Gymnastics is a sport where athletes perform turns, leaps, flips, and handstands. These moves are carried out on a variety of specialized equipment. Women perform these moves on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. Men perform these moves on the floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar.
 
Tumbling is a form of gymnastics performed without any specialized equipment. Stunts like backflips, handsprings, somersaults, and tucks are shown on the floor sometimes using mats for extra cushioning. Tumbling is seen in gymnastics in the floor exercise, but tumbling does not feature the same dancing elements (turns, leaps, etc.) as in floor gymnastics routines. Many cheerleading squads require experience in tumbling, as many of the routines involve backflips and other floor tricks.

Don't know if you should pick Gymnastics or Tumbling? We always recommend starting with gymnastics, then going to a tumbling class if it's not your thing!