Handstand ProBalance · At the wall
Wall split-leg alternating taps
Toe taps, the back-to-wall version. You kick up with your legs in a split, one foot resting on the wall behind you. You lift it off, bring your legs together at the top, then the other foot comes down to tap the wall. Between the two taps, you're balancing freestanding.
The app also has a chest-to-wall version. Here, the wall catches your legs when you go past vertical, and the split position is the easiest one for finding your balance.
- Family
- Balance
- Equipment
- A wall
- Type
- Hold
Train this exercise in the app
How to do it
- Back to the wall, hands on the floor about 30 cm from it, kick up with your legs split.
- Push tall and find your balance in your fingers.
- Gently lift your toe off the wall and bring your legs together at the top.
- Switch your legs and tap the wall lightly with the other foot. Repeat.
- Once you feel comfortable, place your hands further from the wall. As the weeks go by, aim for a distance equal to the length of your leg. To measure it, stand facing the wall, just far enough away that your foot touches it when you raise one straight leg to 90°. The distance between the wall and your standing foot is your target.
Two mistakes to avoid
Kicking the wall. A foot that slams back into the wall pushes you forward, and the next lift-off starts crooked. Tap softly with the tip of your toe, and let your fingers control the return. To lift off, find the balance point slowly and with control, the one that lets your toe leave the wall without tipping you one way or the other.
Sagging into an arch against the wall. With your back to the wall, your body easily settles into a banana, and every tap makes it worse. Lock your legs straight, think hollow body, and keep your ribs in even while your foot is reaching for the wall. Above all, tilt your pelvis backward (a posterior pelvic tilt): tuck your tailbone under to flatten the curve in your lower back. It's a key idea in handstand, and with your back to the wall it's what keeps you from collapsing into a banana.
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 you switch legs:
“Try to lengthen the time neither toe touches the wall”
Train this exerciseRelated exercises
Chest-to-wall toe tapsFacing the wall, you tap one toe, then the other, and balance in between.
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