L-seat - leaning forward, and hips back?

I have a problem with my L-seat, and it is that my hips are quite far behind my arms.

I do not think this is due to core strength - I can hold a hanging L-seat easily, and do a good amount of hanging leg raises.

This problem occurs even when I do a simple tucked L-seat, and when I try to align my arms and hips, I am VERY hunched over, and my entire body is leaned forward.

I want to blame my large and long legs, which are problems for many things, but are there any athletes out there who have this same problem?

For an L-sit, you do have to lean your upper body over your legs, especially if you want to get the nice pike compression for a pike press HS. Same thing with straddle L.

As the hips of necessity extend to the rear while in a straddle L, it is necessary to lean the shoulders forward to obtain a successful counter balance. As a consequence of this position, the height of the legs in a straddle L will be more a function of the strength of the hip flexors and rectus femoris (muscle in the middle of the quad) than of the abs. As a final point of execution, during a correct straddle L the feet should be slightly higher than the knees and the knees should be just below the elbows.

An L-sit is however a different story. While it is true that this position will adjust when in the middle of a press handstand, a correctly executed static L-sit should be completely upright with the chest open and extended, and with the arms striving to press the hips forward in between the hands. To achieve this position will require a significantly greater degree of tricep and core strength than the straddle L. If I had to venture a guess, I would surmise that your hunched over posture is in all likelihood caused by insufficient support strength coupled with tight hamstrings.

Fortunately the cure for these issues is relatively simple; focus on correct execution and practice more L-sits!

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer