Chalked Up: College Gymnastics: Vault: Start Values,Shapes, & Twists!

Now that we know what entries there are to vault let's talk about the cool flips out of them! That's the exciting part!

This particular video features a Yurchenko to a tuck flip. The 'tuck flip' specifies what shape the gymnast came off of the vault in. When she flips off of the vault she bends her knees. Flipping with your knees bent is called a tuck. Since she performs the Yurchenko entry and then flips in a tuck shape we know that this is a Yurchenko tuck. A Start Value (SV) is the number that judges start taking deductions from. So if a Yurchenko tuck has a SV of a 9.5 the highest score a gymnast can receive for performing a Yurchenko tuck is a 9.5. (See blog post on Start Values for more answers regarding Start Values)

This video is a Yurchenko to a pike flip. A 'pike' is similar to a tuck with the exception that the knees are straight in a pike. A pike is kind of an 'L' shape. This vault is harder then a tuck so its SV is a 9.6.

This particular video features a Yurchenko to a layout flip. A straight body flip coming off of the vault is called a layout. A Yurchenko layout is more difficult then a tuck and a pike because it is harder to rotate a completely straight body. Therefore a Yurchenko layout has a higher SV then a Yurchenko pike. In college this vault has a Start Value of a 9.7.

So we've gone over the basic shapes, tuck, pike, and layout. Now things get tricky. When gymnasts start twisting in these shapes the SV gets higher. I hope by now you have recognized the correlation that exists between more difficult gymnastics equalling higher SVs.

This video is a Yurchenko Tuck-half. Let's break that down. So we have the basic Yurchenko entry, and we know what a tuck is, so the half is referring to a 180 degree twist in the middle of the flip. This vault is worth a 9.8.

Next we have a Yurchenko Tuck-full. So we are staying with the tuck shape (the knees are bent) but now we are performing a full twist, or a 360 degree twist in the middle of the flip. This vault is worth a 9.9. This video is in slow motion so really watch for all of the parts, the Yurchenko entry, the tuck shape, and the 360 degree twist.

This video is of a Yurchenko layout-half. We are going back to the layout shape, the straight body, but we are adding a 180 degree twist. This is very difficult and is therefore with a 10.0.

This is a video of a Yurchenko layout-full. Again we are sticking with the layout shape but this time there will be a 360 degree twist. This is also worth a 10.0.

This first video is a Tsuk tuck. If we recall what a tuck is from previously it is a flip with your knees bent. Although Tsuks are a different entry then Yurchenko's they mainly follow the same SV rules. Therefore a Tusk tuck has a SV, or is worth, a 9.5.

Here is a Tsuk pike. Valued at 9.6. Again, a pike is a 'L' shaped flip, or a tuck with straight knees.

Tsuk layouts (Tsuk entry to a layout flip) is worth a 9.7.

Tsuk tuck-half. (Tsuk entry to a tucked flip with a 180 degree twist). Valued at a 9.8.

Tsuk tuck-full. (Tsuk entry to a tuck flip with a 360 degree twist). Worth 9.9. On the video keep watching because the fist person to go messes up, it's the second person in the video who perfoms a Tsuk tuck-full.

I have intentionally skipped over Tsuk Layout-halfs. This vault is rarely competed in college and therefore is difficult to find a good vidoe of. Instead I moved on to Tsuk layout-fulls. (Tsuk entry to a layout flip with a 360 degree twist). SV is a 10.0.

At most college gymnasts meets you will usually only see two shapes. A front handspring entry to a front tuck, and a front handspring entry to a front pike. This vault is tricky and therefore even though they are only performing a tuck/pike flip they are valued higher then a tsuk/yurchenko tuck/pike.

A front handspring front tuck is worth a 9.8.