Handstand Kick-Up: How Hard to Kick, Drills and Common Mistakes

A good handstand kick-up is one smooth movement: from a lunge, your straight arms reach to the floor, your back leg kicks up, your front foot pushes off and your legs meet over your hands. The hard part is the kick itself. Too soft, and your feet drop back to the floor. Too hard, and your legs carry you over the top.

Contents

Choose a Starting Position
How to Do a Handstand Kick-Up, Step by Step
How Hard Should You Kick?
Drills for a Controlled Kick-Up
Coming Down Safely
Common Kick-Up Mistakes
Common Questions
Final Takeaway
Main Sources

Kicking harder rarely fixes it. What helps is a setup you can repeat, a kick that is just strong enough and a way down you have already practiced. This guide takes each in turn, with the drills that build control and the mistakes behind most failed kick-ups.

If you are new to handstands, start with our beginner’s guide to doing a handstand, which covers the wall work and body shape that come before a kick-up.

Choose a Starting Position

There is more than one sound way to start a kick-up, and no single setup is best for everyone.

Setup	How it starts	Good for	Watch for
Half kneel	Back shin on the floor, front foot flat; the arms swing down to place the hands as the back leg kicks	First kick-ups: a low, steady start with no step to time	Bent arms as the hands land
Standing lunge	Arms straight by your ears, a long step forward, then a reach to the floor as the back leg lifts	The version used in routines	Arms dropping away from the ears
Hands already down	Hands placed first, then a kick from a lunge	Taking time to set the hands	With no arm swing to help, it needs a stronger push

USA Gymnastics uses the half-kneel kick-up for one of its Level 1 teaching drills.

In that drill, the arms swing forward and upward to place the hands shoulder-width apart as the back leg kicks, the shoulders open quickly to “block” against the floor, and the legs join as they approach vertical. Routines use the standing version: the first beam routine in World Gymnastics’ age-group program for women asks for a step forward, a kick to a momentary handstand and a step down to a lunge. On USA Gymnastics Level 1 vault, judges deduct up to 0.20 if the arms don’t cover the ears on the way into the handstand.

If kicking up isn’t working for you yet, our comparison of handstand entries covers the wall walk, the press and the jump.

How to Do a Handstand Kick-Up, Step by Step

Take a long lunge. Stand tall with your arms straight by your ears and step well forward, front knee bent and back leg straight.
Reach in one line. Tip forward with your arms still by your ears and place your hands shoulder-width apart, fingers spread, a comfortable reach in front of your front foot.
Kick and push together. As your hands land, swing the straight back leg up and push off the front foot. Lift the kicking leg up and over rather than throwing it.
Open your shoulders. Keep your arms straight and push the floor away, with your head between your arms and your eyes on the floor near your hands.
Join the legs near the top. Let the pushing leg catch up with the kicking leg as you approach vertical, and squeeze them together with your hips straight.
Catch small wobbles with your hands. If you start to tip over, press your fingertips into the floor. If you are falling back, step down and kick again a little harder.
Step down. Bring one leg down at a time into a lunge.

Fine balance at the top comes mainly from your hands and shoulders. In a small force-plate study of six handstand balances, the steadier ones were controlled mostly at the wrists and shoulders, and the hips played a bigger part in the less successful ones. So correct a kick that arrives slightly off with your fingers and a tall push, not by bending at the hips or arching. Our guide to holding a handstand longer covers those corrections.

How Hard Should You Kick?

Only hard enough to lift your hips over your hands, so your legs are slowing down as they reach vertical rather than still swinging. You find that by building up, from small kicks to a little higher each time.

If your feet keep dropping back, check that your front foot is really pushing. Fear can also stop a kick early, and small kicks and the wall help with both. Needing two or three tries is normal at first, but worth fixing: on USA Gymnastics Level 1 vault, judges deduct 0.50 for each extra kick to get into the handstand.

If you keep going over the top, kick less and check your setup. A short step tends to need a big kick, which is hard to stop at vertical. Strips of tape for your front foot and your hands keep the setup the same from kick to kick, so you can tell whether a change helped.

Drills for a Controlled Kick-Up

Practice these in order, on a soft surface with clear space in front and to the sides, and move on when the current drill feels easy and controlled. A phone video from the side helps: it shows whether your arms stayed by your ears and whether your hips were over your shoulders when your legs met.

Small kicks to the lunge

Kick up partway, to about a three-quarter handstand, and come straight back down into your lunge, arms straight and by your ears each time. Kick a little higher as it gets easier, and try swapping your legs at the top so you land on the leg you kicked with. When your kicks reach the top, aim for a brief moment with the legs together before you step down; longer holds come once the kick is consistent.

Kick up to a wall

Kicking up to a wall gives you a backstop while you learn how hard to kick. Use a flat wall with nothing on it or near it, ideally with a mat at the base. Face the wall, lunge toward it and place your hands a short distance from it, then kick until your heels touch and bring the second leg up to meet the first. Come down one leg at a time, and keep the space at your sides clear: the wall only stops you going over in one direction.

Aim for a soft touch: a loud bang tells you the kick was too strong. Our comparison of chest-to-wall and back-to-wall handstands explains why the wall shouldn’t reward harder and harder kicks. Once your kicks to the wall are soft most of the time, ease your heels off it for a moment at a time, as described in our guide to learning handstands at the wall.

Watch a kick-up progression

For a picture of the finished shape, see the handstand drawing and USA Gymnastics University’s handstand drills video in our Gymnastics Moves library. The follow-along video below, by another creator, works through the kick-up in three training phases.

Coming Down Safely

Plan the way down before you kick any higher. The basic exit is the last step above: one leg at a time into a lunge.

If you go past vertical, don’t fight it or let your back arch over. Shift your weight onto one hand, turn your hips and let your legs come down to the side one at a time, like the second half of a cartwheel. Practice this turn-out from small kicks so it is automatic before you need it. Falling into a bridge and rolling out of a handstand are exits to learn with a coach.

Children should learn kick-ups in a class: the American Academy of Pediatrics advises trained coaches, with supervision and spotting available at all times, to reduce gymnastics injuries. Kick-ups also load the wrists again and again, so warm them up and add repetitions gradually. The AAP says gymnasts whose wrists are swollen or painful the next day should see a doctor, and that pain should never be masked with medication before practice. Our guide to wrist strength for gymnastics covers preparation and loading.

Common Kick-Up Mistakes

Mistake	What happens	What to try
Short, cramped lunge	The hands land close to the feet, so the kick does most of the work and the legs fly over	A longer step and reach; tape marks for the foot and hands
Kicking too softly	The legs stop halfway, or it takes several kicks to get up	Push off the front foot; small kicks, a little higher each time
Kicking too hard	The legs swing past vertical and pull you over	A calmer, lifting kick; a soft touch at the wall; the turn-out
Arms or head out of line	The arms leave the ears, the elbows bend or the chin tucks, and you collapse or tip into a roll	Arms by the ears from the start, head between the arms, push the floor away
Second leg left behind	The legs arrive apart and the line isn’t straight at the top	Bring the pushing leg up to meet the kicking leg near vertical
Saving the balance by bending	The hips pike or the back arches to stay up	Fingers and a tall push, or step down and kick again

Common Questions

Which leg should I kick up with?

Use the side that feels natural. USA Gymnastics writes its compulsory routines for a “right-dominant” gymnast, judged by her stronger leap and front split, and lets left-dominant gymnasts mirror the whole routine. In its Level 1 handstand drill, that puts the right foot in front and the left leg kicking. If you’re unsure, try both sides and ask your coach.

How far should my hands be from the wall?

Close enough that your body is almost straight when your heels touch. If you arch a lot against the wall, move your hands a little closer; if you can’t reach the wall without a very hard kick, move them slightly farther away.

How do I stop being scared of kicking up?

Fear usually eases once you trust your way down. Practice the step-down and the turn-out from small kicks, use the wall as a backstop and ask a coach to spot your first full kick-ups.

Can I practice kick-ups at home?

Yes, with a clear space, a soft surface and a way down you have already practiced. Children should stick to the stages their coach has taught, with an adult watching. Stop if your wrists or shoulders hurt rather than ache.

Final Takeaway

A controlled handstand kick-up starts with a long lunge and straight arms by your ears. The back leg kicks and the front foot pushes, just hard enough to bring your hips over your hands, and the legs meet near vertical while your fingers and shoulders do the fine balancing.

Build the kick in stages: small kicks to the lunge, then a soft kick to a wall, then short moments away from it. Learn the step-down and the turn-out before you kick higher, and let a coach guide children through each stage.