2 Ways to Teach Cast Handstands

Hi All,

Today I’m going to talk just briefly about cast handstands. People have a lot of different theories about how to teach them, how they should mechanically work etc. I’m not going to get into a lot of the mechanics. The biggest thing I have you to say is your gymnasts shoulders HAVE TO be over the bar. It simply doesn’t work any other way. Because of that, that’s where I generally start with cast handstands.

This is the very first drill I like to use usually. Once you’ve spotted a few and the .gymnasts get a feel for it they start finding it really fun. Stick a resi mat in front of them and just let them have at it. It’s great for conditioning too. Also, you can have them do it in reverse grip. If you don’t want kids doing it on the bar at first you can get a very similar result (conditioning wise) from them doing it with their hands on a spotting block.

This second one I like to use in conjunction with another drill (because this drill lacks the levering action). I really, really like this drill because it teaches the kids to not be afraid of falling forward which is great. Because if fear of falling forward becomes a problem, it is TERRIBLE to fix.

Train hard!

Photo Credit: Emily Schild’s Website