Currently, there are over 500 skills depicted in the women`s scoring rules in gymnastics. This is the result of continuous skill development efforts by athletes and coaches. To reorganize the results of such skill development, we must study the changes in scoring rules and improvements made in equipment and consider how they relate to skills. Studies that directly focus on sports movements and explore the technical aspects of sports, rather than investigating the general history ofsports development from a sociocultural perspective, are studies on the historical development of skills (Kishino, Tawa, 1972). Such studies are now commonplace in gymnastics research but are mostly based on men`s events. This study examines the developments made in salto on balance beams from the 1960s to the present day, highlighting the changes in skill development triggered by new scoring rules and improved equipment and shedding light on the future direction of skill development in gymnastics. The following summarizes the results of this research. 1. In the 1960s, salto skills for balance beams were identified and were only performed during dismount. 2. From the 1970s to the 1980s, many salto skills were developed owing to balance beam equipment improvements as well as the program component system in scoring rules and the point adding system. 3. Since the 1990s, owing to rule changes and a lack of improvement in the width of the beam, almost no new salto skills have been developed. 4. Since the 2000s, owing to a change in the height of the balance beam, having a mat placed on the ground for safety, and a scoring rule focused on high difficulty, the development of dismount skills has progressed. In relation to the future of skill development, this can be summarized as follows. 1. The development of balance beam dismount skills with complicated structures that are similar to those in floor exercises is likely to occur. 2. We can also expect the development of different salto on the beam compared to floor exercises, such as modified salto with one leg jumps and one leg landings that can be performed on the width of the balance beam.
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