Zornitsa

The rope has been first included in the programme of the Second World Championship in Prague in 1965. It is manufactured from a synthetic material possessing both flexibility and lightness. Its length is proportional to gymnast's height. There are nodes at both ends. The rope exercises are commonly performed with more accelerated music accompaniment as there is need of considerable dynamics and space as well. Along with the obligatory elements, the jumps, turns, and ejections are typical of the rope exercises. Typical of the Bulgarian school are throwing-up, catching, and transmissing the apparatus in unaccustomed positions.

The ball is a principal apparatus involved already during the initial manifestations of the art gymnastics. It is manufactured from a polished gutta percha. The weight is about 400 g and the diameter between 18 and 20 cm. The play is characterized mainly by original rollings along gymnast's arms and body. Jumps, high ejections, dribble, waves as well as deflection by the shoulder and some other parts of the body are performed using this apparatus. Bulgarian exercises are characterized by complicated catching the ball behind during jumping and with rotating as well. The ball enables tender and expressive performances and requires much plasticity and flexibilityl.

Lilia Ignatova, European champion in 1986

The hoop has been included as an obligatory apparatus already at the First World Championship in Budapest in 1963. It is manufactured from plastic. Its weight is not less than 300 g and the diameter is between 80 and 90 cm. Handling requires dexterity, quickness, and skilfulness. The rope enables original performances. It can be ejected from behind, under the leg, or by the leg itself, and then catched during the balance, by stepping on it, or by the leg. The enhanced difficulty necessitates preciseness and outlined elegance.

The usage of the bats undergoes very serios alterations. In the very beginning, one bat has been used only during the exercises. The use of two bats has been first introduced in the international competition programme in 1973. They are manufactured from plastic. The bats are 46 cm long and consist of head, neck, and body. Their application ensures greater variety and enhanced difficulty. A new group of exercises can be differentiated consisting in the so-called "mills", successive ejections and turns of the bats during balances and other elements of the composition. The simultaneous high ejections of both bats and the acrobatic elements are appreciated. The degree of difficulty and risk of the performances increases continuously.

Bianka Panova, World champion in 1987 and 1989

The band consists of a crop, connector and a 5-cm wide and more than 6 m-long band of silk fabric. The band introduces much emotionality and dimensions. The uninterrupted interference of graceful movements represents the basic requirement when playing with the band. An obligatory precondition is its active involvement in every exercise. Interrupted band movements, its sharp pulling out or incorrect force distribution lead to technical errors. Spiral and zigzag movements, high ejections, pirouettes and boomerang exercise represent components of the performances with the band. They impart beauty, variety, and spectacularity. All of these apparata provide the gymnasts with the opportunity to demonstrate to a different degree their own individual properties. We ourselves are pleased to make use of all the apparata although we prefer the hoop and bats. The regulations of the International Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics define the requirements to be met by the performances thus enabling proper comparisons and evaluations.