Parents DD lost her handstand

[LTmom]

coaches pulled her out of drills to talk to her. HC flat out told her she doesn’t know what changed but something changed. Had a better shape before but changed it. I’ve never tried a handstand in my life so I have no idea what it feels like, I can only observe and try to break it down intellectually and using physics ideas.

DD has been drilled to remember:
-lever in properly
-ears inside arms
-look at hands while keeping ears inside arms

The way I see it, there are 2 phases of a handstand: getting to vertical, and recognizing/holding vertical. I think DD has way more problems getting to vertical. She either overkicks and lands on her feet, or under kicks and feels embarassed that she’s doing essentially a baby handstand.

I know about the nose to wall drill, and that helps the kid feel vertical, but does that actually address getting to vertical position?

I watched a bunch of videos but none answers my questions.

How do I help her?

 

[triplethreat+1]

When my dd was working on her handstand, she would sometimes ask me to stand beside and put my arm out (to stop her from going too far). And she did lots of wall handstands- both kicking up to back against the wall, as well as nose to the wall.

 

[sce]

First, my kids stall out or lose skills when they grow, has she grown recently? Sounds like she needs more core strength and control. If she wants to work on ti at home, lots of handstands against the wall, belly to the wall and hold for as long as possible. Maybe set time goals and increase them incrementally. Really encourage her to squeeze her stomach and butt while holding the handstand. No arching while in handstand. Even while doing her free handstands, she needs to squeeze her stomach before beginning and keep it tight the whole time, squeeze, lever, kick, hold, kick down.

 

[jillc]

Leave it alone and let the coach help her.

 

[LTmom]

Thank you for your replies. I incorporated your suggestions. For anyone reading this in the future, this video also really helped.

https://thegymcoach.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/basics-basics-basics-the-training-of-a-handstand/

 

[Miss Alyssa]

Practice kicking up against the wall is great once the arm strength is there which it sounds like she has. Also using a wedge mat against the wall and kicking up (fat end on the floor). This way they can kick freely and hard enough to make it past vertical but keeping their body straight, and the soft mat will help them feel comfortable. Try this first and then progress to just the wall. Hands should be placed about 6 inches or so away from the wall. It will be hard to get into a handstand and balance if your hands are right up against the wall. This will help her find that vertical and the exact amount of effort needed to get there each time - what is too much (feet will bounce off the wall) - or too little (feet will not reach the wall). The only thing touching the wall should be the toes (very important that her butt is NOT resting on the wall and she is mishaped or arched) the core and shoulders are holding her body and the toes are used for balance. As she progresses she can even try to slowly move her toes off the wall and balance on her own (touching the toes back to the wall only when she feels like she might fall for extra support and finding vertical again).