Gymnastics Rings Moves: Holds, Swings and Dismounts
Gymnastics rings moves combine held positions, swinging elements and a dismount. A cross or Maltese may look like the whole skill, but the route into that position can change the skill’s name and difficulty.
Contents
To follow a still rings routine, watch three things: how the gymnast arrives, whether the body clearly stops, and how the next movement begins. This guide explains those changes for viewers. The selected FIG values refer to the 2025–2028 men’s Code, checked against the published updates through July 2026; they are not a training order or a USAG level checklist.
Gymnastics Rings Moves: The Three Parts of a Routine
Strength and hold work includes controlled movements into positions such as crosses and planches. Swing work carries the gymnast through hang, support and handstand. The dismount ends the exercise with a release and landing.
Hang places the body below the hands; support places it above them. A routine repeatedly changes that relationship. A gymnast can reach a familiar hold using a slow strength movement or a dynamic swing, and the Code treats those routes separately.
Watch the Changes in a Complete Routine
Start around 0:30, with Whittenburg hanging at the beginning of the exercise. Notice how different a deliberate hold looks from a swing that keeps moving. The horizontal position around 0:39 and the handstand around 1:10 give you two clear shapes to follow. Watch how he enters and leaves each one, then continue through the final swing and landing.
On a second viewing, look at the rings rather than the feet. A stable body shape and controlled apparatus must appear together. Watch whether the gymnast establishes the position directly or adjusts after arriving.
Recognize the Position Before Naming the Whole Skill
In an iron cross, the body is upright and the straight arms extend sideways. In an inverted cross, the body points upward. A planche and Maltese both have a face-down, horizontal body, but the shoulders sit above the rings in the planche and at ring height in the Maltese, also called a swallow.
The illustrated still rings positions guide covers these shapes, levers, L-sits and handstands in detail. Here, the position is the starting clue: the entry and transition are what turn that clue into a complete skill description.
Selected FIG Values for Standalone Holds
These are exact held positions in Element Group II, the Code’s strength-and-hold group. Each listed position requires a two-second hold. A harder movement arriving in the same shape can have a different value.
| Held position | FIG element | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| L-sit or straddled L-sit | II.1 | A / 0.1 |
| Back lever | II.7 | A / 0.1 |
| Front lever | II.13 | A / 0.1 |
| Planche with legs together | II.9 | C / 0.3 |
| Cross, including the listed V-cross variation | II.15 | C / 0.3 |
| Inverted cross | II.4 | D / 0.4 |
| Maltese / swallow | II.10 | D / 0.4 |
A low letter does not make a movement easy for a beginner. A front lever has a low value within elite gymnastics scoring but still demands substantial control. The letters classify competitive difficulty; they are not labels for beginner, intermediate and advanced training.
Why the Entry Changes the Skill
Two gymnasts can finish in a cross after visibly different movements. Watch the body before it stops:
| Movement | What distinguishes the route | Why a still image misses it |
|---|---|---|
| Azarian | A slow backward roll with a straight body leads into a cross. | The roll is part of the element, not just a way to get into position. |
| Nakayama | The gymnast passes through a back-lever position and slowly pulls toward a cross. | The horizontal position and controlled pull distinguish it from a backward roll. |
| Swing into a strength hold | A dynamic swing rises directly into the held position. | The final hold alone does not reveal the preceding swing. |
The July 2026 men’s newsletter clarifies the slow backward roll used in Azarian-type elements. Once the gymnast passes the inverted vertical position, a body bend greater than 45 degrees prevents recognition of the roll; the final hold can still receive credit if it meets its own requirements. An imperfect entry does not automatically turn a correctly shown cross into no skill at all.
For viewers, this is a reason to keep watching the whole movement. Matching the final pose to a name can miss both the difficult part and the error that affected its credit.
What the Two-Second Hold Means
The two seconds begin with the completed static position, including the shoulders and feet. Time spent moving toward the shape does not count as holding it.
A short hold and no stop are different faults. An insufficient hold brings an execution deduction; a hold element with no visible stop receives neither difficulty nor element-group recognition. Slowly passing through a cross is therefore different from establishing and holding one.
Swings Make Rings More Than a Strength Display
Watch for the point where the gymnast leaves a hold and returns to a continuous swing. The rings event depends on that contrast: controlled stillness must fit into an exercise that also contains dynamic movement.
The Yamawaki and Jonasson are forward double-somersaulting swing elements in which the gymnast keeps hold of the rings. The Yamawaki uses a tucked action; the Jonasson uses a piked or straight-body action. They should continue through the movement, rather than become a series of separate poses.
A swing to a held handstand has a different finish. Look for the body reaching vertical above the hands and settling there. The arrival matters as well as the final position: the gymnast is expected to reach it directly, without visible corrections to find the shape.
The Dismount Completes the Exercise
For the dismount, the gymnast builds swing, releases the rings and lands on the mat. This is where the hands finally leave the apparatus for the finish.
A double salto describes two flips; a double twist describes two turns around the body’s length. They are separate counts. The gymnastics dismounts guide explains the names and body shapes across apparatus.
A stuck landing is only the end of the exercise. It does not cancel short holds, bent arms or uncontrolled transitions earlier in the routine.
What to Watch Besides the Difficulty
Look for direct arrivals in the required positions, straight arms where the element calls for them, distinct holds and controlled rings. If the gymnast visibly adjusts the shoulders or feet after arriving, that is different from establishing the position immediately.
Not every adjustment causes the skill to lose its difficulty value. A movement can be recognized and still receive execution deductions. The men’s FIG scoring guide explains how those two judgments contribute to the score.
For a particular named movement, the Gymnastics Skill Explorer helps compare the complete descriptions. Elite difficulty letters should not be used as a young gymnast’s progression chart; the men’s levels overview explains the separate USAG pathways.
Final Takeaway
Recognizing a cross or Maltese is a useful start. Following the entry, hold and exit tells you much more. Gymnastics rings moves are easiest to understand as connected actions: a slow roll, a controlled pull, a swing into a hold, then movement toward the next skill.
Main Sources
- FIG 2025–2028 Men’s Code of Points — Section 12, particularly hold recognition and the element tables on pages 64, 67 and 69.
- Men’s Technical Committee Newsletter No. 4, July 2026 — slow backward roll clarification, effective September 1, 2026.
- Men’s Technical Committee Newsletter No. 3, December 2025 — updates effective January 1, 2026, checked alongside the Code.