Uneven bars release moves are skills in which a gymnast lets go of the bar, travels through the air and catches a bar again. Some return to the same bar, while others carry the gymnast between the low and high bars. The movement before the release, the body position in flight and the type of catch help distinguish one skill from another.
Names such as Tkatchev, Jaeger, Pak and Maloney become easier to follow when they are grouped by what the gymnast actually does. Start with the destination, same bar or other bar, then look at the flight.
The Main Types of Uneven Bars Release Moves
For watching and identifying skills, releases can be organized into three practical groups:
| Type | What happens | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Same-bar release | The gymnast releases and catches the same bar. | Tkatchev, Jaeger, Gienger, Nabieva |
| Low-to-high transition | The gymnast flies from the low bar to the high bar. | Shaposhnikova, Maloney, Van Leeuwen |
| High-to-low transition | The gymnast flies from the high bar to the low bar. | Pak salto, Bhardwaj, bail to handstand |
The official women’s Code includes both same-bar flight and flight between the bars. A dismount is a separate category: the gymnast releases the apparatus to land on the mat rather than catch another bar.
A useful distinction is that not every release is a somersault. Some skills involve a recognizable flip; others carry the gymnast over or between the bars without a complete airborne somersault. The Tkatchev is an important example of the latter.
The Main Same-Bar Release Families
Tkatchev: Flight Back Over the Bar
In a Tkatchev, the gymnast swings, releases and travels back over the bar before catching it again. The flight reverses the rotational direction of the preceding swing, which helps explain the technical term reverse hecht.
For a viewer, the most useful feature is the passage over the bar. In the familiar straddled version, the gymnast’s legs separate as the body clears the rail.
This is not simply a backward somersault above the apparatus. It is a counter-flight movement, followed by a catch and a return to swinging. Recognizing that movement makes the larger Tkatchev family much easier to understand. (ResearchGate)
Jaeger: A Forward Somersault and Recatch
A Jaeger involves a forward somersault followed by a catch on the same bar. Unlike the Tkatchev’s counter-flight over the rail, the forward flip is the defining feature.
Jaegers have different body-position variations, including straddled, piked and stretched versions. A gymnast can therefore perform a straddled release without performing a Tkatchev: the direction and type of rotation matter as much as the leg position.
When reviewing a routine, it helps to watch the gymnast’s whole body rather than just the feet. Ask whether the skill contains a forward somersault or a counter-flight over the bar.
Gienger and Deltchev: Similar-Looking Twisting Releases
A Gienger combines a backward somersault with a half twist before the gymnast catches the same bar. The familiar version uses a piked body position.
A Deltchev begins its half turn earlier and continues into a forward somersault, traditionally straddled. Both can look like a twisting flip toward the bar, but the sequence of turning and somersaulting differs. Slow-motion footage is particularly helpful for telling them apart.
Why Similar Release Moves Have Different Names
A release has more than one identifying feature. The gymnast might perform a similar flight from a different type of circle, or use a different body shape after letting go.
Two questions help separate those details:
What happens immediately before release? This is the entry.
What shape does the gymnast show while airborne? This is the flight position.
Do not assume that an entry name describes the airborne shape. A skill can begin with a straddled circle and then use a piked position over the bar, as in the Downie.
Tkatchev-Family Names at a Glance
These selected examples show how changing the entry or flight position produces a different named skill:
| Skill | Entry | Position over the bar |
|---|---|---|
| Ray | Toe-on | Straddled |
| Church | Toe-on | Piked |
| Nabieva | Toe-on | Layout |
| Hindorff | Clear hip | Straddled |
| Shang | Clear hip | Piked |
| Ricna | Stalder | Straddled |
| Downie | Stalder | Piked |
| Nemour | Inbar | Layout |
These names and their underlying movements appear in FIG’s element descriptions and named-element records.
For a first viewing, there is no need to memorize every row. Follow one comparison at a time: first distinguish straddled flight from piked flight, then review the circle before the release.
Nabieva: A Toe-On Layout Tkatchev
The Nabieva is a Tkatchev-family release performed from a toe-on entry with a stretched body over the bar. Its descriptive name is toe-on layout Tkatchev.
The layout position is what gives the airborne phase its long, extended appearance. “Layout” describes the body through the hips as well as the legs; straight knees alone do not make a skill a layout.
Olympics.com identifies the release with Tatiana Nabieva, who originally performed it in 2010. The surname is useful shorthand, but the descriptive name tells a viewer both the entry and the flight shape.
Nemour: A Different Entry Into Layout Flight
The Nemour also uses stretched Tkatchev-style flight, but it begins from an inbar circle rather than a toe-on circle. FIG describes it as a clear pike circle backward followed by a stretched reverse hecht over the high bar. It is often explained as an inbar Nabieva.
FIG announced the named element in 2023 and awarded the name to Kaylia Nemour.
The practical lesson is that the airborne portion does not always identify the whole skill. When two releases look almost identical above the bar, replay the movement immediately before takeoff.
Bar-to-Bar Releases and Transitions
Flight between the bars creates another set of recognizable skills. Here, the first question is not “Which flip was that?” but “Which bar did the gymnast leave, and which one did she catch?”
Low-to-High: The Shaposhnikova Family
The Shaposhnikova begins with a clear-hip circle on the low bar and carries the gymnast backward through the air to the high bar. Related transitions change the entry or add a turn during flight.
| Skill | Distinguishing feature |
|---|---|
| Shaposhnikova | Clear-hip entry |
| Maloney | Toe-on entry |
| Van Leeuwen | Toe-on entry with a half turn in flight |
| Komova II | Inbar entry without the half turn |
The FIG descriptions distinguish the circling action and any turn before the high-bar catch. Try watching the low-bar circle before looking at the catch. Following only the flight can make several different transitions seem like the same move.
High-to-Low: Pak, Bhardwaj and Bail
A Pak salto carries the gymnast from the high bar to the low bar through a backward somersault with an extended body. A bail to handstand instead uses a half turn during the transfer and finishes at handstand on the low bar. (FlipHTML5)
The Bhardwaj adds a full twist to the Pak salto. USA Gymnastics describes the skill as a backward flip with a 360-degree twist from the high bar to a catch on the low bar. It is named for Mohini Bhardwaj.
That comparison is worth learning:
| Skill | Main identifying feature |
|---|---|
| Pak salto | Backward layout somersault to the low bar |
| Bhardwaj | Full-twisting Pak salto |
| Bail to handstand | Half-turning flight to a low-bar handstand |
For the Bhardwaj, watch the gymnast’s shoulders and torso during flight rather than counting apparent changes in leg position. The extra turn is the feature that separates it from the Pak.
How Release Moves Fit Together in a Routine
A routine does not present every release as an isolated trick. A gymnast may catch one flight element and continue directly into another, changing both the type of movement and the destination.
For example, USA Gymnastics reported that Riley McCusker’s routine at the 2017 Jesolo Trophy included a Stalder-to-piked-Tkatchev release and a Stalder Tkatchev connected to a Pak salto.
That second combination can be followed as two separate actions:
Same-bar release → high-to-low transition
The first skill returns to the high bar. The next takes the gymnast to the low bar. Separating the sequence this way is more manageable than trying to recognize a long string of surnames at full speed.
A Practical Way to Watch
Use three passes through a replay rather than trying to identify everything at once:
- Follow the destination. Note whether each flight stays on one bar or changes bars.
- Watch the airborne movement. Look for a somersault, a counter-flight, a body-position change or a twist.
- Review the entry. Return to the circle before release to narrow down the exact variation.
This is a viewing method, not a judging checklist. It helps organize what is visible without requiring every technical detail to be recognized immediately.
For scoring purposes, qualifying direct combinations can earn Connection Value, but not every pair of releases receives the same connection credit. The applicable requirements matter. The separate guide to how connected skills earn points explains that part in more detail.
How Release Moves Affect the Score
In FIG gymnastics, release moves contribute to the routine’s difficulty, while their execution is assessed separately. Recognizing the intended skill does not establish how well it was performed.
For a beginner watching a routine, keep those questions separate:
Which skill did the gymnast perform?
How successfully did she complete it?
Learning the names answers the first question. Understanding the judging rules answers the second. For the wider scoring picture, see how FIG uneven bars scoring works.