Tsukahara vs. Yurchenko: How to Recognize the Entry and the Complete Vault
The easiest way to distinguish a Tsukahara entry from a Yurchenko entry is to watch what happens before the gymnast reaches the springboard. A Tsukahara approach reaches the board facing toward the table. A Yurchenko approach includes a roundoff onto the board, so the gymnast arrives facing away from the table.
Contents
- Break the Vault Into Observable Phases
- Tsukahara: The Turn Occurs Before the Second Flight
- Yurchenko: A Roundoff Changes the Board Approach
- Why a Cheng Is More Than a Basic Yurchenko With Extra Twist
- Where Kasamatsu Terminology Fits
- The Family Name Does Not Establish the Score
- Which Entry Should a Gymnast Learn?
That is only the beginning of the vault. The turn before table contact, the flight after the hands leave and the landing identify the complete skill. This comparison emphasizes recognition, using the women’s FIG 2025–2028 vault groups where formal group numbers are given. Men’s classifications and domestic programs need their own rules.
Break the Vault Into Observable Phases
A vault includes the approach, board contact, first flight to the table, hand support, second flight away from the table and landing. The two flight phases are particularly useful when interpreting names: “half-on” and “one-and-a-half off” refer to different parts of the vault.
If you see only the flight after the table, you may recognize a backward salto without knowing how the gymnast entered. If you see only the approach, you may identify a roundoff entry without knowing the complete vault. A full side-view replay is therefore more useful than a photograph above the table.
| What to watch | Tsukahara family | Basic Yurchenko family |
|---|---|---|
| Before the board | Forward approach without a roundoff onto the board | Roundoff onto the board |
| Position at board contact | Facing toward the table | Facing away from the table |
| First flight | Turning handspring entry | Backward handspring entry |
| Second flight | Backward salto, with the specified shape and any twist | Backward salto, with the specified shape and any twist |
The table describes the basic comparison. Roundoff half-on vaults introduce another branch, explained below, and should not be forced into the ordinary Yurchenko description.
Tsukahara: The Turn Occurs Before the Second Flight
In the women’s FIG classification, the Tsukahara group uses a handspring entry with a quarter to half turn in the first flight, followed by a backward salto with or without twisting in the second flight. This is Group 3 in the women’s Code of Points.
The entry turn is therefore part of the movement toward the table. It should not be counted as though all turning takes place after the gymnast pushes away. Nor should the word “Tsukahara” be treated as a complete description of one fixed body shape.
A tucked, piked or stretched Tsukahara refers to the shape of the salto after the table. Additional twisting further distinguishes the vault. When listening to commentary, keep the family, shape and twist count as separate pieces of information.
Yurchenko: A Roundoff Changes the Board Approach
A basic Yurchenko begins with the roundoff onto the springboard and continues backward onto the table. After hand support, the gymnast performs the specified backward salto. The roundoff is a major recognition clue because it changes the gymnast’s orientation before the first flight.
The cartwheel-and-roundoff comparison explains the roundoff’s feet-together landing and change of orientation. On vault, that action occurs as part of a much larger sequence involving the board and table; it is not a floor roundoff followed by an unrelated pause.
“Yurchenko full” commonly describes a stretched backward salto with one twist after the table. A double-twisting Yurchenko has two twists. A Yurchenko double pike, however, has two somersaults in a piked shape. “Double” does not mean the same thing in those two descriptions.
Why a Cheng Is More Than a Basic Yurchenko With Extra Twist
The Cheng begins with a roundoff approach but adds a half turn in the first flight onto the table. Its second flight is a stretched forward salto with one-and-a-half twists. The half turn on and the twisting off need to be identified in their respective phases.
In the women’s FIG tables, roundoff half-on vaults belong to Group 5, while the ordinary Yurchenko branch is in Group 4. The shared roundoff explains why people call them related, but it does not put every roundoff-entry vault in the same formal group.
It is therefore imprecise to describe a Cheng simply as a Yurchenko with more twists after the table, or as having a Tsukahara entry because a turn occurs before hand contact. Both statements erase a phase that distinguishes the vault.
Where Kasamatsu Terminology Fits
Men’s vault commentary often uses Kasamatsu names alongside Tsukahara names. Their relationship involves the direction and distribution of turning, and the men’s element tables identify the particular vaults. A shorthand claim that a Kasamatsu is merely an “extra quarter turn” is not enough to explain or count every variation.
For an introductory comparison, first establish the entry without guessing a precise Kasamatsu variant from a distant camera angle. Then use the announced vault and the applicable men’s table to resolve the detailed description. The vault names and families guide provides the wider context.
The Family Name Does Not Establish the Score
Two vaults can share an entry and have different difficulty because the second flight differs. Two athletes can perform the same listed vault and receive different final scores because their execution differs. Neither result is surprising once entry, complete vault identity and performance quality are kept separate.
A high, controlled-looking flight does not by itself establish the intended difficulty credit. Judges also need to recognize the required shape and rotation. Similarly, completing a difficult vault does not erase deductions for technical faults or the landing.
Use the vault scoring comparison before transferring numbers between FIG, USAG, Xcel and NCAA. The entry name is useful vocabulary across settings, but the complete scoring rules are not interchangeable.
Which Entry Should a Gymnast Learn?
That decision needs more than a body-type label. Existing skills, the coach’s assessment, available equipment and the development plan all matter. It is not reliable to assign Yurchenkos to “powerful” gymnasts and Tsukaharas to “fast twisters” based on appearance.
Nor does either family supply a universal safer first choice. This article explains what a viewer sees, rather than prescribing a run, board distance, hand placement or blocking cue. Those details belong in supervised vault instruction.
When watching the next replay, follow four checkpoints: the movement before the board, the first flight, the second flight and the landing. Identifying the entry first makes the rest of the vault easier to understand without pretending that the family name tells the whole story.