Holding a handstand is like putting together a puzzle. There are many little pieces that you need to fit together if you want to complete it. These pieces are the secrets that will help you get down the road to success quickly.
Still, the handstand is a very difficult skill. These secrets alone won't let you magically become an expert overnight. Practice and persistance are necessary to have any success in hand balancing.
The tips you learn here will prove to help you out in a big way. Also, these tips will ensure you get started with good habits which will set you up to learn even more advanced stunts later on.
Trying to learn the handstand without any instruction can be a bad thing. Why is this so bad? First, you have to pave your own path which always takes longer.
But mostly you may be teaching yourself bad habits. Once a habit is ingrained in takes a lot of effort to unlearn it. That being the case lets set up good habits in the handstand.
The easiest way to learn the handstand is to first practice it against a wall. This takes the difficult part of balancing out of the equation, so that you can learn the proper body position first.
The handstand itself does not take very much strength. In fact, when you do it right, your weight is supported by your bone structure which is very strong. All you have to do is hold the right position.
First step is to kick-up into the handstand. To get a great handstand a good kick-up is a must, especially when you move away from the wall. We will start in the easiest manner possible.
Get in a sprinter's stance. That is both hands on the floor about shoulder width apart approximately 6-10 inches from the wall. One foot should be close to your body while the other is farther back. With the back leg you kick up and then bring the other leg to meet up with it against the wall.
You will have to learn how to use the necessary amount of kick to get yourself into the handstand softly. Practice the kick-up until you can do it easily every time.
Once you are holding a handstand against a wall you can start to tweak your body position until you are in good form.
Make sure your fingers are spread wide apart. Dig your fingertips into the floor. These two steps will help you keep the balance when you are doing free standing handstands.
Keep your elbows locked. Failing to keep your arms locked will require your muscle to hold you up in the handstand rather than your structure. While it can be done, you will fatigue quicker.
Push your arms into the ground. This movement is made from the shoulder girdle. You want to shrug your shoulder toward your ears. This position will aid in keeping your structure aligned.
For most people some arch in the back is normal. There are different ways to go about it depending on the style of handstand you are going after. Just do whatever is comfortable for you.
Keep your butt and legs tight. Point the toes. This is for more than aesthetics. Since your legs are farthest away from you base of support any movement in them will throw your balance off most.
Stretch upward with the entire body. This creates a locked out, tight and strong feeling.
All the points for a good and stable handstand position are here. The goal is to create this same position every time you do a handstand whether against the wall or freestanding. Practice these steps enough until they are a habit every time you go into the handstand.
The next step is to take it away from the wall. The simplest way to do this is to kick-up against the wall and then remove your feet off it by just a couple inches and try to hold the balance.
After some practice with this you can try kicking up to a handstand in an open area.
By mastering these simple steps you will have a good looking handstand in no time.
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Logan Christopher started the Lost Art of Hand Balancing site because of the lack of information on doing these feats. You can see more including a free 23 page guide to the handstand at his website.
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Article added to SearchWarp.com on Sunday, December 02, 2007 View other articles written by Logan Christopher(120)
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