In this paper the swing-up problem for the Furuta pendulum is solved applying Fradkov's speed-gradient (SG) method to a dimension 4 model of the system. The new law is compared with the conventional Astrom-Furuta strategy, based on a dimension 2 model. A comparative analysis, including simulations and experiments, whereby the advantages and effectiveness of the new law for swinging the pendulum up are shown, is included.