Handstand alignment check.

[Tavis G]

Does my handstand allignment look good? Are my shoulders open enough? I know i am moving around a lot but that is just balance.

 

 

Also i watched it again and my feet are overbalanced a little.

[Klaudius Petrulis]

Looks pretty decent so far.  Your goal is to make sure your joints end up in a line. Other than your feet I think you're on the right track. If you could post a video from the front so we could see whats going on there it may be helpful.

 

Out of curiosity have you started H1 yet?

[Pasha Muravyev]

You could open your shoulders a bit more - I think you're missing a few degrees of ROM there. Imagine drawing a straight line down the back of your torso and to the ground - that's where your arms should be. Your arms currently make around a 5-10 degree angle with that hypothetical line, meaning that you've still got a bit to go before your shoulders are fully open.

 

As for the legs - try tightening your glutes & lower back, and keep them tight while in a HS (your goal is to feel almost hollow in the position). The legs should take care of themselves.

[Jordan Bruce]

I would recommend that you spend more time building up your stamina at wall hand stands (stomach to the wall).  Work towards slowly moving your wrists as close to the wall as possible over time along with doing some shoulder mobility drills (e.g. wall extensions).  If you pause your video around the :10-:12 second mark, you can see that your head is far through your arms, your back is arched and your arms are slightly bent at the elbows.  Compare this form to that of Yuri or any of the other accomplished handstand aficionados on the forum and you will see that you've got a ways to go.  Your freestanding balancing isn't great yet so spending more time at the wall will give you the most bang for your buck.  If you haven't done so already, purchase Handstand One and you will get all the detail you need about how to program your HS work plus all the mobility drills to get those shoulders wide open.    

 

Also, pashamur's advice about your legs is spot on.  Pointing your toes and tensing your abs and thigh muscles will help your overall form and free standing balancing.  Good work so far!

[Joshua Naterman]

That's a surprisingly good start, Tavis!

 

You'll need to work on your shoulder mobility, which H1 will seriously just blow your mind on. Save up and pick it up, it is seriously 100% invaluable.

 

The wall handstand advice is good advice, so don't ignore that!

 

Your actual body alignment is pretty good, other than the legs. The "point your toes" advice will help you fix this.

 

Between that and the wall, I think you'll make significant progress.

 

Having said that, for you, me, and most everyone here I think that H1 should be considered required material. Seriously.

 

I'd put H1 on par with learning how to drive in America (or using public transport in Europe, maybe): Sure, you can technically get by without it, but to do anything really cool you're going to need it.

[Tavis G]

I feel this is better than my other handstands. I actually have good shoulder mobilty because i can open my shoulders all the way but i need to seriously get used to that. It just feels foreign. Yes i know my elbows are bent because i think i have them a little wider than shoulder width. I will work on all the things you recommend me do. And yes, ill work up the money to get H1.

 

Wall HS when i get real close feels like im going to break my neck and die .

[Klaudius Petrulis]

Wall HS when i get real close feels like im going to break my neck and die .

I know this feeling well.  Especially since I've been training a lot indoors with limited space. It helps to have a 12 foot wide space to work with, especially when those palms start to touch the wall... it can get scary!

[Joshua Naterman]

I feel this is better than my other handstands. I actually have good shoulder mobilty because i can open my shoulders all the way but i need to seriously get used to that. It just feels foreign. Yes i know my elbows are bent because i think i have them a little wider than shoulder width. I will work on all the things you recommend me do. And yes, ill work up the money to get HS1.

 

Wall HS when i get real close feels like im going to break my neck and die .

The best thing to do is to have an open area in front of you, with 4-5 towels or a yoga mat spread out right there, and practice forward rolls from the handstand.

 

Before you do that, I recommend just standing tucked forward rolls. When you get familiar with these, you can start sort of kicking into a handstand as you go over, and after you get used to that you can practice off the wall.

 

Once you get used to rolling off the wall, fear is gone.

[Mikael Kristiansen]

Your current problems are that you have a slight shoulder angle together with letting your legs go over too far to compensate. Because of this I can see that you are too much on your fingers and you are fighting against falling the second you get up. It is good that you fight and stay because that is essentially the mindset you need to learn anything handstand related. However you need to strive for a more effortless position. Push through your shoulders and protract them at the same time so you get a hollow position in your chest. Your goal is to get a 180 degree line between your arm and your torso. In addition you need to stack your legs directly on top of the pelvis. Point your toes and tighten your thighs and glutes to get a better sensation of the direction of your legs. Most of your body should remain tight, but do try to look for the relaxation in the position as you get better(without getting lazy on alignment of course).The feeling you are looking for in your hands is that most of your weight is more in the center of your palm so the corrections done by the fingers are minimal. In the end you can balance only with very precise movements of the flat of the palm and the fingers come into play just when you get tired or make mistakes.

[Tavis G]

Your current problems are that you have a slight shoulder angle together with letting your legs go over too far to compensate. Because of this I can see that you are too much on your fingers and you are fighting against falling the second you get up. It is good that you fight and stay because that is essentially the mindset you need to learn anything handstand related. However you need to strive for a more effortless position. Push through your shoulders and protract them at the same time so you get a hollow position in your chest. Your goal is to get a 180 degree line between your arm and your torso. In addition you need to stack your legs directly on top of the pelvis. Point your toes and tighten your thighs and glutes to get a better sensation of the direction of your legs. Most of your body should remain tight, but do try to look for the relaxation in the position as you get better(without getting lazy on alignment of course).The feeling you are looking for in your hands is that most of your weight is more in the center of your palm so the corrections done by the fingers are minimal. In the end you can balance only with very precise movements of the flat of the palm and the fingers come into play just when you get tired or make mistakes.

 

Thanks! Yes my feet are overbalanced and i need to work on getting them into the perfect position.