Handstand corrections

I have been training wall handstands off and on for a few weeks and I would like to start "real" handstand training. Here's how it usually goes at the moment:

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I know I should lever into it, but it seems more difficult to find my balance point that way. I also see that my shoulders are not open, but when I focus on keeping them open I seem to go right past my balance point. I am keeping my butt and legs tight as I go up.

Do you have any suggestions for fixing my form problems, or do I just need to force myself to lever down/keep the shoulders open and drill until I can hit the balance point? Or do I just need to stay with the wall handstands for a while longer?

I prefer a bigger lunge.

You simply need to learn to stop the kick just short of vertical so it sort of floats into vertical. Everything squeezing, actually everything should be squeezing as you initiate it.

And you're closing your shoulders slightly as you reach down but this is also because you are not extending that much because your lunge is small.

Okay, so this is what happens when I try to do that.

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You'll notice I don't lever down very well and still haven't fixed the shoulders completely. (I don't know if that's an acceptable angle yet or not) If I really focus on getting a decent lever down I seem to overshoot pretty hard, which is why I'm more bending down and kicking up as opposed to levering correctly.

So back to the wall? Just keep drilling?

How long can you do a HS against the wall for?

Personally, I prefer to start the whole manoeuvre with my hands on the floor in something of a down dog. Depending on my mood I either kick up from the full down dog position or bring my feet in a bit before kicking up. When I do the latter I usually have one leg raised already and the leg kick is much more vertical thus lessening the overkick potential.

jl5555 said:

Personally, I prefer to start the whole manoeuvre with my hands on the floor in something of a down dog. Depending on my mood I either kick up from the full down dog position or bring my feet in a bit before kicking up. When I do the latter I usually have one leg raised already and the leg kick is much more vertical thus lessening the overkick potential.

That works for me too. Actually, my best freestanding HS attempts came from standing pike with hands on the floor, slightly bending the knees and jumping off with both feet at the same time. With the right body (ex)tension and opening of the shoulders you will end up in a perfectly straight HS!

biomieg said:

That works for me too. Actually, my best freestanding HS attempts came from standing pike with hands on the floor, slightly bending the knees and jumping off with both feet at the same time. With the right body (ex)tension and opening of the shoulders you will end up in a perfectly straight HS!

Yes, a good progression leads to two feet at once, first with a slight jump, and then, hopefully, to the pike up. But for the first attempts off the wall it maybe better to go one let at a time.

RandomHavoc said:

How long can you do a HS against the wall for?

I haven't timed myself with a stopwatch, but I just timed my counting so I think I have a fairly accurate idea. If my counting is steady then my wall handstand is about 50s.

Also, it does seem easier to kick up starting bent over, but I want to learn to lever down/needle down correctly to help improve my handspring and roundoff so I assumed it would be best to practice the handstand that way as well.

Goes to show that everybody has different goals (which is part of the fun of course!). My first goal is freestanding HS for it's own sake (and the associated strength/proprioceptive improvements). When I have a solid HS I want 1) to be able to get into HS from pike press and also from cartwheel (i.e. pausing cartwheel in the middle), and 2) to be able to move my legs around while in HS. This makes it more specific for capoeira. But I'm not planning to get into roundoffs and flips and such.

Ahh, I did capoeira very briefly. Cartwheel to handstand was always impressive to me. Shows a lot of control.

Flips are fun, and easier than handstands. You should try them.