Gymnastics Explained
Round-Off Entry Vaults: Yurchenko and Related Families
In brief
Key takeaways
- The defining feature is the round-off onto the springboard, which turns the gymnast to face away from the table before the handspring onto it.
- There are two main branches: straight back onto the table then a salto backward (the Yurchenko branch), or a half turn onto the table then a salto forward (such as the Cheng).
- Every round-off entry vault must be performed with a safety collar around the springboard.
- What changes within each branch is the salto shape and the number of twists — worth anywhere from 3.00 to 6.40 in the women's Code.
Round-off entry vaults are instantly recognisable by their approach: instead of running straight at the table, the gymnast turns backward first.
How the entry works
The gymnast runs, performs a round-off onto the springboard so that she or he is moving backwards, then executes a back handspring (a “flic-flac” in Code of Points language) onto the vaulting table. From the table they push away into the second flight.
Because of that backward approach, both Codes require a safety collar around the springboard for every round-off entry vault; a vault performed without one scores zero. In women’s gymnastics a hand-placement mat may also be used, but only for Yurchenko-type vaults.
Two branches
What happens on the table splits the family in two.
Straight onto the table, salto backward. This is the Yurchenko branch, named after Natalia Yurchenko, and group 4 of the women’s vault table. The gymnast arrives on the table still facing backwards and leaves it with a salto backward. Some vaults in this group add a three-quarter turn onto the table first.
Half turn onto the table, salto forward. Group 5 of the women’s table covers round-off entries with a half turn during the back handspring, so the gymnast leaves the table facing forwards and performs a salto forward (or backward). The Cheng and the Biles both belong here.
Women’s values
Some examples from the 2025–2028 WAG Code of Points:
| Vault | Group | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Yurchenko tucked | 4 | 3.00 |
| Yurchenko stretched with a full twist | 4 | 4.20 |
| Yurchenko stretched with 2½ twists (Amanar) | 4 | 5.40 |
| Half turn on, stretched salto forward with 1½ twists (Cheng) | 5 | 5.60 |
| Half turn on, stretched salto forward with 2 twists (Biles) | 5 | 6.00 |
| Yurchenko double piked salto (Biles II) | 4 | 6.40 |
A plain round-off and back handspring onto the table with no salto (“repulsion off”) also exists, in group 1, worth 2.00.
Men’s values
The men’s Code groups these vaults by how complex the twisting is rather than by direction. Group 4 holds round-off entries with complex twists — for example, a Yurchenko stretched with a full twist (3.6), with 2½ twists (the Shewfelt, 4.8), with three twists (the Shirai / Kim Hee Hoon, 5.2) and with 3½ twists (Shirai 2, 5.6). Group 5 holds round-off entries with simple twists or none, and double saltos — including the plain Yurchenko tucked, worth 1.8.
For the full numbering system, see vault numbers and groups. For the forward-entry family, see handspring vaults.
Sources
- Women's Artistic Gymnastics — 2025-2028 Code of Points — International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) (accessed 31 August 2026)
- Men's Artistic Gymnastics — 2025-2028 Code of Points — International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) (accessed 31 August 2026)
Written by Claire McDonald
Published 25 October 2026 · editorially reviewed 10 October 2026 · High review risk
This page has not been independently reviewed by a gymnastics technical expert.
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