The level of body balance in a handstand and the effectiveness of sports training in gymnastics

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the level of maintaining body balance in a handstand among gymnasts at the stage of directed and championship training and to prove a relationship with the sports result, taking into account the difficulty and the quality of exercises. Material/Methods: The study involved boys aged 11–12 years systematically training gymnastics (G1, n = 20) and 12 experienced gymnasts aged 18–26 years with an accomplished international class (G2, n = 12). Both groups comprised top athletes classified at the national and the international level.The study was conducted prior to the apparatus trial, on the day preceding competition in an official sports tournament. The trial of maintaining the body balance in a handstand was carried out in a closed room after about a 10-minute warm-up. Results: An analysis of the tests showed significant differences in the level of maintaining the body bal-ance in a handstand. The largest one was reported in Area 95, whose field in experienced athletes was less than half the size (X = 8.16cm² ±8.06cm²) of the younger group ( X = 19.81cm² ±8.74cm²). Conclusions: The study of correlations of the body balance in a handstand with the level of sports prepara-tion has shown that the level of this specific to artistic gymnastics skill plays a big role in shap-ing sports mastery both among young gymnasts with a few years’ experience and among ex-perienced athletes with the international class.