Shoulder Position on pressing movements

My supraspinatus muscle is a pretty banged up so maybe its just me but I wanted to ask the question about peoples shoulder position on pressing exercises especially the handstand press. When I first started training the planche my shoulders would kill after every set not the good pain either. Very sharp pain in the shoulder like something was tearing, I almost gave up on planche training until I noticed that I was shrugging my shoulders forward on every set as soon as I focused on the shoulder being pulled back the pain totally disappeared. I have to consciously thing about doing it on every set otherwise the naturally thing that my shoulders seem to want to do is be shrugged forward.

Now I started training the handstand press and seem to be facing the same problem during the brief moment when your body is horizontal to the floor my shoulders shrug forward like crazy and since I am moving it is a lot harder to consciously get them to be in the retracted position. Now the problem is easily fixed obviously with working on retracting my shoulders but the question is has anyone else with their training found that they have to focus on keeping their shoulder back otherwise they shrug forward? or perhaps you don't and it doesn't bother you?

Excellent question 8).

Press handstand work and planche work require substantially different shoulder positions. For your press handstand work, strive to keep the shoulders directly above the hands at all times. As your current level of strength does not allow this for a complete repetition, a nice way to progressively build this strength is by elevating the feet in a similar manner to box HeSPUs as shown in BtGB on pg. 77.

Start with the feet on a box that is hip high and allows your legs to be horizontal at the start of the movement. As your strength improves, simply gradually decrease the height of the box. Patience is key here. If you are unable to keep the shoulders in line with the hands throughout the entire press handstand, you have attempted to decrease the height either too much or too rapidly.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach I'm a bit confused here, I was under the impression that the ability to keep the shoulders directly in line with the hands during handstand presses was mainly dictated by shoulder and hip flexibility rather than strength. If a person is is lacking the required flexibility, isn't it mechanically impossible for them to to maintain balance during a press without leaning their shoulders forward in front of their hands regardless of how strong they are?

If an athlete lacks the requisite strength, even if they possess the correct degree of shoulder girdle flexibility, they will still be unable to press HS correctly. However using the box method and then decreasing its height over time, while always being meticulous in maintaining correct body position, allows both active flexibility and the necessary shoulder girdle strength to be developed simultaneously.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I just read this and tried the box method today, I've never heard of it before. I think it will really help my press!

It seems I don't have any strength In leaning over shoulder positions. I can't even get my toes off the floor when I try it from standing.

Hmmm, I will try this tomorrow during practice. I have been working press handstands for a while and just last week I was finally able to pick my feet off the ground (in a straddle) but I couldnt quite press it up. My forward lean was significant though and I really want to decrease my lean because its really tough on my wrists.

Thanks