Straddle Press Form Check (First Try)

Hello everyone,

This is the first time I tried one out, just for the fun of it. I'm sure there's a ton of stuff wrong with it, but I don't have the kind of eye needed to know what kinds of cues are needed to fix what. It looks like I planche a lot, but I don't have very good flexibility (working on this a lot with the Stretch Series!). I also don't keep pointed toes and my HS isn't great. My main concern was locking the knees and elbows I suppose. Thank you for any hints. I went to a GB seminar some years ago and the coach (it wasn't Coach Sommers though) was super helpful, so I figured GBs would be a good place to ask some form questions hehe!

Again, thank you very much for your time!

Basically you are planching and not pressing, a lot of mobility for both shoulders and compression is needed.

Hey Alessandro, 

Thank you very much for the answer. And yeah I figured that was my issue. I'm definitely missing a lot of hip compression still, so I'll keep working on that. 

Just curious, what about when my legs are parallel to the ground, like after lift off? Do you think I'm also leaning too much then? Are my hips where they should be, or are they not really over my shoulders in your experience? 

I know I'm missing flexibility,  but I don't know if I'm messing up the hip rolling, and if I am, will that naturally get fixed with better compression? Thanks!

Ideally leaning should be minimized and the moment where you lift the legs from horizontal position you should be stacked with hips over the shoulders and shoulders over the hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbmZJ7pzKYw

Oh that's interesting. So in a full handstand, everything is stacked (hips over shoulders, shoulders over hands), so I figured once the legs were parallel to the floor, you'd have to lean somewhat to counteract that weight. It looks like what you're supposed to do instead, however, is keep the shoulders on top of the hands and the hips move back slightly so the torso angle to the floor is past 90 degrees. That's what "rolling the hips" means then, you counter the leg weight by moving the hips past the hands and keeping the shoulder as open as possible. It always mystified me but it's pretty simple (not easy!) now that I understand what it refers to.

I think I'll continue to work on hip flexibility and give this another shot in a few months. Thanks Alessandro!

You are allowed to lean very slightly to counter balance in the beginning of the press, but as you press higher the alignment should fix itself. The closed shoulder angle should only occur briefly.