How To Do Toe Pulls Correctly

When a budding new handstander walks through my doors. One of the first things we begin to develop after the initial physical strength to support themselves has been confirmed or built! Is to learn how to use the hands.

It is called a handstand for a reason after all!

One of the main fundamental drills to develop the strength and awareness of the hands and wrists. Is with an essential exercise commonly called “Toe pulls”. Though I like to call them “wrist drives” as it is a better representation of the action we are trying to achieve.

This action which you are going to learn all about below is how you stop yourself “over balancing” or falling over in handstand. It is also how you “catch” your handstand entry.

Pretty epic! And bloody important!

I would recommend having at least a 30s (60s is much better) chest to wall handstand before working seriously on this one. You can learn how to approach this with my free mini course linked at the end =)

1. Start by Kicking up back to the wall one hand distance away as pictured below. This is very important!

If we are too far from the wall the tendency is for our body to assume an arched banana back handstand and secondly the wrist will have to work too hard to lever the body from the wall. (more weight will be leaning into it)

2. Do a “body check”. Shoulders pushing the floor away and elbows locked out, tummy tight, posterior pelvic tilt (tuck the hips under) butt and quads squeezed. Hold your body tight with tension!

3. Now press the fingers and wrist into the floor. Like you are trying to straighten the angle of the wrist. At first the feet may just get a little lighter on the wall and that's fine. With practice they should briefly hover off for a second or two.

If your wrists are already quite strong it is quite possible to press yourself out of handstand. And fall back to your feet. With time and practice you will learn when to relax the hands and wrists at the right moment so that you return to the wall.

4. Cool thing is you can try this on your feet to visualise and understand what you are trying to accomplish on your hands! let the body lean forward from the ankle and push with the feet to centre yourself as pictured below.

5. You can try this from an A-frame position on the floor as well. This can be very helpful if you become lost when totally upside down in handstand. Lean a little bit of weight into your hands (less is more here) then press the fingers and hands into the floor. See if you can create enough force to send your body back towards your feet.

TOP TIPS! (for the full fat drill)

*You can come as close as half a hand distance to the wall if you are struggling to get the feet to float.

*Keep the shoulder elevated, engaged and directly over the palm of the hands. Putting the shoulders over the heel of the hand too much will make it easy to “under balance” and fall to the feet. And putting the shoulders too far over towards the fingers will make things waaay to heavy on the wrists.

*Do not Kick or “buck” with the legs and hips to come off the wall. This will not teach the proper mechanic and sensation of the hands being able to influence the body in space.

Above all else. Have fun with it.


Click on the buttons below to learn more about my online coaching. OR super charge your new found handstand practice with my free mini course.


sundi pereira

Handstand Classes, Workshops and Short Courses Melbourne

For all things related to the wonderful world of hand balancing and handstands, handstand classes, handstand workshops and handstand short courses Suby Handstands has got you covered in Melbourne.

Whether you want to work in a group setting with Melbourne based handstand classes or Melbourne based handstand short courses or on a one to one basis with private handstand lessons you are going to experience growth in your practice.

Many people believe that the best way to progress their handstand is to repeat the same thing over and over again thinking that one day it will lead to some sort of miracle and finally click. I can tell you best way to progress is in fact to practice, but to practice the RIGHT things for your specific level, awareness and body. This is the way forward in your handstand training.

Participating in handstand classes or private handstand lessons is the best way to find the keys to unlock the gates to progress and stop experiencing frustration and fear in your handstand practice.

So you’ve mastered handstand at the wall and are ready to take it to the middle of the room? But every time you hop up, it feels like you can only hold the pose for a nanosecond. What gives? How can you learn to stick your balance in the center of the room?

If you’re looking to move your handstand away from the wall, odds are you’re already familiar with kicking up into the pose. Even so, starting with a solid, well-aligned foundation and kicking up with confidence can strongly increase your chances of balancing in handstand.

Press handstands are one of the coolest gymnastics/acrobatic skills out there

They are a demonstration of control, power and body awareness that can be done virtually anywhere.

Press handstand is a beautiful skill but one that is made up of many physical attributes. Flexibility, core strength, shoulder strength, skill and technique all equally play an important role. Having coaching to assess which area's you individually need to develop is vital to learn press to handstand safely and efficiently. I can help you put together a training plan to achieve your inversion, arm balance and hand balancing goals.

Tuck handstand is another awesome skill to work on.

As the name implies, a Tuck handstand is a bent leg position where the knees are pulling towards the chest, versus a handstand where the legs are fully extended with toes pointing directly towards the sky.

It helps to develop correct should alignment, shoulder strength, shoulder flexibility and is the gateway to many other cool handstand shapes. There is 2-3 amazing handstand drills that drastically help develop tuck handstand.

What about handstand pushups? A brilliant display of body control and raw power.

Just like you wouldn’t want someone performing a ton of kipping pull-ups when they don’t have the strength to do one strict pull-up, we don’t want someone doing a ton of kipping handstand push-ups if they don’t have the strength to do a strict handstand push-up. The shoulder strength required to complete a handstand push-up is great, and some may not have that strength just yet. Have no fear, I have created a simple training program to help you build your upper body strength to reach the goal of obtaining a strict handstand push-up. With dedication, patience and hard work, you too can successfully attain the handstand pushup.

As soon as you’re able to balance a handstand by the wall for just a few seconds without using the wall for support, it’s time to start adding some freestanding handstand exercises to your practice. BUT don’t leave the wall behind entirely just yet, it will still be one of the most useful tools for awhile to help maintain your conditioning and continue developing sound balance mechanics.

It can seem both terrifying and impossible to move your handstand practice away from the wall. Because what’s gonna happen if you fall? Some parts of the fear of falling out of a handstand are rational, others are entirely irrational.

let me help you address and overcome the rational fear of falling when you practice the freestanding handstand.

Learn how to handstand by learning :

How to fall

The benefits of going upside down

The muscles worked in a handstand

How to warm up before doing a handstand

Step-by-step directions for doing a handstand

Common handstand mistakes to avoid

As for how long it'll take you to master a handstand? It's pretty individual. Some will get it right away, while it takes a lot longer for others. Remember that it’s as much a mental discipline as a physical one and keep trying, knowing that you will get there.

So let get started. Click on the Handstand classes Melbourne page and take your practice to the next level whilst cultivating discipline and self understanding.