Handstand ProConfidence · At the wall, then without
Cartwheel bail
The exit you'll use on every freestanding attempt. When the handstand goes past vertical, one hand steps to the side, your hips turn, and you land on your feet as in a cartwheel, only lower and softer.
Until it's automatic, a protective reflex will keep your kick-ups too timid, and you won't understand why you always drop back the same way.
- Family
- Confidence
- Equipment
- A wall
- Type
- Reps
Train this exercise in the app
How to do it
- Get up on the wall the way you usually do, chest to wall or with a kick-up.
- Step one hand out to the side, then shift your weight onto it.
- Turn your hips and let your legs come down to the side.
- Put your feet down one after the other, controlling the descent.
- Repeat on the same side until it's automatic, then move away from the wall.
The mistakes that keep coming back
Bridging out. Dropping forward in an arc with your back arched looks spectacular, but it's hard on the spine and useless as a reflex. The cartwheel goes to the side.
Landing heavily. If your feet slap the floor, the descent isn't controlled. Aim for a quiet landing: it's the simplest way to know the exit is there.
You don't need a real cartwheel, by the way. The exit is a low half cartwheel: if you can step one foot down to the side from the wall, you can do it.
A coach in your ear
Upside down, you can't read a screen. In the app, a voice guides you through the exercise and tells you what to fix right when you need it. For example, when your feet land too hard:
“Aim for quiet, controlled landings”
Train this exerciseRelated exercises
Wall tuck bailThe gentlest way to learn coming down, from a tucked position against the wall.
Split handstandThe handstand without a wall, one leg forward and one back, like scissors.
Toe pullsFacing the wall, you lift your toes off by pressing into your fingers: your first real balance.All exercises: the catalog