USA Gymnastics includes the following sub-sports in their organization:
Artistic Gymnastics is the sport everyone is familiar with and what comes to mind when someone says "gymnastics." In fact, this program is so popular it is split into two groups: Women's (WAG) and Men's (MAG). It is also one of the most popular sports at the Olympic Games. Gymnasts compete on several different apparatuses (4 for the women and 6 for the men), leaping and tumbling their hearts out. Each AG meet, whether local or Olympic, has an All-Around competition (the gymnast with the highest score on all the apparatuses) and individual Event Finals for specialists. There is also a Team Final. The apparatuses for women are: Vault, Floor Exercise, Uneven (or Asymmetric) Bars, and Balance Beam. The men compete on: Vault, Floor Exercise, Still Rings, Parallel Bars, Horizontal (or High) Bar, and Pommel Horse. Artistic Gymnasts tend to small and compact in build, to ease their flight through the air, and the sport emphasizes physical strength.
Rhythmic Gymnastics may seem at first glance like some kind of costume party with all the glittery makeup and dramatic leotards, but trust me, it is all business. With very rare exceptions, this is the only sub-group exclusively performed by women, due to its (some would say excessive) emphasis on flexibility. Gymnasts perform on a less-springy floor exercise mat, as they do not tumble and their apparatuses are small enough to be held and manipulated easily. They are: Hoop, Clubs, Ribbon, Ball, and Rope. Rhythmic Gymnastics also has an All-Around, Event Finals, and Team Finals, though their TF is structured differently. In AG, athletes compete their routines individually, and their scores are all added up to see which team wins. In RG, teams compete a special routine including all of them on the floor at once. It's very exciting and awesome to watch 5 athletes toss, catch, and spin 5 or more different pieces of apparatus, all at once and in perfect harmony. The ideal Rhythmic Gymnast is tall and lean, to aid flexibility. However, if you've ever seen a still photograph of a gymnast performing, they have quite a bit of lean muscle. RG is also an Olympic sport, both Team and Individual.
Trampoline and Tumbling, where height and endurance is the name of the game. Every gymnast except Rhythmic is expected to have at least a basic knowledge of tumbling, but T & T gymnasts elevate it to an art form. Because of their similarity, the two sports are combined into one (and share international meets and a World Championship), but you are either a tumbler or a trampolinist. Tumblers show off an insane amount of flips and twists on a long, very bouncy strip similar to a vault runway in AG. This is known as power tumbling. Trampolinists can show off their skills in two events: Individual and Synchronized. There is a even that combines the two known as Double Mini Trampoline. The first two are self-explanatory, but Double Mini is relatively new. It's hard to explain, so I'll quote directly from the USAG website: "[Double Mini] combines the horizontal run of tumbling with the vertical rebound of trampoline. After a short run, the athlete jumps onto a small two-level trampoline to perform a rebounding trick immediately followed by a dismount element onto a landing mat. Double mini is similar in concept to springboard diving, using a mat instead of water." Trampoline is a new Olympic sport (introduced at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney), but Tumbling is still not. As with AG, strong gymnasts will find themselves at home doing T & T, though they tend to be larger in size.
Acrobatic Gymnastics starts to get into the more obscure side of the gym world. It is not represented at the Olympics but has its own World Championships and other major international meets. Acro is never performed alone, making it ideal for gymnasts seeking an exclusively team sport. In fact, instead of apparatuses, it is divided instead into types of teams competing on a floor: Men's Pairs, Women's Pairs, Mixed Pairs, Women's Groups (3 gymnasts), and Men's Groups (4 gymnasts). Whatever group they are, the gymnasts use their teammates as the a kind of living apparatus, climbing and standing on each other, and tossing each other into the air for high-flying leaps. In fact, think of AcroG as cheerleading on steroids, although cheer gets its ass handed to it by Acro. For one thing, cheer relies on bases of four or more girls for aerial stunts, even at its highest levels. Even for women in Acro, they will have only one or two bases supporting them, and performing much higher and more impressive flips and twists as well. There is little tumbling in Acro, since the emphasis is on working together. It is usually used to connect a group skill. All body types and flexibility levels are welcome in Acro, since bases need to have strength and stability, tops need to be light and supple, and middles (for groups) need to display some of both.
Group Gymnastics (also Gymnastics for All) is almost completely unknown, probably because it caters to all levels of gymnasts, and is mainly recreational. However, there is a World Championship. I watched one women's routine, with 7 athletes. It seems to comprise no tumbling, but mostly leaps, jumps, and basic holds. The challenge would be keeping such a large group in synch. The music it is performed to also allows vocals with words, unlike every other sub-sport. I know very little about it, but it deserves recognition here.
Well, there you go! A little introduction into what is really meant by "gymnastics" on the world stage!
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