kick up to HS - theory

Hi guys,

I'm building my way up to a free handstand.

I know there are several guys on this forum who are very good, i'd like to have some tips about the perfect way to execute a kick-up to handstand.

As a beginner i feel like the dynamic execution of the kick-up entry affects greatly the overall success of the free handstand probably because a beginner has less experience in adjusting the alignment, anyway these are the points where i'd like to have your point of view:

• i've seen 2 types of execution: 1) perform the kick up starting from a straight body position doing a long step forward and then kick up to handstand; 2) starting with your hand already on the ground and then kick up to handstand. With 1) seems that you can use the dynamic movement to perform the kick up with less effort but at the same time with 2) you can place your hands exactly where you want to establish a solid base. i was wandering if one of the two options has more advantages than the other or simply brings to a better execution.

• which of the 2 legs reach the vertical position (alignment) first? i've seen that the leg with which you perform the kick up usually aligns with the other one (which is already vertical) after going through a sort of L intermediate stage. Is this a must for the perfect execution? personally i see that the leg which i use to kick up is going up faster than the other and reaches the top alignment before or at the same time than the other but im not sure if this is ok and seem to bring some sort of instability. my personal impression is that the leg which you dont use to kick up should reach the top straight and faster and use it as a sort of counterbalance for the kick up leg that is coming up. Is this mandatory for a perfect execution? can you please confirm.

Thanks for your help guys.

Feel free to add any other tips that you think may be useful for a solid execution.

I'd learn to step/lunge into it instead of placing your hands and jumping up. Largely because I think that placing your hands and jumping up looks amateurish. It's also easier to perform the step handstand with good body position right from the beginning. 

To perform a good step into handstand, you will:

- Raise your arms overhead to full shoulder flexion, while maintaining a hollow body

- Step forward with whichever leg feels most comfortable

- Lean your hands towards the ground, maintaining full shoulder flexion and hollow body

- As your chest comes down, let your rear leg come up behind you so that you maintain a straight line from your hands through your shoulders and hips to the ankle. 

- When your hands contact the floor, maintain your body line, and push off the ground with your front leg. 

- This is the most difficult part. As your front leg leaves the floor, you have to start figuring out how to stop yourself in a handstand. You should be paying attention to where your weight is in your hands, and whether it feels like you're going to overshoot or undershoot. If you think you're going to undershoot, let your front leg trail your rear leg - by leaving it low, you'll be able to get further up into the handstand and then bring the leg up once you've balanced. If you think you're going to overshoot, then bring your front leg up more. 

Some people perform a variation where they bend at the hips and don't start out with full shoulder flexion. It looks sort of halfway between the straight body version and a press handstand with momentum assist. I think this version is less aesthetic (the breaking body lines don't look very clean) and more difficult (the more joints you bend, the more difficult it is to control)

Definitely listen to what Josh said. I've also found a few things that work for me - in no particular order.

1) Learning the press handstand/handstand push ups significantly increases the consistency of your kickups (I think it's due to a better understanding of how to correct over/undershoots when kicking up)

2) I like to kick up into a straddled position (one leg forward, the other back), and when I have found my balance, bring my legs together. It might not be as "pure" of a kickup, but it makes it more reliable.

3) If someone were to bet me to execute a kick-up 10/10 times, I would probably use the hands on floor, legs kick technique (but I can also do handstand presses, so I would do the kickup like a press with momentum, since I'm much more comfortable controlling the press than a normal kickup). 

4) Working handstand -> hollow -> straight -> arch -> straight ("saving" the handstand) might be helpful to understand how to control too little/too much momentum

5) The finger action decelerating the kick up should begin as soon as your hands are on the floor (in proper execution). That way, you're slowing yourself down before you reach handstand and you can smoothly achieve the position (without over-correction).

Thanks guys for your valuable inputs!

I think the last point mentioned by Joshua is particularly important for me:

You should be paying attention to where your weight is in your hands, and whether it feels like you're going to overshoot or undershoot. If you think you're going to undershoot, let your front leg trail your rear leg - by leaving it low, you'll be able to get further up into the handstand and then bring the leg up once you've balanced. If you think you're going to overshoot, then bring your front leg up more. 

 

i need some extra insight:

just to be 100% sure with the terms "undershoot" and "overshoot" you mean the position of the rear leg with respect to the vertical alignment, respectively less than 90° and more than 90° to the ground, am i right? 

if i have undershoot why the front leg should be "low"? in this case im already below 90° how can i go up? id say the opposite if i have undershoot the front leg should go up and bring up also the rear leg, same thing for the other case if i have overshoot why bring the front leg up, id say the opposite.

By undershoot, I mean you don't have enough momentum and so you will fall into your stomach if you don't compensate: if you don't compensate for an overshoot, you will fall on your back.

Keeping the front leg low means that it doesn't have to go as high in order for the rest of your body to reach verticle alignment, at which point you can balance. It's all about the trade off between momentum and potential energy. The lower your leg's final position, the less momentum is required to get it there.

thanks, ive got your point!

Sorry to revive an old thread but I have a couple of questions:

1) is it a good idea to practice both sides when you learn step into handstand, e.g first do it by stepping forward with your left leg and then also by stepping forward with your right leg?

2) I understand that in a step to handstand it's possible and of course advisable to do it while maintaining full shoulder flexion the whole time but what about the press? It seems to me that at the beginning of the movement you have to break your shoulder angle otherwise you can't maintain your balance at the bottom of the press so you can open your shoulders fully only once you've raised your legs past a certain point, am I correct?

3) if someone is proficient at both straddle press to handstand and step into handstand what method would they usually use to get into a handstand? I mean it seems to me that if you have the strength and active flexibility nessary for a press to handstand ,hs press would probably be more consistent but take more effort since there's no momentum whereas kick up to handstand would require much less effort but won't be as consistent since the kick up force is hard to modulate , does it make sense?

athleticandrey said:

Sorry to revive an old thread but I have a couple of questions:

1) is it a good idea to practice both sides when you learn step into handstand, e.g first do it by stepping forward with your left leg and then also by stepping forward with your right leg?

2) I understand that in a step to handstand it's possible and of course advisable to do it while maintaining full shoulder flexion the whole time but what about the press? It seems to me that at the beginning of the movement you have to break your shoulder angle otherwise you can't maintain your balance at the bottom of the press so you can open your shoulders fully only once you've raised your legs past a certain point, am I correct?

3) if someone is proficient at both straddle press to handstand and step into handstand what method would they usually use to get into a handstand? I mean it seems to me that if you have the strength and active flexibility nessary for a press to handstand ,hs press would probably be more consistent but take more effort since there's no momentum whereas kick up to handstand would require much less effort but won't be as consistent since the kick up force is hard to modulate , does it make sense?

2. In the press handstand your shoulders will not start at full flexion, but you should aim to have them as much into flexion as you can while still able to get your feet off the ground. You do not want to planche a press handstand.

3. Depends on what you're doing. If you're working handstand drills and expect to enter a handstand many times in the next hour, kick-up is better.

Re (3) - Most handbalancers use an entry similar to a press with tempo - they jump some of the way, but the end of the motion resembles a press. It's commonly done in a tuck shape (although it can also be done in a straddle/pike), and at the end the legs are extended into the final position.

That entry has a nice tradeoff between control and energy expenditure, and is surprisingly reliable once you get used to it (and assuming your handstand is good). 

It's kind of like a press with a bit of leg tempo - here's a nice demonstration of Andrey Moraru doing it in a straddle (at 2 minutes, 24 seconds in): 

back in the past in the early 1982,  during a recent fig italian conference i've seen a russian coach teaching the kick in handstand in this way.

his idea of bodyline is corresponding on the Hill's theory about the strength where isometric it is easier than concentric.

for this reason the best way is find a "enter" process that do not need bodyline correction after it begins. for this reason a solid bodyline is necessary from the beginning, and then you need to hold it all the time.

-take a piece of chalk and lie down on the floor emulating an handstand position

-write on the floor and edge where your feet stay and after where your wrists stay

-jump up,stay with legs on the feet line, hold your arms over the head with full flexion and correct bodyline

-do a lunge with the goal of putting the palms where you written the wrists line.

in this way you know that if you want to reach the wrists line, you MUST be fully extended, open hips and open shoulders. so basically you start in handstand to arrive in handstand while holding isometrically all the body tension.

Alessandro Mainente said:

back in the past in the early 1982,  during a recent fig italian conference i've seen a russian coach teaching the kick in handstand in this way.

his idea of bodyline is corresponding on the Hill's theory about the strength where isometric it is easier than concentric.

for this reason the best way is find a "enter" process that do not need bodyline correction after it begins. for this reason a solid bodyline is necessary from the beginning, and then you need to hold it all the time.

-take a piece of chalk and lie down on the floor emulating an handstand position

-write on the floor and edge where your feet stay and after where your wrists stay

-jump up,stay with legs on the feet line, hold your arms over the head with full flexion and correct bodyline

-do a lung with the goal of putting the palms where you written the wrists line.

in this way you know that if you want to reach the wrists line, you MUST be fully extended, open hips and open shoulders. so basically you start in handstand to arrive in handstand while holding isometrically all the body tension.

I like that. I think I'll play with this a bit later today.

Joshua, I'd be interested in knowing why you are recommending against practicing both sides of the kick-up? I'm always a bit obsessed with symmetry...

Joshua Slocum said:

1. Not really.

2. In the press handstand your shoulders will not start at full flexion, but you should aim to have them as much into flexion as you can while still able to get your feet off the ground. You do not want to planche a press handstand.

3. Depends on what you're doing. If you're working handstand drills and expect to enter a handstand many times in the next hour, kick-up is better.

Luzian said:

Joshua, I'd be interested in knowing why you are recommending against practicing both sides of the kick-up? I'm always a bit obsessed with symmetry...

athleticandrey said:

Joshua could you please elaborate on the first point? I also don't understand why not

The kick-up entry doesn't build significant strength or flexibility in the legs, so you don't have to worry about developing asymmetry in either of those areas. In terms of physical development, it's a waste of time and energy to learn "both ways". 

In terms of skills, there's really no benefit to being able to kick up off either foot - when was the last time you encountered a situation where you had to kick up to a handstand using a particular leg? Moreover, once you're comfortable with the kick-up, it's not difficult to learn to use your "off" leg, so if you want to learn both it's faster to just get good at doing it one way and then quickly pick up the other way.