A handstand pirouette is a gymnastics skill that is one of those big milestone skills in her progressions; after mastering a handstand pirouette on floors, a gymnast can move on to cast handstands and pirouettes on bars. Handstand pirouettes can be completed on bars, beam and floor. We will be going over bars and beam in this post. We are going to go over how to do a handstand pirouette, drills to help perfect your handstand pirouette, what levels a handstand pirouette is required in, and tools to help you with your handstand pirouette.
How to Do a Handstand Pirouette: Tips, Drills, Exercises and More to Help you Learn
How to Do a Handstand Pirouette Step by Step on Floor
*Please note: You should only be attempting a handstand pirouette with proper spotting and guidance of a coach.
1. Start in a lunge: Your arms should be straight above your head and your dominant leg should be in front slightly bent. Your front knee should not be over your ankle.
2. Kick up to a handstand: You want to feel vertical and try to hold the straight body position by squeezing your bottom and your abs and trying to push through your shoulders. You want to try to pull your toes towards the ceiling.
3. Shift weight onto dominant side: You want to shift your weight through your dominant arm/shoulder to allow for your non-dominant arm to be free for the pirouette.
4. Lift your non-dominant hand to turn towards dominant side: You will slightly lift your non-dominant hand and rotate towards your dominant side. Be sure to stay nice and tight in your handstand while doing this.
5. While keeping a tight body handstand position, rotate 180º for a 1/2 pirouette: You want to make sure that you maintain a nice, tight body position in your handstand while rotating for a 1/2 turn of 180º. Your hands will rotate in about 90º angles two times each to achieve your 180º pirouette. Squeeze your bottom and abs, in a slightly hollowed position while rotating with your feet pulling towards the ceiling.
6. Lower one leg at a time to land in a lunge: You will lower one leg at a time back down into a lunge from your handstand after completing your 180º pirouette.
How to Do a Handstand Pirouette Step by Step on Bars
1. Start in a handstand: You want to feel vertical and try to hold the straight body position by squeezing your bottom and your abs and trying to push through your shoulders. You want to try to pull your toes towards the ceiling.
2. Shift weight onto dominant side: You want to shift your weight through your dominant arm/shoulder to allow for your non-dominant arm to be free for the pirouette.
3. Lift your non-dominant hand to start to turn towards dominant side: You will slightly lift your non-dominant hand and rotate towards your dominant side. Be sure to stay nice and tight in your handstand while doing this. Judges are looking for within 20º of vertical.
4. While keeping a tight body handstand position, rotate 180º for a 1/2 pirouette: You want to make sure that you maintain a nice, tight body position in your handstand while rotating for a 1/2 turn of 180º, again, judges are looking for within 20º of vertical. On bars, you will rotate in 1 quick turn to achieve your 180º pirouette.
Top Drills for Learning a Handstand Pirouette
Handstand Pirouette Drills You Should Be Able to Do at Home
You will find the first three drills in the video above.
Spiderman Handstand: Start next to a wall, with your back to the wall. Place your hands on the ground in front of you. Put one leg up on the wall behind you and then walk your legs up the wall. As you walk your legs up the wall, you will walk your hands backwards to the wall.Get in a nice, tight body position (slightly hollowed) with your belly against the wall. Pull your abs in, roll your hips so they are touching the wall. Keep your arms and legs nice and straight with your feet pointed. You can see it in this video at 45 seconds. This drill helps you learn the body shaping positioning you need to maintain while in your handstand pirouette.
Handstand Wall Pirouette: Start standing in front of a wall (preferably padded or using a handstand helper). Kick up to a handstand so that your back is against the wall. Then, rotate your body in a 180º pirouette so that your belly is now against the wall. In the video above, the hand positioning is for a pirouette on bars, however if you want to adjust for floor, you will take smaller “steps” in your handstand, visualizing a box or + for your hand placements. This drill helps to keep your balance while you are learning the hand movements for the handstand pirouette as well as begin to learn how to shift your weight on your hands.
Handstand Walking in Place: For this drill, you will start by kicking up into a handstand. Once you have achieved a nice tight handstand, “walk” in place in your handstand by slightly shifting your weight from one hand to the other. Repeat as many times as you can while maintaining a nice, tight body handstand position. This drill helps you learn to shift your weight and get the feel of a 1-handed handstand that is required for achieving a beautiful pirouette and helps for both bar, beam and floor pirouettes.
Handstand Turn with + on Floor: Get some tape to put on the floor – you will need 2 pieces approximately 18-24″ long to place on the floor in a + position. Start by kicking up to a handstand similar to a spiderman handstand, however your body will not be touching the wall like in a spiderman. You will start with your hands in the two sections farthest AWAY from the wall FACING the wall. Shift your weight onto your dominant hand and walk your non-dominant hand to the section of the + closer to the wall. As soon as you put your hand down, shift your weight to that hand and then walk your dominant hand to the section your non-dominant hand began in. Repeat until you are facing away from the wall with your hands in the two sections closest to the wall.
Hold a Handstand on a Floor Bar against a Wall: Your gymnast can practice handstands on a floor training bar against a wall, similar to Spiderman Against the Wall (at 45 seconds). You want to make sure the wall is padded; using a handstand helper is ideal. Your gymnast should be able to hold a handstand for at least 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Hold a Hollow on a Floor Bar with a Stability Ball: You can practice the hollow shape you will need to do a cast handstand, by holding a hollow with a stability ball. You can first start by just having your hands on the ground, and then work up to having your hands holding on to a floor bar. Your feet and legs will then be resting on a stability ball to compete the hollow shape.
Check out our new Handstand Training Packet:
Tips for Learning a Perfect Handstand Pirouette
- Maintain a tight body position. It’s so important to make sure that you are able to maintain your handstand in a nice hold prior to learning the pirouette.
- Rotate quickly and crisply, but controlled. Controlling your pirouette is necessary for it to look presentable.
- Mark a starting point so that you ensure you achieve a full 180º. You want to make sure that you are rotating the full 180º (or whatever degree pirouette you are completing) to ensure you get the credit for the skill.
Handstand Pirouette Skill Values
You will see the handstand pirouette in Level 6 and up.
Skill |
Event |
Value |
| Cast to Handstand with 1/2 Pirouette | Bars | C |
| Cast to Handstand with 1/1 Pirouette | Bars | C |
| Cast to Handstand with 1 1/2 Pirouette | Bars | D |
| Press Handstand with 1/2 Pirouette | Floor | A |
| Handstand with 1/1 Pirouette | Floor | A |
| Back Extension Roll with 1/1 Pirouette | Floor | B |
| Handstand with 1 1/2 Pirouette | Floor | B |
Deductions and What Judges Look for in a Handstand Pirouette
- Judges are looking for leg and knee separation
- You must be within 20º of vertical in your handstand for the pirouette
- Insufficient exactness of stretched position for floor (arch and hip angle)
Tools for Learning a Handstand Pirouette |
Description |
Price |
| 8 Inch Mat
|
An 8-inch mat is needed for the handstand flatback drill. You can also stand on the 8-inch mat and practice handstands. | $499.00 |
| Handstand Homework Mat
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The handstand homework mat helps gymnasts practice handstands at home safely. It is padded so when you do a handstand against the wall it won’t hurt. | $182.02 |
| Parallette
|
A parallette is useful to help a gymnast perfect her handstand. It’s much harder to do a handstand on a parallette instead of on the ground. It’s also helpful for when a gymnast is learning giants or cast handstands, to practice her perfect handstand on it. | $255.00
|
| Stability Ball
|
A stability ball is helpful for many cast handstand drills to help your gymnast practice the hollow shape. Price shown is for a 65mm ball. | $22.20 |
| Light Weights
|
Light weights are useful as resistance in strength exercises. | $41.99
|
To improve your handstand in your gymnastics routines, learn the deductions you can get in a handstand and 5 minute handstand workout.
Gymnast: @mayaistumbling
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