Quote Originally Posted by Howlin Mad Missy View Post
when did the asymmetric bars become the uneven bars?
About 30 years ago.

The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is used only by female gymnasts. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or AB, and the apparatus and event are often referred to simply as "bars" or "uneven bars". The bars are placed at different heights allowing the gymnast to jump from bar to bar.

The uneven bars apparatus originally consisted of men's parallel bars set to different heights. Consequently, the bars were very close together, and gymnasts could transition from one to the other with little difficulty. Routines of the early 1950s chiefly consisted of simple circles, kips, and static balance elements and holds. In the late 1950s the trend shifted toward fluid motion, and gymnasts began to perform routines composed of more difficult circles, kips, beats (bouncing the body off the low bar while hanging from the high bar), wraps (wrapping the body around the low bar while hanging from the high bar) and transitions. Release moves also began to come into play, although they were almost entirely limited to transitions between the low and high bars. In the late 1960s/early 1970s, companies began manufacturing uneven bars as a separate specific apparatus. The design was changed slightly to allow the bars to be adjustable, with tension cables that held the apparatus to the floor. As a result of this change, coaches could set the bars further apart. Additionally, the circumference of the bars themselves decreased, allowing gymnasts to grasp and swing from them with greater ease.
As other events in gymnastics increased in difficulty, so did the uneven bars. Gymnasts and coaches began experimenting with elements, attempting more challenging dismounts, and adapting moves from men's high bar. In 1972 Olga Korbut pioneered the Korbut Flip, the first high bar salto release move. Nadia Comăneci continued the trend with her original Comaneci salto at the 1976 Olympics and advanced handstand elements four years later. The giant swing, the staple of high bar in men's artistic gymnastics (MAG), was also adopted into the women's Code of Points, and quickly became a basic uneven bars skill.
By the mid 1980s, routines had become so based on swing and release moves that the bars were moved even further apart. The distance between bars increased even more as gymnasts developed difficult transition elements that required space, such as the Pak salto.
Of all the apparatus in women's artistic gymnastics (WAG), uneven bars is probably the one that has seen the most radical changes. Most elements from 1950s and 60s bars routines, such as the Hecht dismount and the Radolcha somersault, are now completely obsolete; others, such as the once-traditional beats and wraps, are impossible given the current diagonal separation between bars; and still others, such as static holds and the Korbut Flip, are not permitted under the current Code of Points. In USAG levels 1-6, everyone in the same level performs the same compulsory routine. In levels 7 through Elite, gymnasts make up their own routines within specific requirements.
In Gymnastics Australia levels 1-3 gymnasts have a choice of three routines with different difficulty. In levels 4-6 gymnasts have the option to include more difficult skills in their routines for bonus points. In levels 7 to Elite gymnasts make up their own routines within set guidelines.