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How to Choose the Right Handstand Coach (Before You Waste Months of Progress)

Not all handstand coaches are created equal.

Scroll Instagram for five minutes and you’ll find hundreds of people offering handstand coaching…some with genuine expertise built over years of dedicated practice, others who learned to kick up six months ago and immediately launched a coaching business.

The difference between these coaches isn’t just experience. It’s the quality of results you’ll get, the habits you’ll build, and whether you’ll be fixing bad technique a year from now or celebrating solid progress.

After a decade in this industry, coaching thousands of students and watching the coaching landscape evolve, I’ve seen what separates coaches who create real, lasting results from those who just take your money and leave you stuck.

Here’s exactly what to look for when choosing a handstand coach.

1. Can They Actually Do the Skills Themselves With Good Form?

This should be obvious, but it’s worth stating clearly: your handstand coach should have demonstrable handstand skill.

I’m not talking about someone who can barely hold 5 seconds with shaky arms and a banana back. I’m talking about clean execution:

• Straight body line (not excessive arching)
• Shoulders fully elevated (not collapsed or closed)
• Controlled entries and exits (not wild, lucky kick-ups)
• Consistent holds that demonstrate mastery of fundamentals

You can’t teach what you don’t understand. And you can’t understand handstands at a coaching-worthy level if you haven’t put in the hours to develop real skill yourself.

Red flags to watch for:

• Handstands with obvious technical flaws (arched back, bent arms, poor alignment)
• Limited skill repertoire beyond a basic static hold
• Inconsistent execution suggesting they got lucky in their social media clips
• Inability to demonstrate the progressions they’re teaching

Good signs to look for:

• Clean lines with proper shoulder and spine alignment
• Multiple skills in their practice (press-ups, holds, transitions, dynamic movement)
• Consistent, controlled holds across multiple videos/posts
• Demonstrations that show they’ve spent significant time mastering fundamentals

You don’t need to learn from a Cirque du Soleil performer, but you should learn from someone who’s traveled significantly further down the road than where you currently stand.

2. How Long Have They Actually Been Training?

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: six months of personal practice doesn’t qualify you to coach others.

Handstand training reveals its complexities over years, not months. The longer someone has been training, the more they’ve encountered:

• Plateaus and how to break through them
• Common compensation patterns and how to correct them
• The difference between quick fixes and sustainable progress
• How habits formed early either support or limit long-term development

Why experience duration matters:

A coach who’s been training for 2+ years has experienced the beginner plateau, that frustrating phase where progress feels invisible and you have to dig deeper into technique refinement. They know what it’s like to rebuild habits and fix compensations.

A coach who’s been training for 5+ years understands the long game. They’ve seen how shortcuts taken early create limitations later. They know that the fastest path to a solid handstand isn’t the path that gets you upside down tomorrow, it’s the path that builds proper foundations today.

A coach who’s been training for 10+ years (like myself) has coached through enough student progressions to recognize patterns. They’ve seen what works across different body types, age ranges, fitness backgrounds, and learning styles.

Questions to ask:

• How long have you been practicing handstands yourself?
• What were the biggest challenges you faced in your own progression?
• How has your understanding of handstands evolved over your years of training?

If they can’t speak to years of personal practice and the evolution of their own understanding, they’re not ready to guide yours.

3. Are They Coaching for Your Long-Term Results or Just Quick Wins?

This is the most important distinction, and the hardest to spot upfront.

Some coaches prioritize getting you a “win” as quickly as possible. They’ll have you kicking to the wall with maximum force, crashing into position, and calling it a handstand. You feel accomplished, they get a testimonial, everyone’s happy.

For about three months.

Then you realize you’ve built terrible habits. Your kick-up is uncontrolled, your alignment is a mess, and you can’t hold a freestanding balance to save your life because everything you practiced was wrong from the start.

Coaches focused on quick wins will:

• Rush you past foundational work because it’s “boring”
• Prioritize dramatic-looking progressions over technical precision
• Push you to the next level before you’ve mastered the current one
• Focus on outcomes (how long you can hold) over process (how clean your form is)

Coaches focused on long-term results will:

• Sometimes slow you down to fix alignment issues
• Be picky about details that seem minor but compound over time
• Hold you at a progression level until you’re genuinely ready to advance
• Teach you the “why” behind each drill so you understand the system

The coach who makes you practice controlled entries for three weeks isn’t being difficult. They’re protecting your long-term development from the shortcuts that create bad habits.

The coach who lets you skip mobility work and jump straight to kick-ups is doing you a disservice, even though it feels more fun in the moment.

Look for coaches who:

• Talk about skill development in terms of months and years, not weeks
• Emphasize proper form from day one
• Have clear progression systems with defined prerequisites
• Are willing to tell you things you don’t want to hear for your own good

Your handstand journey is measured in years. Choose a coach who understands that.

4. Look at Their Line: It Reveals What They’ll Teach You

Here’s something most people miss: coaches teach from their own understanding.

If a coach has poor alignment in their own handstands (arched back, closed shoulders, bent arms)…that’s what they understand. That’s what they’ll teach you, whether consciously or not.

They’ll coach you using the cues and concepts that make sense to them based on their own practice. If their own practice is built on compensation patterns, those patterns will show up in their coaching.

This is why examining a coach’s technique and line quality is so important.

What to look for in their personal practice:

Shoulder position: Are their shoulders fully elevated (pushed up toward their ears), or collapsed and closed? Proper shoulder elevation is non-negotiable for a clean handstand.

Spinal alignment: Is their body in a straight line, or are they arching excessively through the lower back? A banana back might look impressive on Instagram, but it’s a compensation pattern that limits skill development.

Entry and exit control: Do they enter and exit their handstands with control, or is everything wild momentum and lucky catches? Controlled entries indicate understanding of the actual skill.

Consistency: Do they demonstrate the same clean technique across multiple posts, or do you only see their best attempts? Consistency reveals genuine mastery.

Technical variety: Can they demonstrate proper form in different contexts: wall work, freestanding holds, transitional movements? Or do they only look good in one specific setup?

The coach with a clean, straight handstand line understands alignment at a level that will transfer to their coaching. The coach with mediocre technique understands handstands at a mediocre level, and that’s the ceiling they can take you to.

The Skill-Based Culture of Handstand Training

Handstands exist within a skill-based culture.

Unlike fitness modalities where coaching certification might outweigh personal ability, handstand coaching is rooted in a tradition where skill earns respect. Those who have achieved higher levels of skill tend to have a deeper understanding of what the long-term vision actually requires.

This isn’t gatekeeping. It’s recognition that handstands are complex enough that you need to have traveled the path yourself to guide others through it effectively.

Think about it this way: would you take piano lessons from someone who’s only been playing for six months? Would you hire a business coach who’s never built a successful business?

Then why would you learn handstands from someone who hasn’t put in the years to develop real skill and understanding?

The handstand coaches worth learning from:

• Have earned intermediate to advanced skills through years of practice
• Can demonstrate not just static holds but a range of related skills
• Speak about handstands with depth that comes from extensive experience
• Understand the long-term progression because they’ve lived it themselves
• Teach habits and foundations they know (from personal experience) will serve you years from now

The Bottom Line: Your Handstand Coach Shapes Your Trajectory

The coach you choose in the first few months of handstand training determines the trajectory of your entire practice.

Choose someone focused on quick wins and poor technique, and you’ll build habits that limit you for years.

Choose someone with real skill, extensive experience, and commitment to your long-term development, and you’ll build foundations that compound into genuine mastery.

Before you commit to any handstand coach, ask yourself:

1. Do they demonstrate clean technique and genuine skill in their own practice?
2. Have they been training long enough to understand the long game?
3. Are they optimizing for my quick satisfaction or my long-term results?
4. Does their alignment and understanding reflect the level of skill I want to achieve?

If the answer to any of these is “no,” keep looking.

Your handstand journey is too important to waste on a coach who can’t take you where you want to go.

Ready to Learn from a Handstand Coach Who’s Been Down This Road?

I’ve been training handstands for over a decade and coaching students of every skill level. My personal practice includes skills developed through years of consistent work, and my coaching methodology is built on systematic progression that prioritizes your long-term development over quick wins.

If you’re looking for structured, proven training that builds real skill (not just Instagram moments) here’s where to start:

Check out my 4 Essential Elements course for complete systematic handstand training

These are the exact principles and habits I teach every student, the foundations that separate those who achieve solid handstands from those who spin their wheels for years.

Choose your coach wisely. Your handstand journey depends on it 🙂

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