Pike

In a pike, the legs stay straight together while the body folds forward at the hips. The 2025–2028 men’s Code of Points defines a perfect piked position as one in which the knees are straight and the hips are bent at least 90°; a pike of less than that, or bent knees, is an error.

Pikes appear throughout the sport: piked saltos on floor and vault, piked releases on bars, and piked jumps on beam and floor. A pike rotates more slowly than a tuck, and needs more hamstring flexibility and core control.

Its value relative to the other shapes varies. On women’s vault, a Yurchenko piked (3.20) is worth more than one tucked (3.00) but less than one stretched (3.60); on horizontal bar, a piked Kovacs is worth an E, one value above the tucked Kovacs (D). Some skills value tuck and pike the same — a double back salto on women’s floor is a D either way.

A straddle pike has the legs wide apart, as in a straddle-pike jump or a basic Tkachev.