<p>This paper considers the swing-up control of a three link manipulator with two joint forcing. A dynamics test of the manipulator is proposed using a controller based on inertial quasi-velocities (IQV). The benefits of describing both the control scheme known from the literature and the one designed based on the IQV are demonstrated. The presented algorithm applies dynamics equations derived from the decomposition of the manipulator’s inertia matrix. As a result, the IQV is introduced, which can be used for various purposes, namely for studying dynamics and control. This description provides some insight into the manipulator dynamics when the proposed controller is incorporated into the system. Furthermore, the use of the IQV changes the behavior of the closed-loop system due to the inclusion of couplings between the links. The proposed control scheme is not intended to improve performance but primarily to analyze the dynamics of a closed system and estimate couplings in the manipulator. Theoretical considerations are supported by simulation results on an underactuated 3 degree of freedom (DOF) manipulator.</p>