D-Difficulty Skills in Men's Gymnastics: A Learning Map
A by-apparatus guide to D-difficulty skills in men's gymnastics: key elements on all six events, how they build the D-score, and a map for learning them.
In men's artistic gymnastics, D-difficulty skills are the reliable mid-to-upper-tier elements that build the foundation of the difficulty score (D-score). Skills are graded from A (easiest) to J (hardest), and a D-rated element is worth 0.4 points. This guide maps out D-difficulty skills across all six men's apparatus, listing representative elements and their acquisition difficulty wh
ile explaining where D-difficulty sits in the overall value system under the 2025-2028 Code of Points.
If you want to line up D-difficulty skills across the six men's events and check the resulting D-score, try Gymnastics AI — the D-score calculator app. It follows the FIG 2025–2028 Code of Points and includes a database of more than 790 skills.
What Are D-Difficulty Skills? Their Place in the Value System
Difficulty Letters (A–J) and Their Point Values
Every gymnastics skill is assigned a difficulty rating expressed as a letter. According to the artistic gymnastics Code of Points, elements are rated from A (0.10) up to J (1.0), and both men and women use the same lettering system. A D-difficulty element sits squarely in the middle of that scale, making it the practical entry point into genuinely high-value skills.
The table below shows how the letters map to point values. D-difficulty is where most competitive gymnasts stock their routines with dependable value.
Difficulty | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Value | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
Why D-Difficulty Is Called the "Workhorse" Tier
A and B skills are basics and C skills
are intermediate, so they often fail to count toward a top gymnast's difficulty total. E-level skills and above, meanwhile, carry high acquisition risk and can drag down the execution score (E-score). That is why assembling a strong bank of dependable D-difficulty skills is so important for building the D-score base.
In practice, routines on every apparatus tend to string several D-difficulty skills together, so D acts as the zone where gymnasts bank value reliably.
How D-Difficulty Skills Contribute to the D-Score
The D-score is built from three parts: difficulty value, composition (group) requirements, and connection value. As the explanation of D-score calculation notes, the difficulty value sums the point values of the counted skills plus the dismount. The more D-difficulty skills a routine includes, the higher that difficulty-value total climbs. For the broader scoring framework, see our article on the gymnastics judging system.
How the D-Score Works and Why D-Difficulty Matters
The 2025-2028 Rules Cut Counted Skills to Eight
One major change in the 2025-2028 Code of Points is the reduction in counted skills. As the i/Code_of_Points_(artistic_gymnastics)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Code of Points overview
explains, the difficulty value now combines the eight highest-valued skills (seven skills plus the dismount), down from ten previously. With fewer skills counting, each one carries more weight, raising the premium on nailing D-difficulty and above.
