High Bar

High Bar, or Horizontal Bar, is one of the toughest apparatuses in level seven, my level. The reason it is so tough is because, recently, there was a rule change for all the levels in USAG.

The biggest rule change was that the JD2 and JD1 were now combined and known as level seven, thereby “pushing” the old level seven and below down a level.

What made this rule tough was previous JD2s, me, are now in a harder level. Level seven is harder because there are no extra swings allowed. No extra swings might not seem like all that different, but it is a big change.

High bar used to be an, for lack of better words, “easier” apparatus but now, during the first year with tis rule change, if you have a good high bar or pommel horse routine, you will most likely score in the top ten, for level seven, at most meets.

A skill on high bar that I am learning isa vault catch. Now don’t be tricked, while it has vault in its name a vault catch has nothing to do with vaulting. A vault catch is a skill in which you start with mixed grip on the bar, one hand in over grip and the other in under grip, do a stem rise and then fling yourself overtop the bar and recatch in over grip. I currently have the power and skill to do a vault catch but I lack the guts.

For future or present gymnasts: attempt all the skills you can, and when you hit a wall try your hardest to overcome whatever is holding you back.

High Bar Picture: Here