Handstands can be thought of as a continuum of skills.
The first half (up to balancing consistently freestanding) is pretty mandatory - you can’t magically skip your way to greatness.
The second is much more based on individual preferences (you don’t need a tuck if you don’t want one), though if you want a certain level of mastery you will have to work some elements that aren’t as fun or appealing to you. There is simply a bit more leeway here in what to prioritise*
What to train at each stage
At each point of that continuum, your priorities will shift. Your mastery zone and stamina will have expanded. Your training regimen should adapt accordingly.
However, by now, you should know this unfortunate truth:
In handstands, when you manage to do something for the first time, the journey is just beginning.
It will take you another while until this skill you unlocked can be accessed on demand.
And while you gently progress towards the right side of the arrow, we want to make sure your pace is adequate:
Move a bit too fast, and you will not have had time to consolidate and ingrain your skills to a very deep, tacit level.
Move a bit too slow, and you’ll be bored out of your mind if you have your eyes set on the next goal.
The key is to embrace this duality, and add on top of it another truism: your performances aren’t even, dependable and linear over time. You have good and shitty days. This, too, dictates what you should train on any given day.
Should I pike?
Let’s zoom on the case of piking today.
Piking can be introduced before you reach the point of consistent freestanding, but with moderation. At these stages, it’s a tool to:
- develop body awareness,
- plant seeds for future goals,
- expand your sense of self trust (it’s scarier to bail from a pike),
- improve your finger pushing skills.
It is after the point of consistent freestanding that it starts becoming more of a priority, as most people set their eyes on the eye-catching lines (eg tuck or straddle) or on pike-dependent skills (ie flag or press).
Piking is a different beast from your normal handstand.
It will require open shoulders and new positions in your legs to counter-act the overhead placement of your hips. Until you get to a point where you can confidently kick-up into a pike, you will need to spend time acquainting yourself with the new positions, and morphing your solid, default handstands into something that resembles a pike.
Depending on your level of confidence with the pike position you will work on (your current abilities) and your possibilities of the day, you should adapt how you structure your training.
My suggestion:
- PS: don’t make the mistake to settle for less in you’re trying to achieve harder goals. The second half of this skill continuum is up for personalisation: you may want to chase the press, and not the OA, you may want nothing to do with gaze shifts, but refine your straightest line. It would be ridiculous to demand of you to do it all - by all means you can have it all. However, just because you can freestand doesn’t mean more freestanding is enough to achieve higher goals. Your press will demand the next level of straddle awareness and strength. Your shape shifts will need to be cleaned to be automated. Your OA will make you question handstands altogether.
