Handstand walking(and others)

[nicci1999]

Just wondering if there are any good drills to get better at handstand walking, besides the obvious keep doing it I can make about two steps, dragging my hands before I lose my balance completely. Oh, and bridge kickovers. I have a tendency to lean to one side as I am going over, therefore toppling over to one side. Any good ideas on how to get over doing that?

 

[LittleLady]

nicci,
Do a handstand against a wall and walk in place that way. Do it as long as you can picking your hands up as far as you can. Try doing one arm handstands against a wall too to strengthen your arms and shoulders. You'll gain the strength to handstand walk a longer distance with these drills. The one arm handstands against a wall will also improve your strength to do your kickovers without leaning to one side.

 

[GikiGirl]

nicci,

to add to what littlelady said about one arm handstands, which is a great idea, start out by simply shifting your weight to one side, but do not lift your hand up. Then, see if you can balance on more like fingertips on the other arm, with your weight still shifted over the arm you are eventually trying to be on. If you just go for a one arm handstand right away even against a wall, I am afraid there will be an accident. Just looking out for ya!

The shoulder touches we have done in adult class are good too.

 

[GikiGirl]

For the bridge kickovers think of pushing thru your armpits backward as you kick. That will help pull you over more evenly. Do lots of them w/ feet up on a higher surface than the floor. You can also try rocking your bridge back and forth thru your arm pits, then kick during the rock back to give a little extra momentum. The toppling is probably just due to the skill 'dying out' from not enough speed/not strong enough kick over. Your shoulders are pretty flexible, but extra leg strength like switch jump lunges (lunge, jump in air, switch legs, land in lunge on other side, repeat, etc) are good. Things where you use one leg at a time.

 

[dancing9118000]

try kicking to a handstand and doing shoulder taps. just lift your right hand off the ground and touch your shoulder then put it down and do the same with your left. it will help with shoulder strength and balance

 

[gymnast5678]

nicci,
Do a handstand against a wall and walk in place that way. Do it as long as you can picking your hands up as far as you can. Try doing one arm handstands against a wall too to strengthen your arms and shoulders. You'll gain the strength to handstand walk a longer distance with these drills. The one arm handstands against a wall will also improve your strength to do your kickovers without leaning to one side.

Ya I too was wondering how do get better at the handstand walks! So thanks for the ideas to help me get better

 

[BlairBob]

Coach Sommers calls these wall runs whereas I call them head, shoulder or side tappers. Monkeys are when they touch their shoulders and Penguins when they touch their side.