Is there any real problem to doing handstands like this? [Pics]

[Shia]

Personally I find it more aesthetically pleasing and better for HSPU

 

 

 

 

 

middle pic here

[Cody Ward]

Yes and honestly it looks horrible.

[Shia]

Yes and honestly it looks horrible.

Thanks for elaborating. Very helpful thankyou. And you're right I guess if you think it looks horrible, I guess it looks horrible to all other individuals.

[Mikael Kristiansen]

That handstand is okay if all you want to do is be upside down. You might also get some handstand pushups with that form like you say. Reason is that your shoulders are in front of the hands and its easier to start the descent from there. You also get more chest activation which is why its easier, but you lose the protraction of your shoulders which in the end will leave you with less carryover to other skills.

 

If you want to have a reasonable chance at building towards 1 arm hs and press handstands at the same time, you are much better off learning to be straight in your handstand. On top of that, with a straight hanstand you are building mobility which will keep your shoulders healthy over time simply because you are building an efficent movement path for your scapula. Most people arch because they lack the ability to hold their weight with 180 degrees open shoulders. I have seen more than 1 injury as a result of trying to 1 arm with lacking mobillity.

[David McManamon]

I know a few back-bending contortion hand balancers with excellent routines and beautiful 1 arm handstands.  Their skills begin when you can do a chest stand and get really cool as people reach a triple fold and other fairly advanced skills.  To go that route you need a contortion coach and would likely have to plan on stretching for a few hours every day for a few years.  The individual pictured would likely have a much easier time learning a normal straight handstand than working towards a contortion handstand.

[MonkeyMan]

Is it better to be looking at the floor or straight forward when upside down?

[Connor Davies]

Is it better to be looking at the floor or straight forward when upside down?

It's better to be looking forward so the spine is in a neutral position.

[Daniel Burnham]

It's better to be looking forward so the spine is in a neutral position.

Nope you need to see the floor. At least at first so you know how to balance. Keep head slightly neutral but you should be able to see the base of the hand through your eyebrows during a handstand.

[Mikael Kristiansen]

Looking forwards is very inefficient if you want to balance. You have way less control over your body when looking forwards. Also the movement of the neck should not affect your spinal position at all, this is one of the reasonns it is important to learn to look at your toes so you can isolate the head.

[Connor Davies]

I was quoting this http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/uploads/monthly_06_2012/post-50088-13531537376222.jpg

[Biren Patel]

Yes and honestly it looks horrible.

This is for you:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=346912232077243&set=a.282232185211915.48789.265157370252730&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=327340180701115&set=a.282232185211915.48789.265157370252730&type=3&theater

Of course, this is only one opinion of a hand balance practitioner. Aside from what Handbalancer said, it is such a breath of fresh air to not limit yourself to a specific form. Sure, good alignment opens up a world of skills (I take this on their word, I'm not at that level of skill). But, forming an opinion that does not eliminate the freedom of choice just clears my mind. If you just think of a straight handstand as the only valid possibility, it feels like you are living in a prison cell. If you acknowledge the variety of form, or just accept what a remarkable fact it is that we can even manage to stand on our hands, it feels...liberating. You are, as always, entitled to your own opinion.

[Mikael Kristiansen]

Thing is simply this: If you have a solid straight handstand, you will always always be capable of doing an arched one, but this does not in any way apply in the other direction. I am very much for learning to balance in any position, and I learned to 1 arm the bboy way before i became a handbalancer. My control now is however 10 times that I had before and I can easily do arched 1 arms or REALLY messy positions with ease.

[Daniel Burnham]

Thing is simply this: If you have a solid straight handstand, you will always always be capable of doing an arched one, but this does not in any way apply in the other direction. I am very much for learning to balance in any position, and I learned to 1 arm the bboy way before i became a handbalancer. My control now is however 10 times that I had before and I can easily do arched 1 arms or REALLY messy positions with ease.

Yep. Build the body to do all not just one thing. The bannana handstand would be useful to learn after the straight handstand if you need to learn advanced correction techniques. As far as gymnastics goes you are required to have a straight handstand.