A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an

acrobatic Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

. 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.

Etymology

The word 'somersault' is derived from

Old Provençal Old Occitan (, ), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the 8th to the 14th centuries. Old Occitan generally includes Early and Old Occitan. Middle Occitan is somet ...

''sobresaut'' (via

Middle French Middle French () is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from the other co ...

''sombresault'') meaning "jump over", from ''sobre'', "over" (from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''supra-'', as in ''supranational''); and ''saut'', "jump" (from Latin ''saltus'', the same root as ''salient'').

Types

Body positions

Somersaults may be performed with different positions, including tucked, piked (bent at the hips), straddled, and layout (straight body). Somersaults are often completed with twists.

Direction

The sport of tumbling does not require participants to combine both front and back elements, and most tumblers prefer back tumbling as it is easier to build momentum. 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. They are counted as front tumbling in

women's artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

and back tumbling in men's artistic gymnastics.

Multiple rotations

By 2003, the tucked double back salto had become common in women's gymnastics. The triple back salto exists in men's gymnastics but was rarely competed until 2017. In 2019, American gymnast

Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles Owens ( Biles; born March 14, 1997) is an American Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history. She is widely regarded as one ...

was the first woman to complete a back triple double: two saltos backwards with three twists in a tucked position.

References