Will I ever get my staddle press HS?

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

M

Mack_the_Ripper

I'm a L5, and I'm worried because I can't get my press to HS. In our strength training every day, we have to "try 10 press handstands from sitting" but I can't even make a press from straddle sit to straddle stand. I can barely/sometimes make a press from straddle stand to handstand, and I have no problem straddling down. I wind up jumping into all 10 of my presses because I have very little time and I don't want to be late for the next exercise.

Many girls I know who are about as strong as I am are making their press handstands occasionally or are almost making them...or can at least press from sit to stand! I can hold a straddle hold for almost 30 seconds...but I don't have my middle split. It is quite close, though. Does anyone have any tips or drills? I have tried press headstand and standing press against a wall but they are easy and the standing press against a wall hurts my wrists.

If it matters (I have heard it might), I am 14 years old and 5' 2".
 
One thing I have lately started my boys working on (with spectacular results) is what I call "half presses." To do a half press, stand in a straddle, lift your hips up as high as you can, but remain piked in the hips. The goal is to hit sort of a pancaked handstand.

This helps to learn the feel of keeping the feet low until the hips reach the top, and helps to avoid the common problem of bringing the feet up to early (ie doing a planche press rather than a straddle press)

If I'm not explaining this adequately, let me know and I'll make a video.
 
I don't know if this is the case with you, but some gymnasts will never get a press because of their body type (like me! it's not a strength issue). I also know a gymnast who made the national team and Olympic Trials who could never do a press.
 
I don't know if this is the case with you, but some gymnasts will never get a press because of their body type (like me! it's not a strength issue). I also know a gymnast who made the national team and Olympic Trials who could never do a press.

I strongly disagree with this.

A press can be done primarily as a strength skill or primarily as a flexibility skill. A gymnast who is very flexible doesn't need to be as strong, and a gymnast who is very strong doesn't need to be as flexible.

Kids who are naturally lean and flexible will have an easier time with this skill, yes, but that does not mean they are the only kids for whom it is possible.

You do, however, make a good point; I don't think the press handstand is nearly as important on the women's side of the sport as many coaches make it out to be. It is possible for a female athlete to compete at a very high level without being able to press well. This is not to say the skill should be neglected, but it is not absolutely crucial for female athletes.
 
Gymnasts whose arms aren't long enough to get their butts more than 1-2" off the floor from a straddle sit aren't going to get very far at all. (One sure way to identify me at meets-- look for major scars on hips from casts on bars. Thanks, stubby arms.) I also have the added issue of not being able to significantly arch/round my back. Fortunately, my coaches gave up after 3 years of double spotting me on presses on parallettes, and they let me do straight body planches instead. If other coaches would have preferred to waste more time attempting a skill that I was clearly not built to do, that's fine. I think there are much better uses of time, though, and I doubt that I would have ever gotten a press, even if I had continued to work them every practice. I made absolutely no progress in 3 years, and strength/flex are not really weaknesses for me.
 
Gymnasts whose arms aren't long enough to get their butts more than 1-2" off the floor from a straddle sit aren't going to get very far at all. (One sure way to identify me at meets-- look for major scars on hips from casts on bars. Thanks, stubby arms.) I also have the added issue of not being able to significantly arch/round my back. Fortunately, my coaches gave up after 3 years of double spotting me on presses on parallettes, and they let me do straight body planches instead. If other coaches would have preferred to waste more time attempting a skill that I was clearly not built to do, that's fine. I think there are much better uses of time, though, and I doubt that I would have ever gotten a press, even if I had continued to work them every practice. I made absolutely no progress in 3 years, and strength/flex are not really weaknesses for me.


This isn't actually an arm length issue, it is a shoulder flexibility issue.
A press to handstand from a sit more a flexibility / balance skill than a strength skill. The ability to get the body high enough off of the floor to get the feet to clean is directly related on how far you can press your shoulders down and how far you can compress in your straddle. I think the old boys' level 6 floor is a good example. I cannot press from a sit to a handstand due to the above mentioned flexibility requirements. I can press from a right leg split. This starting position eliminates the need for me to clear my feet around my body.

If you want to try to get the skill from the floor, work on being able to lift you body in an L or V support as high as you can get it. I wouldn't recommend overly stretching the shoulders to obtain the flexibility there as this could cause joint damage (shoulders are a bit quirky and very difficult to fix if they get messed up). If the shoulders are too stiff, you can work the pancake split so you don't need to get as much clearance to press as well as work the press from your good leg split.
 
The fact that your coaches couldn't get you to do a press in 3 years tells me they were not programming or going through the correct progressions.

GT, my mentor-coach calls that pancake HS "Spider HS". I don't know why, but the kids like it better. They just need a name for it.

Wall HS and presses against a wall in HS can aggravate the wrists. This tells me the wrists are not strong enough and need to be more properly conditioned. What does that mean? More wall HS in a sustainable volume (amount). There are other wrist exercises as well.

Press HS is much easier with more active flexibility. It requires abdominal strength to hold that active flexibility compression besides just the flexibility for it.

As well, don't forget that a press HS needs a strong enough shoulder girdle in the first place. This is especially true as gymnasts get older and bigger. It doesn't take nearly as much for the teenie weenies that are 4yo and weigh 35lbs or 5 or 6yo that are around 40 and 9yo around 50.

Flexibility will offset strength, but you can't eschew strength nor can you eschew flexibility.

I don't see how any girls are going to have any hope of straddled cast HS if they don't understand the press. They need to at least be able to cast to something about a straddle on and press from there. And if they can't at least straddle cast HS, they basically won't make it very far in optionals on bars. They might be fine on F and V but it's pretty handy on BB as well.
 
Um, I mean, I think my coaches did the best they could, considering that I can't sit in a straddle and place my hands flat on the floor without making a concentrated effort. Not to mention, all of the other optionals had presses, and our TOPS kids could zoom through 10. It's not exactly fun being the only person who needs a double spot on a conditioning skill, especially when you're surrounded by 15 others who can do it easily.

So I suck at presses. So did that national team member. I have a straddle cast, and bars is probably my strongest event.
 
The goal is to hit sort of a pancaked handstand.

What is a pancaked handstand? This sounds interesting, and helpful? My almost 6 yo dd is now working on these press ups. They don't really work them very much in regular training. There are only 2 girls at her gym that have them - she thinks it's fun to practice them (but is getting very frustrated because she just can't seem to get it)...it seems to me like maybe she's lacking shoulder strength (but after having read this thread, i think maybe it might be timing...) she can press up from a straddle stand, but not from a straddle sit. She can, however, press up from a straddle sit with very little spot (almost more of a two-finger touch at her hips).


The fact that your coaches couldn't get you to do a press in 3 years tells me they were not programming or going through the correct progressions.

GT, my mentor-coach calls that pancake HS "Spider HS". I don't know why, but the kids like it better. They just need a name for it.

As well, don't forget that a press HS needs a strong enough shoulder girdle in the first place. This is especially true as gymnasts get older and bigger. It doesn't take nearly as much for the teenie weenies that are 4yo and weigh 35lbs or 5 or 6yo that are around 40 and 9yo around 50.

What exactly are the "correct progressions?"
Still curious about the "spider/pancaked" handstand...
What is "enough shoulder girdle?"

Honestly, dd's major motivation for wanting to press up SO badly is that her gym is having a contest...the winner of the contest (the first to press up) wins a trophy. DD wants to get (and is determined to bring home) that trophy. My concern is that she is doing the same thing over and over. What she is doing isn't working.

Thanks,
 
I have tried the pancake handstand and I cannot do it without jumping...can anyone think of any more intermediate drills? As in, harder than press from headstand? I like trying a standing press from a block, but I can rarely practice this at home due to space problems (although now I have a patio I can use when it's warm!).
 
[youtube]BomnNMW9bPQ[/youtube]

This is an "ideal" half press (at least for somebody like me who doesn't have good flexibility -- even better would be for the hips to close more, so the straddle/pancake position is more compressed).

Most kids, when they first start this drill, won't be able to hit and hold the pancaked handstand -- what you're looking for in a kid who's just starting is a lean forward with straight arms and a compressed straddle until they fall into a forward roll. As they get comfortable with this, they can press the shoulders open more and more, so the hips will lift up more before they fall into the roll.
 
Last edited:
My almost 6 yo dd is now working on these press ups. They don't really work them very much in regular training. There are only 2 girls at her gym that have them - she thinks it's fun to practice them (but is getting very frustrated because she just can't seem to get it)...it seems to me like maybe she's lacking shoulder strength (but after having read this thread, i think maybe it might be timing...) she can press up from a straddle stand, but not from a straddle sit. She can, however, press up from a straddle sit with very little spot (almost more of a two-finger touch at her hips).

Thanks, GT, for posting the video.

This weekend, my dd is now able to press from a straddle hold to a straddle stand...she is also able to press from a straddle stand to a handstand and back to a straddle hold. The part that she can't seem to get is "connecting" the two...does this make sense? Is the skill in the video the "missing link" for her do you think?
 
Thanks, GT, for posting the video.

This weekend, my dd is now able to press from a straddle hold to a straddle stand...she is also able to press from a straddle stand to a handstand and back to a straddle hold. The part that she can't seem to get is "connecting" the two...does this make sense? Is the skill in the video the "missing link" for her do you think?

Might help, though I suspect endo rolls would probably be more helpful for that -- I'll see if I can get a video of those sometime soon.
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back