Help with my handstands

Ever since I was a kid doing gymnastics I’ve always wanted to get my handstand, but the skill has always evaded me, floating for a second or two at the top before crashing back down. When lockdown hit in 2020 I dedicated some time to condition and practice but I had no guide other than Youtube, so never got feedback and learned some bad habits like letting my ribs flare and overcompensating for my lack of technique in balancing by dumping into my lower back. 

I’ve been attending the Handstands conditioning class most weeks since January now, first with Amy and then with Rhi and I’ve felt consistent progress. At the beginning of the first class we talked about goals and I remember confidently saying my dream was to get my press handstand - despite not being able to hold a handstand. This goal quickly evolved into not getting so excited that I was actually holding a handstand (even for a second off of the wall) that I would lose form and collapse. 

Classes start with a warm up, focussing on shoulders, wrists, back and hips, before moving onto circuit-style conditioning, including dish holds, prep for L sits, and lots of scap (shoulder blades) engagement. There’s always layers of difficulty in the conditioning, with regressions and progressions depending on your strength level (or how much energy you have left on a Monday evening). Next up is our handstand drills, we travel across the studio kicking up with different goals: keeping legs in an L shape, swapping which leg leads and trying to tap the feet together at the top to name a few - although I always see the tap drill as a challenge to clap my feet together as loud as I can. 

Then onto the handstands. In the beginning I HATED handstand holds with my front to the wall - they felt like I was continuously about to plunge into the abyss behind me, but after being poked and prodded to correct my form I quickly realised that handstands with my back to the wall were feeding into my unhealthy habits of dumping my weight into my lower back and sticking my ribs out. My float time at the top of my handstands got better gradually week by week, the first few handstands after drills were always the best attempts, then I’d move onto trying the other shapes: stag, split, straddle (ew) and tuck. 

A month ago, as I walked my feet up the wall for my first hold of the day, Rhi said “remember your corset” meaning for me to tuck my ribs back in, and they did it! No pokes needed! My brain had finally recognised the cue for me to correct my bad form without needing tactile feedback! Everything has started to click for me, meaning maintaining a handstand was a lot less energy consuming, and I could focus more on correcting my balance than my alignment. 

Fast forward a few weeks and I’m back in handstands class after resting my shoulder from a climbing injury and there's something new in the class: parallettes! The warm up and conditioning fly by, my muscle memory kicks in and my alignment improves instantly.  
After some convincing that the parallettes won’t slide away, I give them a go and hold my straight handstand for longer than ever before. 

The small personalised corrections I’ve had in the class, such as to tuck my tailbone, hollow my body, and the occasional prod and poke to reinforce the shape have been invaluable. The individual feedback paired with the support and hype of the rest of the class means that this class has become a weekly fix for me and my week doesn’t feel complete without it. Forever grateful for Rhi and Amy’s help in my lifelong goal of finally getting my handstands to actually handstand.