Gymnastics Explained
Skills
Gymnastics skills in plain English, grouped by apparatus: vocabulary guides that explain how skills are built, and named skills such as the Yurchenko, Tkachev and Iron Cross.
36 pages in this section
Across the apparatus
Shapes, twists, turns and named-skill basics that apply on more than one apparatus.
Guide
Saltos, Twists and Shapes: Gymnastics Tumbling Vocabulary
Most tumbling skills are described by three things at once: the salto's direction, how many twists are added, and the body shape (tuck, pike or layout) it's performed in.
Guide
Tuck, Pike and Layout: Body Shapes Compared
Tuck, pike and layout describe how the body is held during a salto: knees drawn in, legs straight and bent at the hips, or fully extended — with layout generally the hardest of the three.
Guide
Turns and Pirouettes in Women's Gymnastics
A turn rotates the body around a vertical axis on one foot (beam, floor); a pirouette does the same in a handstand or support position on bars, judged on control and completing the full rotation.
Guide
What Is a Biles Skill? Every Named Biles Element Explained
A 'Biles' skill is any element formally credited to Simone Biles in the Code of Points after she first performed it at an eligible international competition. As of the 2025-2028 cycle, five such elements exist: two on vault, two on floor exercise and one on balance beam.
Named skill
Giant swing
A giant swing is a full 360-degree circle around a bar with the body extended straight, used to build the speed and rhythm that release moves and dismounts rely on.
Vault
Guide
Handspring Vaults Explained
Handspring entry vaults involve the gymnast running straight at the table and performing a front handspring onto it. The plain handspring is the simplest vault in the Code of Points, but the family also includes some of the hardest vaults in the sport.
Guide
Round-Off Entry Vaults: Yurchenko and Related Families
Round-off entry vaults start with a round-off onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the table — the Yurchenko is the best-known example of this entry family.
Guide
Tsukahara Vaults Explained
A Tsukahara vault starts like a front handspring, but the gymnast turns a quarter or half onto the table and then performs a salto backward off it.
Guide
Vault Numbers, Groups and Difficulty Explained
Every recognised vault is listed in the Code of Points with a number and a fixed difficulty value, in one of five groups defined mainly by how the gymnast gets onto the table — handspring, Tsukahara or round-off entries.
Named skill
Dragulescu
A Dragulescu is a front-handspring-entry vault followed by a double front tucked salto with a half twist in the flight phase.
Named skill
Produnova
A Produnova is a handspring-entry vault followed by two forward tucked saltos in the flight phase, widely regarded as one of the most difficult and highest-risk vaults ever attempted in competition.
Named skill
Yurchenko vault
A Yurchenko vault starts with a round-off onto the springboard, a back handspring onto the vaulting table, then one or more saltos and/or twists before landing.
Uneven Bars
Guide
Uneven Bars Grip Types Explained
Bar gymnasts switch between a small number of hand grips — regular (overgrip), reverse (undergrip), mixed and L-grip — because different skills need different grips. Showing more than one grip is also one of the four uneven bars composition requirements.
Guide
Uneven Bars Release Moves: A Beginner's Guide
A release move — a "flight element" in the Code of Points — is any skill where a gymnast lets go of a bar mid-swing and catches it, or the other bar, again. Releases carry high difficulty, meet two of the four bars composition requirements, and are judged on height and a clean re-grasp.
Named skill
Jaeger
A Jaeger is a release move where the gymnast, swinging backward, lets go and performs a forward salto in a tucked, straddled, piked or straight shape to re-catch the same bar.
Named skill
Pak salto
A Pak salto is a release move where the gymnast swings forward on the high bar, lets go, performs a stretched backward salto between the bars, and catches the low bar in support.
Named skill
Shaposhnikova
A Shaposhnikova is a release move where the gymnast performs a clear-hip circle on the low bar and flies backward to catch the high bar, transitioning between bars rather than re-catching the same one.
Named skill
Tkachev
A Tkachev is a release move where the gymnast, swinging forward under the bar, lets go and flies backward over it in a straddled, piked or straight shape, then re-catches the same bar.
Balance Beam
Guide
Beam Acrobatic Series Explained
A beam acrobatic series links two or more acrobatic flight skills directly along the beam, with no step or pause between them. One series — including a salto — is a composition requirement, and series earn connection value and a series bonus.
Guide
Beam Mounts and Dismounts Explained
A mount is how a gymnast gets onto the beam to start a routine; a dismount is the final skill that ends it. Both are rated elements: a mount without difficulty value is deducted, a routine without a dismount loses points, and a D-value or harder dismount earns a bonus.
Guide
Leaps, Jumps and Hops on Beam and Floor
In the Code of Points, a leap takes off from one foot and lands on the other (or both), a hop takes off from one foot and lands on the same foot (or both), and a jump takes off from both feet — all judged partly on the split or body position at the peak.
Floor Exercise
Guide
Dance Elements in Women's Floor Routines
Dance content — leaps, jumps, hops, turns and the choreography connecting them — is a required part of a WAG floor routine: at least three of the eight counting skills must be dance elements, and one composition requirement is a travelling dance passage.
Guide
Floor Tumbling Passes: How Routines Are Built
A tumbling pass — an 'acro line' in the women's Code — is a run of linked acrobatic skills performed across the floor, usually corner to corner. Both Codes set rules on how many passes count, how they use the floor, and what the final one must be.
Named skill
Moors
A Moors is a double-twisting double back salto performed in a laid-out (straight-body) position on floor, first landed in competition by Canadian gymnast Victoria Moors and, for several years, the highest-rated tumbling skill in the sport.
Pommel Horse
Guide
Circles and Flairs on Pommel Horse Explained
A circle is a continuous circular swing of the body around the horse with the legs together; a flair is the same circular swing with the legs straddled. Both are judged on continuous rhythm, full extension and clean support positions.
Guide
What Is a Whitlock Skill? Named Elements and Context
As of this review (August 2026), Max Whitlock has no element formally named after him in the FIG Code of Points, on pommel horse or any other apparatus — despite being the most successful pommel horse gymnast in Olympic history. He has said getting a named element is a goal for his build-up to LA 2028.
Guide
What Makes a Good Pommel Horse Routine?
A strong pommel horse routine covers all three element groups — single-leg swings and scissors, circles and flairs, and travels — moves across the whole horse, and above all never stops swinging from mount to dismount.
Named skill
Magyar
A Magyar is a pommel horse travel element in which the gymnast circles progressively along the full length of the horse, rather than circling in one place; it is named after Hungarian gymnast Zoltán Magyar, who pioneered lengthwise travel on the apparatus.
Still Rings
Guide
Strength Holds on Still Rings Explained
Strength holds on rings — such as a cross or a handstand — must be held motionless for a required count on freely hanging rings, with any shake, swing or asymmetry deducted.
Guide
Swing-to-Strength and Strength-to-Swing on Rings
A swing-to-strength element carries momentum from a swinging skill into a held strength position, and is formally recognised as its own element group on rings with its own difficulty values. Releasing from a hold back into a swing is a real, judged technique too, but current sources do not show it as a separately named Code of Points category the way swing-to-strength is.
Named skill
Iron cross
An iron cross is a strength hold on still rings where the gymnast's body hangs vertically while the arms are extended straight out to the sides, held motionless for a required count.
Named skill
Maltese
A Maltese is a strength hold on still rings where the gymnast holds the body horizontal, close to the rings, with the arms extended out to the sides — widely regarded as harder than an iron cross.
Parallel Bars
Horizontal Bar
Guide
Horizontal Bar Releases Explained
Horizontal bar routines are made entirely of swings, so their difficulty comes largely from release moves (flight elements) — letting go mid-swing and re-catching — which can be linked together for connection value, ending in the sport's highest dismounts.
Named skill
Cassina
A Cassina is a horizontal bar release move: a Kovacs-style double backward salto over the bar, performed in a straight (stretched) body shape with a full twist added, before re-catching the bar.
Named skill
Kovacs
A Kovacs is a horizontal bar release in which the gymnast lets go and performs a double backward salto over the bar before re-catching it to continue swinging.