Handstand, L-Handstand to Straight, Foot Elevated

Описание: If you're an adult gymnastic skill seeker who's working on your split kick-ups to handstand, you're going to enjoy this drill.

The L-handstand to straight handstand is a neat drill for learning the top half of the split kick-up to handstand. Combine this with the Handstand Half Kick-up Progressions, and you'll be well on unlocking your kick-ups.

To perform the L-handstand to straight handstand drill, you will need an elevated surface that's roughly hip height.

Start by placing your feet on the elevated surface and your hands on the floor. Then, walk your hands towards the elevated surface to create a pike handstand shape.

Your wrists, elbows, shoulders and hips must be stacked in a nice vertical alignment.

You also want to find a focal point on the floor somewhere between the palms of your hands. Imagine that the palms of your hands are positioned on a line on the floor. You want to stack your eyes vertically above this line. In this video, I'm using a stick on the floor to represent this line.

A common mistake is to lean the shoulders forward and to have the eyes stacked above the fingers. This isn't what you want. By moving the head between the arms and stacking your eyes above the imaginary line, you'll open the shoulder angle and create a better alignment for the handstand.

From here, elevate the shoulders by actively pushing down into the floor. You must keep the shoulder elevated for the entire set.

Now that the upper body is set in place, keeping both legs straight, lift one leg off the elevated surface and slowly bring the knee and foot towards the vertical line of the wrists, elbows, shoulders, and hips.

A common mistake here is to take the foot past the alignment point, creating an arched or banana handstand. It's best to establish a straight shape or even have a slight hollow body shape here.

As you bring the top leg into position, pay close attention to the weight under your hands. You want to feel the weight shift to the middle of the hands and try to find the point of balance. When you do this, there will be very little pressure on the foot resting on the elevated surface.

From here, keep both legs straight as you lift the foot off the elevated surface slowly bring the feet together and move into the straight handstand.

Remember to keep the shoulders elevated, the shoulder angle open, and your eyes stacked above the imaginary line.

Once in the straight handstand, hold it for 5-10 seconds and then exit the handstand. You can bring the foot back down to the elevated surface with control or cartwheel out to the side.

The aim of this drill is to practice the top half of the split kick-up to handstand. Once you've moved from the L-handstands to the straight handstand and held it for 5-10 seconds, the drill is complete.

You can do multiple reps at once, but if you're new to kick-ups, you might find it best to do one rep at a time. Rest and then go again.

Giving your shoulders a chance to recover before each rep can improve the quality and success rate of this drill.

Give it a try, and see how you go. If you've got questions, please leave them in the comments.

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Music By Scott Holmes