In Coaching, Gymnastics/Tumbling, Reference, Videos
September 14, 2011
CrossFit Santa Cruz’s Laurie Galassi, a gymnast and fifth-place finisher at the NorCal Regional, shares her coaching tips for mastering the handstand. In Part 2 of the series, Galassi applies the handstand basics she taught through body position and wall climbs to the next step: kicking up into a handstand.
Galassi drills the athletes on forward and backward leg kicks.
“This is another great chance to squeeze your stomach and integrate your body as it moves,” she says. According to Galassi, pointing the feet helps create more tension in the leg and integrates more muscles. The kick up to a handstand takes both legs.
“It ultimately becomes a bend and straighten of my knee at the exact same moment that I kick the back leg, and now I have effectively tipped myself up and over,” Galassi says. She drills the athletes on their mechanics, then has them practice kicking up to a wall.
To test an athlete’s ability to remain stacked up and organized in a handstand, she has each one kick up into a handstand off the wall, using a partner to catch and hold the legs. The partner tests the stability of the inverted athlete, then tries to find the athlete’s balance point.
The athletes then try kicking up against the wall and pulling their legs off the wall one at a time to find their own balance.
8min 45sec
Additional reading: Why Train Gymnastics Basics? by Jeff Tucker, published Aug. 1, 2008.
Free Download
Comment
Related Articles
CrossFit Santa Cruz’s Laurie Galassi, a gymnast and fifth-place finisher at the NorCal Regional, shares her coaching tips for mastering the handstand. In Part 1 of the series, she focuses on body… Continue Reading
CrossFit Santa Cruz’s Laurie Galassi, a gymnast and fifth-place finisher at the NorCal Regional, shares her coaching tips for mastering the handstand. In Part 3 of the series, Galassi teaches the… Continue Reading
Channeling the power of the hip can be tricky when it comes to the muscle-up.
“I think that most people understand you’ve got to have a good amount of pulling strength, full… Continue Reading
While good technique is important, you simply need a certain amount of strength to perform a strict handstand push-up. Luckily, there are all kinds of ways to build that… Continue Reading
9 Comments on “Handstand Virtuosity: Part 2”
1
wrote …
It is such a pleasure to watch (and learn from) a true teacher. This is my first comment (ever) on CrossFit, though I've been a devotee and Journal subscriber since 2007(!) Ms. Galassi, well done indeed.
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
2
wrote …
The active shoulders while you are going from the lunge into the hands-down position is what always catches me. Sometimes I'll just collapse when I move my weight onto my hands, because my shoulders aren't active and "stacked". It's easy to see from this video what I'm doing wrong. Thanks!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
3
wrote …
Thanks for this - it's a gold mine of gymnastics info!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
4
wrote …
It's really a pleasure to listen to Laurie Galassi. Precise and clear coaching, lots of pertinent info. Thanks!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
5
wrote …
love it.... keep em comin. solid and simple...
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
6
wrote …
love it.... keep em comin. solid and simple...
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
7
wrote …
LOVE THIS! I have been working on getting good at a handstand for 4+ years now when I discovered CrossFit! I am now really getting the hang of walking on my hands (about 10+ meters unbroken) thanks to part one of this series! Going to work these drills this week on myself and start using them with my guys next week. Thank you, Laurie!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
8
wrote …
Thanks Laurie for the new ideas on how to work our handstands!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
9
wrote …
Great videos I always had trouble with my handstand, I actually can do more than 10 handstand push-ups(arching against the wall) but could´t do one solid handstand... well things change today, I did my first 20s handstand. Thanks
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
Leave a comment