What does a gymnast have to do on the uneven bars?
I · Intermediate · Vault and the women's apparatus · 2 of 9Swing without stopping between a high bar and a low bar. The exercise must include a flight from the high bar to the low bar, a flight that returns to the same bar, a change of grip and a turn of at least 360 degrees. After a fall the gymnast has 30 seconds to remount.
How it works
- The four requirements, 0.50 each: "Flight element from HB to LB", a "Flight element on the same bar", "Different grips" and a "Non-flight element with min. 360° turn".
- Eight elements: the eight highest values count, including the dismount.
- Root skills: only three elements from the same root skill count, with exceptions for kips, giants and casts to handstand.
- Connections: linking listed elements directly earns 0.10 or 0.20.
- What flight is: a visible flight from one bar to the other, or over the bar and back to it. A hop to change grip is not flight.
- The start: judging begins at the take-off from the board or mat.
- The mount: a second attempt is allowed, with a penalty, only if the gymnast has not touched the board or the bars or run under them. There is no third.
- Not under the low bar: the gymnast may not run or walk under the low bar to mount.
- Falls: 30 seconds to remount, with signals at 10, 20 and 30 seconds. At 60 seconds the exercise is ended.
- No dismount: an exercise without one brings a penalty from the final score.
- No time limit: the code read sets a fall time for bars but no length for the exercise.
The glossary has the uneven bars, the release move, the giant swing, the cast, the dismount, the composition requirements and the connection value.
Tricky cases
A gymnast falls during a release move and gets back on. Is the release counted?
No, not that attempt. An element that ends in a fall earns no value. The code read does not say whether a woman may repeat it for credit as the men's code does.
A gymnast swings between elements without doing anything. Is that penalised?
Yes. An extra or empty swing is an execution fault. The amount is printed as a symbol that the text copy lost.
A gymnast only hops her hands round to a new grip. Does that count as flight?
No. Hop-grip changes "do NOT constitute flight", so they do not meet either flight requirement.
Is there a maximum time on the bars?
No time limit was found in the bars section. Beam and floor have one, at 90 seconds.
Why the rule exists
The four requirements describe what two bars at different heights make possible: flying between them, letting go and catching the same one, and turning while swinging. The root-skill limit stops an exercise being built from one family of movement repeated with small changes.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Uneven bars | 30 seconds after a fall | FIG WAG 11.1 |
| Balance beam | 10 seconds after a fall | FIG WAG 12.1 |
| Men's horizontal bar | One bar. Three element groups and a dismount | FIG MAG 15.2.2 |
| Men's parallel bars | Two bars at the same height | FIG MAG 14.1 |
From the rule book
Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, Code of Points 2025-2028, WAG section 11. Checked 14 October 2026. Official documents: 2025-2028 Code of Points, Women's Artistic Gymnastics and Men's Artistic Gymnastics (PDF).