Comparative Essay Example: Gymnastics vs. Volleyball

When walking in a gym, you see a 5’5 gymnast and a 5’5 volleyball player. Do you think they would have the same skills or be good at the same things? They are the same height but have a much different body type. That's a stereotype. A gymnast looks strong, muscular, and on the shorter side. But a volleyball player is tall, with long legs, and a lean body. I'm a mix of both, I have a strong, muscular look, some long legs and I'm semi-tall. But do they use some of the same equipment, have the same goals, or have the same scoring?

Both sports are very different but an obvious difference is the equipment used in each sport. As for gymnastics, the equipment used is a beam, a set of uneven bars, a vault, a spring floor, and a variety of different mats. The beam measures 4.07 feet in height, 16 feet in length, and 3.9 inches in width. For the uneven bars, the top bar is 7.8 feet above the ground, and the low bar is 5.4 feet high. The height of the vault is 4’3 and is 3.9 feet by 3 feet. Lastly, the floor is a square at 39.37 feet by 39.37 feet with a carpet bonded foam on top. Now, the volleyball court is 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, with the centerline at 30 feet across, the attack line at 10 feet on each side, and the end line at the back of each court. The height of a net stands at 7’4, with the antenna 32 inches tall.

The points in gymnastics and volleyball determine the goal of the sports. For instance, in volleyball, the goal is to win best to 25 points in 5 sets. Then in gymnastics, the goal is to get the least amount of deduction. The scoring for individuals, the gymnast’s final score is the total of the difficulty and execution scores subtracting any deductions for neutral errors. The team scoring is different, a perfect team score is 200 points (five scores out of a possible 10 points count times for events.) 

The depth of scoring in gymnastics is very complex, as for volleyball it's very simple. In volleyball, the point goes to the side/team that wins the point. This can be a point in many ways. A serve in the net by the other team, a kill, a bad pass by the other team that lets the ball drop on their side, or when the other team makes the ball go out. But the gymnastics scoring is a lot more confusing. The loss of points in gymnastics scores is caused by deductions. A deduction is an action of deducting or subtracting something. There are dozens of deductions but the most general is used in most events and is easy to comprehend. To start, toes not pointed, legs separated when they should be together, not maintaining tight body positions, bent arms or legs, balance errors, and falls.

So now, when walking into a gym and seeing a 5’5 gymnast and a 5’5 volleyball player, think about the aspects that happen. They both jump in the right position, they try not to fall, they angle themself in the right direction, and they use body awareness. They might be different in equipment, goals, and scoring. But I think that overall skill and movement are quite similar.