To perform this skill the gymnast must first be able to execute a front tuck from the board onto elevated soft surfaces as high as the beam. To develop the front tuck mount and to warm up the skill, the gymnast may practice runs to the spring board and perform a straight jump to land on the beam.
Here we include a few examples of an interesting beam mount with a C value in the international gymnastics federation difficulty ratings. The gymnast must strive to minimize wobbles during the split landing. Watch this final beautiful example of this side jump to split mount.
Here we have included some examples of a 360 degree pirouette, followed by piking down and bringing the legs through to a V position. It is important to remember to minimize the number of hands steps needed to complete the full pirouette.
The full turns are performed on the beam following the same technical motions as the floor exercises. The turn is initiated moving the body in one single unit from the head and shoulders to the feet where the back foot not only pushes off the equipment to transfer the body support to the front foot, but also anchors the turning direction during the push off.
This is a fair full turn in a passe position showing a good effort to show a controlled one foot balanced ending. Notice how the turn is created from two feet as the weight support is transferred forward to the turning foot.
The goal in this challenging variation is to perform the turn around with the leg held horizontal. To begin, turning the back leg does not kick straight forward, but starts with a side sweeping action to help create the turning momentum.
The gymnasts' goal while performing the full turn with the front leg in a stag position is to complete the skill with the leg still in a horizontal line. The gymnast should also bring it down with control instead of dropping the leg down too early during the turn. The stag leg must be turned out.
Some gymnasts and coaches prefer to begin the full turn from a lunge position, others from a regular step forward, and some like to start the full turn from a fourth position. Here are several passe full turns beginning in a fourth position.
All of the turning skills on beam are performed in a fairly tall releve like on the floor. A proper full and a half turn finishes with the free leg stepping forward at the skill conclusion. Stepping back like in this example is a sign of the body's center of mass not being correctly placed very close to an imaginary line. The line runs from the center of the head to the body support on top of the turning foot.
This is an example of a rarely seen passe full turn, where the skill is initiated moving the body support from a lunge or fourth position toward the back leg. Before the gymnast spends time working odd turn variations, they should master the regular couppe and passe full turns.
Once the gymnast have learned how to perform some basic jumps on floor and have a good understanding of how to land safely, they may also practice basic dismounts. In the tuck jump, emphasis is placed on bringing the knees up close to the chest. For a pike jump, the gymnast brings the legs up close to a horizontal line. The goal is to show a deep pike at peak height. The straddle jump dismount must emphasize hip turn-out so at peak height the front part of the legs are facing up toward the ceiling.
Although in the round-off basic dismount the feet do not land on the beam after the arms repulsion, this skill is a useful drill to introduce advanced recreational gymnasts and entry level team gymnasts to hand placements on the beam. Notice the attention to proper posture and presentation to begin the round-off.