Do We Know Of Anyone With A Good Hs With Fingers Pointed Sideways?

At my circus group last night I met a young lad who could stagger around in a handstand for 10-20s and clearly had decent "strength", but he couldn't for the life of him hold still. I demonstrated a static handstand (my line is poor by GB standards but I can stay up for 10-60s, depending on my strength) and suggested that my hand orientation was key to being able to balance using finger pressure - a fundamental concept, of course.

In his handstand his hands were rotated outwards 90 degrees, kind of how some might do a planche or elbow lever, and this seemed to give him almost zero front/back control. He said that he then, though, had better side-to-side control... which to be honest I didn't think was ever an issue for most people.

We didn't discuss it much further, as I don't really feel justified in giving out too much HS-specific advice considering my own lack of accomplishments, but I thought I'd investigate further and maybe refer him to this forum.

Is having your fingers out to the sides ever done? Can he work with that, do you think, or is it a dead end?

Any handstand on the PBs has going to have the hands turned sideways, no?

EDIT: now that I actually think about that, it's possible to rotate your wrists a bit so it's not completely sideways.

I sometimes do that if I am pressing. The key is just to spread your thumb and pinky far apart to get more front/back control. 

Rik de Kort said:

Any handstand on the PBs has going to have the hands turned sideways, no?

Good point! But a closed hand around the bar is perhaps quite unlike an open hand on the floor?

Interesting...

Rik de Kort said:

Any handstand on the PBs has going to have the hands turned sideways, no?

Yes, but the balance isn't controlled by the fingers, it's controlled by the wrists.

Anyways, wouldn't someone who is capable of holding a japanse HS be able to do this easily?

It is true thatif you can do a japenese HS you could probabaly easily do this.  The reverse is not true.  I was able to do a HS with my fingers pointed sideway, but i attepmtped a japenese HS with my back to a wal...no good.  My shoulders were not ready and with how close your head is to the ground...if you slip it could be very unforgiving. 

Ian Legrow said:

It is true thatif you can do a japenese HS you could probabaly easily do this.  The reverse is not true.  I was able to do a HS with my fingers pointed sideway, but i attepmtped a japenese HS with my back to a wal...no good.  My shoulders were not ready and with how close your head is to the ground...if you slip it could be very unforgiving. 

Now that you mention it, that's probably where I picked up the habit of using that hand position. It is a little easier on the wrist in my opinion, so I probably started doing it unconsciously after I learned the balance from a Japanese handstand. 

A lot of people with wrist issues do this because it relieves pressure on the wrists.  Of course, it also puts greater pressure on the elbows so be aware. 
For strength moves like planche or japanese HS on floor this is acceptable, but for regular skill work, presses, tumbling, etc. it's best to avoid in my opinion. 

Do with index or middle finger facing forward.  Especially if you want to eventually progress to more advanced hand balancing tricks. 

A friend of mine who is a very high level tumbler does everything with fingers to the side and closed shoulder because he has cysts/calcium deposits on his wrists.  He makes it work quite well for tricks but he also cannot hold a steady handstand. 

Thanks for the replies. This kid was also doing some ROs and BHS so next time I'll watch and see where his hands go during those.