The handstand

1Why this matters

A handstand turns your whole body upside down and balances it on the smallest base you will ever use: two hands. It builds shoulder and arm strength, body tension and balance, and nearly every advanced gymnastics skill passes through it: the cartwheel, the round-off, the handspring. It needs no equipment, only a soft surface, a wall and a good partner.

2What a good handstand looks like

A handstand is a balance in which the body is held straight and upside down on the hands. A basic gymnastics handstand has:

• straight arms, with the hands about shoulder-width apart and the fingers spread;
• straight legs held together;
• pointed toes, continuing the line of the legs;
• a straight body, with the shoulders pushed up towards the ears and the stomach and buttocks squeezed tight.

How the balance works. You stay up when your centre of gravity is directly above your hands. You make small corrections with your fingers and palms: if you start to fall over the top, press your fingertips into the floor; if you start to fall back towards where you came from, shift your weight towards the heels of your hands.

3Safety

• Warm up the wrists (circles, and gentle rocking on all fours) and the shoulders (arm circles).
• Use a mat or soft grass with at least 2 m of clear space all round.
• Learn the exit before the handstand: if you fall over the top, turn a quarter and step down sideways, as if finishing a cartwheel. Never let your arms collapse.
• A spotter (a trained partner) stands to one side, not in front, and supports the thighs or hips.

4The kick-up, step by step

1. Stand in a lunge, strong leg in front, arms straight up beside your ears.
2. Reach forward and place your hands flat on the ground, about a long step in front of your front foot. Keep your arms beside your ears.
3. Push off the front leg while you swing the back leg up, straight.
4. Bring the legs together at the top. Look at the floor just in front of your hands.
5. Push the floor away through straight arms and hold tight for 2 to 3 seconds.
6. Come down one leg at a time, back into your lunge.

5Progressions

1. Bunny kicks: hands on the floor, kick both feet a little way up behind you and land softly, feeling your weight on your hands.
2. Wall walk: start in a push-up position with your feet against a wall, then walk your feet up the wall and your hands closer to it, facing the wall. Hold, then walk down.
3. Kick up to the wall: with your back to the wall, kick up so your heels rest lightly on it. A spotter stands beside you.
4. Spotted handstand away from the wall, then a free handstand held for 3 seconds.

Worked example: fault, cause, correction

Byiringiro practises kick-ups while his partner watches. The partner uses the coach's method: name the fault, find its cause, then give a correction.

The partner gives Byiringiro the correction for his biggest fault first. On his next attempts, the legs reach the top and he holds for 2 seconds.

Practice

Solution. Straight arms with the hands shoulder-width apart; straight legs together; pointed toes; a straight, tight body with the shoulders pushed up.

Solution. Press your fingertips into the floor to push yourself back. If you still go over, turn a quarter and step down sideways, like finishing a cartwheel.

Solution. To one side of the performer, not in front where the legs swing, supporting the thighs or hips.

Solution. Bunny kicks, wall walk, kick up to the wall, free handstand.

Solution. Her stomach and buttocks are relaxed and her head is probably pulled back. She should squeeze her stomach and buttocks, push her shoulders up towards her ears and keep her head between her arms.