Doorway Handstand (Part 1)

Hi All,

Sat thinking about how much more comfortable I am practicing Back-To-Wall HS (BTWHS), and how a lot of my focus when working Face-To-Wall HS (FTWHS) is on getting ready to 'save myself' when I start to overbalance ...I had an interesting thought - the main reason that I can see for arching in the BTWHS is that for you to be straight, parts of your body would need to be inside the wall, and therefore your feet need to reach backwards.

With that in mind I decided I'd try a couple of HS in a doorway, since then I could be 'inside' the line of the wall. I found this to very useful, to me anyway, for a number of reasons:

• 
  [*:2f3bf4t6]Feeling safer meant I could concentrate better on keeping a good shape while in HS
  [*:2f3bf4t6]Measuring where my hands needed to be to put me right on the balance point (with consistent body line) was very easy, enabling me to simply press away from the wall with finger strength alone, and no breaking line by kicking or extending a leg
  [*:2f3bf4t6]Since the set-up was so quick, easy and accurate I could spend more of my 'endurance window' working on my HS, and less energy in getting up and down
  [*:2f3bf4t6]I was not worried at any point about how I was going to get down
  [*:2f3bf4t6]I managed to add 4-5 seconds to my freestanding PR off the bat

I am not suggesting this as any kind of replacement for Coach's advice to work on FTWHS for improving all the attributes necessary for performing the handstand correctly! This idea seems to be working for me, and may be interesting for others ...so I'm sharing.

BE SAFE: If you do have a go at this, make sure your feet will have something to stop on (try it next to the doorway on the wall and look where your feet come to, or feel to the side with one of your heels) ...maybe the first few times put some sofa cushions on the other side of the doorway, just in case!

Cheers,

George.

P.s. If the top of the door seems a little high, one could try using paralettes? or a doorway chinning bar?

George,

I am currently focusing on my handstand and trying to get a press to handstand. I've often thought about something like this, except using a high bar at the gym, set low, for press handstands to make sure you end up in a good handstand position. Excpet this may come very naturally once someone has a good freestanding handstand!

Ed

Hi George,

I don't understand what you mean when you say it was very easy to measure where your hands needed to be and that you wouldn't break line by kicking or extending a leg. When you do the handstand in the doorway, are you not kicking up? I've tried doing handstands in a narrow hallway (with my back to one wall) so that i could tap my feet off both walls, but I haven't tried doing one in a doorway before. I think it's because I'm more comfortable with coming down pirouette-style rather than rolling.

Hi Jlin,

Jlin said:

I don't understand what you mean when you say it was very easy to measure where your hands needed to be

In my house there is a strip running across the doorway, which in retrospect may not be the case for everyone. I simply note which part of my hand crosses the line.

Jlin said:

you wouldn't break line by kicking or extending a leg. When you do the handstand in the doorway, are you not kicking up?

Yes, I do kick up, but I refer to when you are in the HS position and you use your feet to tap/push yourself away from the wall to get to your balance point, and then bring your feet back together to be in a straight line (as you have changed your body line in some way to move off of the wall).

Jlin said:

I haven't tried doing one in a doorway before. I think it's because I'm more comfortable with coming down pirouette-style rather than rolling.

The fact that you can just come down the way you kicked up is the whole point. No need to pirouette or roll out. I guess you could if you wanted to, though.

Cheers,

George.

Lol, you're a genius! I always get scared of overtipping while doing stomach to wall. Hehe now i just do this thx!

If you do try this (and anyone else who does, for that matter) I'd be interested to hear how it works out.

Regards,

George.

I think it works great, i tried, and you can do it like face on wall, but you can safely return down with your feet if you overbalance. I just put the toes on the doorway to minimum assistance and it's better than back to wall and easier to get the position and get out of it that face on wall. This is a great variation if you do this at home and without proteccion on floor like you would have on a gymnastic gym.

Fix a hoop ( basketball type) to the wall ,at about where your ankles are in HS,go into HS back or face to the wall, this will save you if you feel you're coming over.

you need to learn how to control the handstand and roll out or go from handstand to headstand and roll out. while pirouetting or stepping to the side or other recovery solutions, rolling out is the first one i teach besides walking out.

Hi Blair,

It's often daunting for someone without hands-on instruction to learn something with consequences, especially if the equipment/flooring/space available is not ideal. I should think many of us taking on gymnastics as adults have replaced the fearfulness of youth with self-preservation, and what might seem like small steps are often quite a leap of faith...

However - Sooner or later, the handstand is going to need to move well away from any kind of wall completely, so learning how to roll, step or pirouette out is definitely something to work on as well. Rolling is pretty straightforward to learn, with very basic equipment requirements, but no good for parallettes, etc.

Do do you have some guidelines for building up to pirouetting out of an overbalance situation?

When space allows I can vaguely cartwheel up to a FTWHS, and then continue the cartwheel down to the other side to get back down, though it feels like a hit and miss affair. I wouldn't be comfortable cartwheeling out of a fall currently, and I have to mentally prepare what I will do for coming down under control at the end of a HS.

Is it just as simple as taking a step forward with one hand so that forward is the new sideways, and keep working on the cartwheels!?

Cheers,

George.

Hey George,

Just thought I'd give you my two cents for pirouetting out of a handstand - for myself, when I'm practicing without a wall and overbalance, I just bring my right leg (or left, depending on which you feel more comfortable with) down. There's no conscious effort of turning my hands to the side; they will shift as your leg comes down.

Just like this, by Jim from beastskills.com

I would say just go for it. No fear! Because essentially, the pirouette is not much different than coming down from your doorway handstand - just bring down a single straight leg. The turn will come automatically. As for your hands, just keep them on the ground so you don't faceplant, of course

hope this helps

-jlin

That's exactly why I put this together 2 months ago.

Hence, why it's important to learn the headstand as a step to rolling out.

@Jlin: Well, maybe I just will. I shall let you know what happens ...hopefully not from the ER :shock:

@Blair: Yes, I saw that video. I take it that you don't see any merit in the approach, if only for the home enthusiast?

Cheers,

George.

After you learn how to roll, learn just a basic cartwheel. Roger has a good progression under articles over at Drillsandskills.com

A true gymnastics handstand pirouette shouldn't even be bothered with till mastery of a free handstand. When we talk about pirouetting as a safety measure out of a fall of a handstand it just means cartwheeling.

My approach for the home enthusiast is the same as for an adult recreational gymnast and how I prefer to teach adults in a recreative gymnastics setting. This has been influenced a lot by Roger Harrell but as well with other groups of studies that require some basic gymnastics training in their endeavors ( judo, jujutsu, martial arts, acrobatics/parkour for example ). Be smart, be safe and don't half ass it just cause you're an adult fitness enthusiast or an adult recreational gymnast. Adults break far easier than children when it comes to learning even the most basic of gymnastics.

I'd do the same stuff whether I was coaching crossfitters, mil, or gymnasts though I'd vary the approach somewhat based on environment.

I am chiming in on this discussion, but I am coming to the party late.

Actually, I tried a doorway handstand on my paralletes and it actually helps a lot, because I am not "looking" for the wall with my body. I have the door frame to touch with my feet giving me a sense of balance and that is comfortable.

I am not strong enough to lift myself that way yet without bursting a blood vessel in my head (or an least it feels that way). I am planning to try to slowly work my way up because all I can do is hold myself in the down position with my head under the paralletes, but my head isn't on the floor. I just can't push myself up yet, but I feel comfortable holding that position (it is like when I set on my haunches, but with my arms instead). I don't know what that is working, nor what good it will do, but the upside down position is something I have to get used to.

Anyway, my experience so far... just chiming in. :wink: