it four inches wide, and practice like that until you gain confidence.

Well yes you can just try to pay attention to your skills and what you are doing dont look at anything else when practicing a skill you could get seriously injured

There are a lot of costs associate with running a gymnastics program, and the high fees are most often used to cover those costs. Those costs can include the facility rental, outfits, salaries for the coaches, etc.

No. You're never too old. Granted, if you only start at 70, you may not go to the Olympics. But it's never too late to start. If you want to be a gymnast, regardless of which level you dream of achieving, it's better to start now than to start next week.

There is no age limit for gymnastics. While some girls start younger, you can definitely start at any age. The only thing needed to do well in gymnastics is love for the sport and persistence.

Yes, you can start gymnastics at any age.

Yes, you can! It's never too late to try something new.

Just imagine executing the move perfectly over and over, then get up your courage and try.