Skills & Events

Uneven Bars Release Moves: Names, Types and Examples

12 Min Read

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.

Contents

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:

TypeWhat happensExamples
Same-bar releaseThe gymnast releases and catches the same bar.Tkatchev, Jaeger, Gienger, Nabieva
Low-to-high transitionThe gymnast flies from the low bar to the high bar.Shaposhnikova, Maloney, Van Leeuwen
High-to-low transitionThe 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

Most same-bar releases belong to three families, compared in frame-by-frame drawings in our guide to telling the Tkatchev, Jaeger and Gienger apart. In brief:

A Tkatchev flies back over the bar without a somersault, a counter-flight the Code calls a reverse hecht, and the gymnast catches the bar from the other side.

A Jaeger is a forward somersault caught on the same bar. A straddled Jaeger can show the same leg shape as a straddled Tkatchev, so watch the rotation rather than the legs.

A Gienger is a backward somersault with a half twist. The Deltchev can look similar, but it begins its half turn earlier and continues into a forward somersault, traditionally straddled. 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:

SkillEntryPosition over the bar
RayToe-onStraddled
ChurchToe-onPiked
NabievaToe-onLayout
HindorffClear hipStraddled
ShangClear hipPiked
RicnaStalderStraddled
DownieStalderPiked
NemourInbarLayout

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.

SkillDistinguishing feature
ShaposhnikovaClear-hip entry
MaloneyToe-on entry
Van LeeuwenToe-on entry with a half turn in flight
Komova IIInbar 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. (FIG Women’s Code of Points)

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:

SkillMain identifying feature
Pak saltoBackward layout somersault to the low bar
BhardwajFull-twisting Pak salto
Bail to handstandHalf-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:

  1. Follow the destination. Note whether each flight stays on one bar or changes bars.
  2. Watch the airborne movement. Look for a somersault, a counter-flight, a body-position change or a twist.
  3. 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.

The uneven bars routine guide shows how release skills fit among circles, turns and the dismount.

Final Takeaway

Uneven bars release moves fall into three practical groups: same-bar releases such as the Tkatchev, Jaeger and Gienger, low-to-high transitions such as the Shaposhnikova and Maloney, and high-to-low transitions such as the Pak salto and Bhardwaj.

To name one, start with the destination, same bar or other bar, then look at the flight (a somersault, a counter-flight or a twist) and finally at the circle before the release, which is all that separates straddled Tkatchev-type releases such as the Ray, Ricna and Hindorff.

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