Horizontal bar

Fabian Hambüchen at the horizontal bar
A bar grip (front view)

The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a system of cables and stiff vertical supports. Gymnasts typically wear suede leather grips while performing on the bar. Current elite-level competition uses a more elastic fiberglass core rail similar in material to the rails used in the women's uneven bars and men's parallel bars apparatus.

The gymnastics elements performed on the horizontal bar are regulated by a Code of Points. A bar routine, which is a sequence of several bar skills, usually includes giants with various grips (overgrip, undergrip, dorsal grip, mixed grip), in-bar work, turns, release and regrasp skills, and a dismount. The horizontal bar is often considered one of the most exciting gymnastics events due to the power exhibited by gymnasts during giant swings and spectacular aerial releases and dismounts that often include multiple flips or twists and, in some cases, airborne travel over the bar.

History

The horizontal bar was used by acrobats in ancient Greece and Rome, and on through the Middle Ages.[1] It was introduced into gymnastics by Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths in his 1793 book Gymnastik für die Jugend, which in turn inspired further use and development by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in 1811.[1][2]

Dimensions

The mechanical dimensions of the horizontal bar apparatus are specified in FIG's Apparatus Norms brochure:

Grips

The manner in which the horizontal bar is grasped by a gymnast is called the grip (not to be confused with the suede leather grips that are worn on the hands). Each grip is commonly used for a particular set of skills. When gymnasts compete on the horizontal bar they are often required by the Code of Points to use specific grips.

References

  1. 1 2 Butterworth, Horace (1902), The Horizontal Bar
  2. ↑ Goodbody, John (1982). The Illustrated History of Gymnastics. London: Stanley Paul & Co. pp. 11–18. ISBN 0-09-143350-9.
  3. ↑ Bill Sands and Mike Conklin, Everybody's Gymnastics Book, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1966), 42.
  4. ↑ Sands and Conklin, 42.
  5. ↑ Newton C. Loken and Robert J. Willoughby,The Complete Book of Gymnastics, 6th ed., (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1977), 200.
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