Tips on keeping legs straight, holding handstands, and pushups

[fishchimes]

I decided to do three questions in the same post because for some reason having three posts in the same forum makes me feel uncomfortable... xD Lol. You only have to answer one if you want.

So I have always had a problem keeping my legs straight during skills. I have REALLYREALLYREALLY long legs... They make up like over half my body!! I can almost keep them straight doing leg lifts but on my kips, my back handsprings, my vault, even my roundoff... Almost everything... They bend at least a little and often a lot! Hamstring flexibility has always been my weakness; I can't comfortably touch my toes. I stretch a lot but it doesn't seem to help. Does anyone have any tips for keeping better form?

I can't seem to hold a handstand for longer then a couple of seconds and it's really bugging me. If I walk around or even just walk a couple steps to get in the right position I can hold it for a long longer, but just doing a kick-up to handstand doesn't cut it... I squeeze everything but I still can't hold it :ashamed:

And one last thing. I hate pushups!! I find them difficult and I don't know why; I can do chin ups and I usually don't have any problems keeping my arms straight during skills... Why?

Thank you for reading this ridiculously long post

 

[CoachTodd]

By what you are describing, you may need to work core strength. If your arms are strong enough to stay straight in all of you skills but you have problems with push ups, your core may be too weak.
I coach a girl who is my height but her hips are at my rib cage and her arm span is at least 6" longer than she is tall. She grew very quickly and has had difficulty getting the core strength needed to control these really long limbs.

You may also want to hold the handstands against the wall (stomach toward the wall) while using just one toe for support and try to find a good balance point. This should help you refind your center of gravity as well.