Uneven Bars

[z2akids]

As amazing as our young women and the rest if this year's group is, I am curious where they rate in the history of the bars. DD and I were watching some uneven bar routines for the past 40 years or so. I honestly have little concept of what moves are really hard and which are really, really, really hard. There seems to be a great deal of skill level variety over the decades. I love the look of some of the old routines when the bars were closer when the women spin around the bar on just their abdomen with releases from bar to bar. The routine Olga Kobalt (is that the right name?) is insane. Are there other skills from that era that are no longer performed?

Anyway, how does the difficulty today fit in the last 40 years?

 

[duyetanh]

I have no idea...it all seems crazy (and scares the crap out of me!).
Following....

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Bars today are completely different, in fact all the pieces are. But the spacing makes a big difference as to the moves than can be done. Some of us of a certain age remember the bruises from bar beats........

 

[Faith]

It's evolution- the original asymmetric bars were the mens parallel bars with one raised.

Then women got their own, and bars evolved from static poses and swings to the 1970's days of hip beats, hechts etc. Giants were all but impossible as the bars were too close, wooden, as in properly wooden, and oval shaped.

Gymnastics changed from dance to more acrobatic along the way. When korbut did a bt on beam, it was almost banned for being "dangerous".

Then the women, probably starting with elena mukhina working with a mens coach, started to train the more acrobatic mens moves- giants, and releases. For this the bars were moved further apart, and changed from wood to fibreglass, and from oval to round.

The only moves that remain the same are kips and handstands. The distance between the bars means you cannot do hip beats any more.