How is my handstand alignment?

Hello,

I would appreciate some critique of my handstand alignment. I I'm sorry that I don't have video. This picture posted was an approximately 25 second balance.

balance feels really good, and right now is generally not the issue I feel. The alignment is something that is frustrating me.

In particular one thing that confuses me the curve of the arm. Some people have told me this is the "elbow carrying angle". It makes it quite difficult for me to tell if the shoulder is open.

I look forward to your critique's and suggestions. Anything helps! I'm looking into the H1 products but I would still like to know what is wrong with my handstand. Thank you (nice forum )

You need to engage more the ppt.

Thanks for your reply. Simple and helpful!

So, are my shoulders open enough? Just need to PPT more to straighten out the line?

What is PPT? Besides, your handstand looks great! Much better than the banana ones. Just keep practicing it, focus on locking arms and pushing against the ground with all body tensed.


Oh, just found out PPT means posterior pelvic tilt.

saiyaman said:

What is PPT? Besides, your handstand looks great! Much better than the banana ones. Just keep practicing it, focus on locking arms and pushing against the ground with all body tensed.

Oh, just found out PPT means posterior pelvic tilt.

PPT - Posterior pelvic tilt.

There is much more better ways to open shoulders then hanging 30 days in a row for 7 minutes.

I'll share with you a tip; flip your picture upside down to better evaluate your handstand. And if you can see, the lower back clearly sticks out even though the legs are stacked on top of the arms. Working on PPT will help you flatten your lower back, but if you only did that you would fall because PPT alone can cause your hips to pike and you will fall. So now there are two problems; lack of PPT and lack of open hips. Both will work together to fix the alignment. Good luck...

I am not too sure about your elbows, either, but I very clearly remember a previous forum member (marko petruvic or some similar name) expressed the same problem and was frustrated because people said it was a fact of his anatomy. Another person also had the same issue, and the same "elbow anatomy" answer came from a moderator. Maybe look through the forum and see what you find. It may just be a facet of your anatomy you will have to deal with.

Actually, EDIT! I don't why I didn't pick up on this with the previous people who expressed elbow issues, but your handstand looks remarkably similar to Allan Bower's handstand. The arm shape + lower back protrusion is almost identical. I don't know where I am going with this. But I always thought Allan's handstand looks weird as hell. Maybe coach sommer knows a thing or two.

Your line is very good.  

Regarding the slight internal rotation of the shoulders aka "open" shoulders, this occurs naturally during handstand when your scapula is elevated.

Your legs must be fully extended, knees locked and your toes should be pointed more.  From there I recommend practicing the 3 handstand head positions to improve your line.  This drill was introduced to me by Yuval on Hands, here he is demonstrating:

http://youtu.be/2d2oUFPD9gI

Also you may want to practice some on a wall to help get your handstand time in the 1-2 minute range if it isn't there already.

Good work.

Wow, guys, I woke up yesterday with a bunch of emails from you all. Thank you so much for all the feedback! Hah, feels weird that some of you call my handstand line good. Maybe I've just been watching Yuval too much. Thanks for the compliments

Micawberian (I'm surprised to figure out that it a real word), thanks for the input. Yes actually you are correct; if I let my hips pike a bit more I can get the back more flat. I think I sit too much, maybe my hip flexors need work? and I will look into the forum to find those guys.

Dmcmanam, thanks! I thought that the shoulder is supposed to be externally rotated in handstand? The toes point is a real problem for me...it sucks so much, but improves little by little every day. I have tried the 3 head position drill from Yuval on occasion. It is disorienting and I have yet to successfully balance with a neutral or head-in position. Do you have any advice?

Hip flexors is always good to work on. It attaches from the pelvis to the anterior portion of the lumbar vertebrae. So if you picture it in your head, hip flexors will play an important role in the arch of the lower back and a role in the success with which PPT will be able to flatten the lower back.

Just remember, with hip flexor stretching, performing a PPT and/or squaring the hips will increase the efficacy of the stretch. If you think again about the role of hip flexors and its attachment points, it should make sense!

My advice is to train consistently, do the drills you are working on daily.  Make sure you find a way to make each exercise easy enough for you that you can remain in the CORRECT position for a meaningful amount of time.  Whenever I take just a little time off, I struggle with the basics.  Here is a 15 second clip of me working the head position drill today:

http://instagram.com/p/uwKBJeoyio

I don't look like Yuval for a lot of reasons but if I practiced for 2hrs a day every day for a few years...

Thank you for the advice thus far,
 

Micawberian, I focused a bit on hip flexor stretching the past few days. Check out my picture. So looks like my hips are much more open. But you can tell obviously there is a problem. It's like a banana handstand in the upper half of the body and a straight handstand in the lower half. I am confused on what I'm doing wrong now. The hips are more open, the ribs are in, the shoulders are (I think) open. I'm missing something...

dmcmanam said:

My advice is to train consistently, do the drills you are working on daily.  Make sure you find a way to make each exercise easy enough for you that you can remain in the CORRECT position for a meaningful amount of time.  Whenever I take just a little time off, I struggle with the basics.  Here is a 15 second clip of me working the head position drill today:

http://instagram.com/p/uwKBJeoyio

 

I don't look like Yuval for a lot of reasons but if I practiced for 2hrs a day every day for a few years...

Thanks for the advice! Watching that video of you, I recognize your face from a video a couple of years ago. It was a straps performance in NYC I believe. A bit of random information for you Also, your handstand line from that video looks very similar to my new line I've developed these past few days:

Any tips on the new form? Aestheticaly it looks worse...but I know it's a better position anatomically! I feel like I am so close to solving this puzzle.

It's a bit hard to tell. You'd better upload a video too. 

IMO, you should train the position against a wall.

Make sure you're squeezing your butt and abs hard and if you do, squeeze harder !

Also, your heels aren't in the same line with your body, so try to move them back/to the right by sucking your belly in..

Thanks for the quick response, Ron.

Yes, I usually warm up with a set of 60 seconds on the wall. Sometimes, but not lately, I substitute a handstand day with just wall work, thats mostly to train strength because I have trouble holding to even 2 minutes. You can see from my wall HS that I have the mobility to get the back flatter (sorry that the shorts are so low, didn't mean to flaunt my pelvis haha). For some reason or another, it's much easier to achieve this position against the wall. I reckon because wall forces the hips to pike a little. I can't figure out what I'm doing on the wall that I'm not doing while free balanced.

Anyways, it's very late at night here, I've got a few tests coming up and I can't figure out how to upload a video to youtube from my phone. Until, the weekend...another picture! Sorry about the palm distance from the wall, I know you guys like to see a couple of centimeters, but the traps are too tired to go closer

I think your first picture was fine - the reason your lower back is leaning out a bit is because you have your head somewhat tucked. Bring it forward so that your chin is between your shoulders and maintain protraction.

See the position on the very right: https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10703777_799777346731406_7397774409192897268_n.jpg?oh=190fb1202fe16063e16f0edd30085f68&oe=54F0EB00&__gda__=1424848694_73402ad156f3b1c6464f1cbb42561d51

You'll need slightly more open shoulders to maintain your line. Keep everything else the same - maybe point your toes a bit harder and engage your glutes more so as to get rid of the very slight pike. Should be fine. Hope that helps!

I think the head position won't change anything. Look at Yuval closely and you will see that the head position changes the lean of his entire body, and has no effect on the position of the individual sections of the body. Yuval's lower back remains in the same position as the body leans from the head movement.

Potatos, your second picture does show a better position. The hips are much more open. Going back to Alex's comment, you need to PPT more. But in a different way. Obviously, your upper back is rounded, and your hips are opened up more (more, but not completely). What I feel I see here is loose abdominal muscles.

You are probably thinking about pushing the ribs in via the sternum, so that only the top half of your torso is moving in. I would suggest a new cue. Perhaps "crunching" the entire front of the torso in, from the top of the sternum to the bottom of the abs. Crunch in, like when you lift up into a hollow body hold. Try lifting up into a hollow body hold by crunching the body together and you will understand.

I know this is going to be extremely difficult while balancing, because as you crunch in, you will have to open up the hips at the same time or you will fall from the hip pike. You are practically at the finish line here, and the last stretch of the run is the hardest.

edit; maybe try this drill. back to wall handstand, Get into that position in your second picture. Now play around with the torso and see if you can crunch. If the shoulders and hips remain in the open position, you should feel as if the crunch "pulls" your body off the wall and into a balance.