Parallel Bars Explained | Gymnastics Explained

Key takeaways

Gymnasts use both bars together — swinging below, above and between them — rather than working on one bar at a time.

The Code describes a parallel bars routine as predominantly swing and flight elements, not strength.

Skills fall into three element groups — elements from upper-arm hang, elements in support, and long swings and underswings — plus dismounts.

A stuck landing on a dismount of at least C value earns a 0.1 bonus.

Parallel bars asks a gymnast to use two rails as one integrated apparatus, swinging above, below and between them rather than treating each rail separately.

The apparatus

The two rails stand 200 cm above the floor (180 cm from the top of the landing mat). The gymnast starts from a still stand and leaves the ground with both feet together, either mounting directly or with a short run; a springboard is allowed for the mount. No rotating skill can be performed before the gymnast has hold of the bars.

What a routine looks like

The 2025–2028 MAG Code of Points describes a parallel bars routine as predominantly swing and flight elements, drawn from all of the element groups and linked by continuous transitions through hang and support positions. Strength and hold elements are only allowed if they appear in the Code’s difficulty tables.

The routine moves through three basic positions:

Upper-arm hang — the gymnast is supported on the upper arms, across the rails.
Support — the weight is on straight arms above the rails, including swings to handstand.
Hang — the gymnast swings below the rails, for long swings and underswings.

Element groups

Elements starting in upper-arm position
Elements in support, or through support, on two bars
Long swings in hang on one or two bars, and underswings
Dismounts

Some elements carry the names of the gymnasts who first performed them, such as the Healy, a family of turning elements on one arm. For how a routine is put together, see parallel bars skills and routine construction.

How it is scored

The D-score counts the gymnast’s seven highest-value skills plus the dismount, with no more than four skills from any one element group, and adds a bonus for each element group the routine covers. Handstands reached from swing don’t have to be held, but they must be performed in a way that shows the handstand could have been held. Execution deductions include bent arms, bent legs during kips, extra hand support during turns on one arm, and back swings that simply reverse direction without leading to a skill with value. A stuck landing on a dismount of at least C value earns a 0.1 bonus.