The brainy reason your handstands keep falling apart
What:
Ever noticed how one person’s movements look effortless… and another person’s look like their body is buffering on slow Wi-Fi?
For example, picture: 🤸🏽♂️ A circus artist performing a sequence while balancing on one arm… vs. a handstand beginner 🫣
One big difference is fluidity.
A pro’s body glides from one position to the next smoothly, like hot honey 🍯
A beginner’s body tends to stutter and jerk from one position to another — which usually ends with falling out of the balance and muttering something unprintable under your breath (amiright?)
And like so many things in movement…
THIS IS A BRAIN THING.
Which is great news because it means: we can train it.
Why:
When we learn something new — like moving from Split Handstand to L-Shape (hello Wednesday Handstand Club crew) — the brain hasn’t fully built the maps yet.
These maps (called internal models) tell the body:
how much force to use
when to use it
and how to adjust on the fly
Balancing upside-down requires your nervous system to make tiny corrections constantly. And this usually means…
slooooooooooooowing things waaaaay doooowwwwwn.
So instead of punching from split to L-shape like a boxer (bam! bam!), we’re aiming to ooze like fondue from one shape to the next.
Let's make this tangible:
Make a fist and draw circles in the air. Easy, right?
Now do the exact same movement at one-third of your speed.
Suddenly your brain is like: “Wait… why is this hard??”
Because slowing down requires more precision and prediction than moving quickly.
Here’s what’s happening upstairs:
🧠 Error correction (cerebellum) Fine-tunes timing, force, and smoothness so you don’t overshoot.
🧠 Motor control (motor cortex) Sends signals so movements can be small and controlled ...instead of all-or-nothing.
🧠 Movement planning (premotor cortex + supplementary motor area) Helps organise timing and adapt when we change speed or direction.
🧠 Inhibition and learning (basal ganglia) Stops unnecessary movements and helps new movement patterns become automatic (hello new habit!)
If these systems aren’t calibrated yet, movements come out jerky and jumpy.
Jerky movements are not bad in general — but in a handstand, a jerk is basically your body saying:
“Cool cool cool anyway I’m falling now.”
And that can be very disheartening.
How:
This part is beautifully simple:
If you’re bad at controlling movement speed… practice controlling movement speed.
But instead of just trying harder (a classic but flawed strategy), we can train the brain more cleverly.
Here’s how:
1. Train in slow motion Use a wall if needed so balance isn’t the main challenge. Then move slowly between positions. For example, moving your ankle from point to flex while your big toe draws a perfectly straight line in the air.
Yes, it’s weirdly hard. Yes, that’s the point.
2. Alternate slow and normal speed Example pattern: slow, slow, faster slow, slow, faster
Your brain learns how to scale movement instead of defaulting to panic-speed.
3. Practice stop / start control Use something unpredictable as your “coach.”
For example: Every time you hear a car drive past → stop or start the movement.
This works better than choosing yourself because your brain has to actually respond, not predict.
4. Reduce the range of motion This one is huge for handstands.
If moving all the way from straight to straddle knocks you off balance, don’t go all the way. Go 10% to straddle.
Then: 10% → 20% → 30%
This gives your brain time to build the circuits that make the movement smooth.
Small range = big neurological upgrade.
👀 Speaking of practicing this…
Handstand Club 2.0 – Splits and Straddles – not too late to join!
If you want your handstand transitions
to feel less like chaos and more like hot honey, come join us.
This is how movements start to feel easier. It’s how they start to look easier too.
And honestly… it’s also a pretty good metaphor for life, but I’ll let you insert your own life lesson there.
Adell 😘
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