HS Critique request + a few questions...

So this is where I'm at... still not going for time these days as I want the shape right before focusing on time, but I can hold this shape for ~30s pretty comfortably with fair consistency (I'm not falling over much anymore). Any suggestions for improvement are greatly appreciated

Some questions:

I'm a bit 'shifty' - I don't notice it while I'm holding it but on camera I've noticed I fidget for balance. It's not much and I'm never completely out of shape, but I feel like it'd be easier to balance if I was more still. Or would I be more still if I was better at balancing...

I've noticed I'm leaning a bit (slight overbalance?). And yet I find when I do fail out of it, it's usually from underbalancing. Not sure how much of a problem it is or how to fix it - maybe just more practice freestanding. Maybe something to do with my hips?

I've got my hands on some blocks recently... they are much harder than they look. On hard floor, I keep getting the feeling they're going to slip out from under me (is that normal?)... so I'm doing them on carpet for now. Main question though - what's the best way to position my hands on them? I find with index/middle on top, ring/pinky on the side, the blocks feel like they're going to tilt to the sides, and my hands start to cup. I think I'm a bit more stable with index/middle/ring to the front, but I don't think I've seen anyone do it that way. Does it matter?

If my handstand is okay for now - is there anything in particular I should focus on next? I'm trying to work on my active pike and straddle flexibility so I can get close to press handstands but progress is slow. Goal is of course, to someday do one arm holds.

Thanks in advance!

rotate your pelvis forward more. you're piking slightly. also straighten out those knees.

as the guy said above you are slightly piked, your shape is good, its not perfect but you shouldnt wait until its perfect to move on and play, by doing other things will help improve your handstand line as well, getting more ednuraqnce and strength etc.opening your shoulder range will help as well.

The fidgetting with your balance is just learning, that will come when you find where your balance should be placed to find that motionless state. So dont stress too much about that, thatll come with time, just keep trying to find that one point of balance where you dont have to do anything, keep pushed up in the shoulders and work hard to not move anything just your wirsts.
You are a little over balanced but i remember when i was learning that i liked to be over balanced otherwise i would just keep failing if i was in the middle of both states, so once your reaction and speed gets quicker this will change and when it does you will find your endurance will get better because your not having to fight as much the whole time.
your right the first time about where your hands need to be in the blocks, the reason they tilt to the sides is becuase your weight is on the outside of your hands, you want to keep the weight in the index knuckle as much as possible, youmay not be rotating your shoulder internally enough, if it is slightly externally rotated that wil create torque on the elbows and the outsise of the hands which we dont want, so thing internal rotation in the shoulders and push up, also on the carpet its not going to be great for you because its a soft surface.
always work your flexibilty, the better your shoulder range and hip flexition and exension the easier it will all be

keep training mate and just have fun with it all,

gravy said:

rotate your pelvis forward more. you're piking slightly. also straighten out those knees.

Yeah. It's becoming more obvious the more I look at it. I'll work on the pelvic rotation. Thanks!

Sammy Dinneen said:

as the guy said above you are slightly piked, your shape is good, its not perfect but you shouldnt wait until its perfect to move on and play, by doing other things will help improve your handstand line as well, getting more ednuraqnce and strength etc.opening your shoulder range will help as well.

The fidgetting with your balance is just learning, that will come when you find where your balance should be placed to find that motionless state. So dont stress too much about that, thatll come with time, just keep trying to find that one point of balance where you dont have to do anything, keep pushed up in the shoulders and work hard to not move anything just your wirsts.

You are a little over balanced but i remember when i was learning that i liked to be over balanced otherwise i would just keep failing if i was in the middle of both states, so once your reaction and speed gets quicker this will change and when it does you will find your endurance will get better because your not having to fight as much the whole time.

your right the first time about where your hands need to be in the blocks, the reason they tilt to the sides is becuase your weight is on the outside of your hands, you want to keep the weight in the index knuckle as much as possible, youmay not be rotating your shoulder internally enough, if it is slightly externally rotated that wil create torque on the elbows and the outsise of the hands which we dont want, so thing internal rotation in the shoulders and push up, also on the carpet its not going to be great for you because its a soft surface.

always work your flexibilty, the better your shoulder range and hip flexition and exension the easier it will all be

 

keep training mate and just have fun with it all,

 

Thanks for the tips Sammy. Good to have a new pro handbalancer join the forum! You're right about my hand placement on the blocks - I've noticed I don't actually keep most of my pressure towards that knuckle even on the floor; I should probably work on it. You mention though that I should be keeping my shoulders rotated internally? I remember this thread from a couple of days ago https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/11211-help-in-aligning-my-handstand-to-a-straight-line/#entry110508 towards the end of which Handbalancer notes that shoulders should be externally rotated so that's what I've actually been trying to do lately... now I'm confused   Pretty sure externally rotating them would take the weight off my first knuckle. Or maybe I'm missing something.

if we ignore the words internal and external becuase now im just confusing myself here lol

if you rotae your shoulder so your wrists turn out or another way to think about it, turn your elbows facing each other and more towards your finger tips, rather the back of your wrists, thats the way i would say your shoulders should be rotated, obviously keep your hands in aline, dont rotate them out, that was just so you understand it better.
sorry about the confusion with the external and internal words, my bad

Rotating the arm so that the elbows face eachother is external rotation of the humerus, which you want to do for efficient lockout in the shoulder. These anatomical details are confusing in handstands. Intearnally rotating the shoulder in  handtand results in the elbows twisting outwards from the body. You do not really need to overfocus on these details because the humeral rotation is quite intuitive. Stiff subscapularis(which can limit the degree of eternal rotation in an overhead position) is however a problem for many when it comes to getting the shoulders fully open. 

Ah, right. I had it the wrong way around. My bad. Thanks for the clarification.

thanks mikael for clearing up my bad explanation