Ok, a couple of people have PM'd me to ask about this, so I'll give a rough outline of my preferred cast handstand progressions. But while I can give some more specifics and side drills, the biggest advice I can give is this: TRAIN P-BAR SWINGS. There's a reason most male gymnasts learn casts to handstand effortlessly: it's because by the time they get to the level where cast handstands are a thing, they've already done a million p-bar swings. The back half of a p-bar swing is mechanically identical to a cast, and it's easy to practice high numbers of repetitions without the need to slam the hips into the bar over and over.
~PRETEAM:
-Get comfortable leaning/falling over a bar. Stand in a straddle in front a floor bar and lean forward (as if to do a press handstand) until you fall over into a forward roll. Arms straight the whole time.
-P-BAR SWINGS. Swing height is not important; the priority is tight body. The goal is for the gymnast to learn to control the swing using ONLY the shoulders, with ZERO change in position of the midsection, hips, or legs. This doesn't have to be done on an actual set of p-bars; they can do it between two spotting blocks.
~LEVEL 3:
-Level 3 beam dismount, but on a bar. This is how gymnasts will bail out of an overshot cast handstand; the more comfortable they are over shooting their goal, the less they'll be afraid to go for it. They can set up a block around bar height and kick/jump/press to handstand, then quarter-turn dismount just like they do at the end of their beam routines.
-Press handstand strength and progressions in general.
-P-BAR SWINGS. At this point, they should understand how to stay tight while swinging, and focus on getting the swing as high as reasonably possible without breaking body position. Horizontal or slightly above is a good base goal, but stronger kids should be able to hit 45deg, or even handstand with a bit of practice. As mentioned above, they should know how to bail out if they overshoot the handstand, by pirouetting off. If you're using actual p-bars, it's a lot less scary if they do the swings at the end of the bars, facing out.
~LEVEL 4:
-From handstand, controlled planche/lower down to pushup position. This functions both as a strength exercise, and a drill to get them used to controlling and balancing by leaning the shoulders forward past the hands. It's also good for practicing tight body positions.
-MORE P-BAR SWINGS. Once they can swing to a bit above horizontal with good form and positions, they can swing to straddle stand on the boxes, then press/jump to handstand. They should also learn to swing down from handstand, returning to support swings. Once they can do all of this, the next step is to just barely touch the tips of the toes on the block in the straddle stand phase, before pressing the rest of the way. Once they get comfortable with this, they can miss the feet, so they'll swing, straddle, and press to handstand all without stopping. Once they can do this, they should work on doing several in a row.
~LEVEL 5:
-STILL MORE P-BAR SWINGS. Multiple swings through straddle to handstand in a row should be routine by this point. Sets of 5+ can be done as a conditioning station in a bar rotation.
-They can also transfer this exact same progression to a single rail, by setting two spotting blocks behind the bar with a gap in between. They cast, straddle on the blocks, then press/jump to handstand and either bail forward with a quarter turn or return to the bar (they should be comfortable doing both). As with the p-bar swings, this turns into a cast to barely touching the toes on the blocks before pressing, and eventually they just miss their feet entirely and cast straddle to handstand.
~LEVEL 6+:
-CONTINUE TRAINING P-BAR SWINGS. Even after these are mastered, they should be a regular bar station at all levels. They can crank out lots of reps with minimal difficulty. It's also worthwhile to develop the swing with a straight body, to build even greater strength and control.
