Handstand
also known as: Handstand Wheelie
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Shown for a regular-footed rider. Teal ring + arrow = the rider's facing direction; teal band = the tail; a dot is where a hand holds the board - bright yellow for the front hand, amber for the back one, which is the whole difference between a mute and an indy. Board and rider rotate independently - each follows its own component. Drag to orbit.
How it works
A full gymnastic handstand performed on a moving skateboard, hands gripping the deck's rails or nose and tail. The rider must solve two coupled balance problems at once: the body's inverted pendulum (corrected with finger and wrist pressure, as in a floor handstand) and the board's steering (a rolling board turns under any lateral weight shift, so lateral corrections are made by weighting one hand). A staple of freestyle since the 1960s - Patti McGee's 1965 Life magazine cover is a handstand - and a Kevin Harris signature at speed.
Step by step
- Push to a comfortable rolling speed on smooth ground.
- Crouch and grip the board: hands on both rails at mid-deck, or one hand on the nose and one on the tail.
- Kick the legs up smoothly, hips first, keeping the shoulders directly above the wrists.
- Lock out the elbows and squeeze the legs together, toes pointed, in a straight body line.
- Balance with fingertip and heel-of-palm pressure fore and aft; damp any steering wobble by weighting the drifting-side hand.
- To dismount, split the legs, lower them to the deck or ground one at a time, and roll away.
Body mechanics
| Front foot | Airborne overhead; drives the kick-up and then squeezes into the body line, toes pointed. |
|---|---|
| Back foot | Follows the kick-up and joins the front leg vertically; splitting the legs is the bail-out. |
| Shoulders | Stacked rigidly over the wrists, elbows locked - the shoulder girdle is the trick's foundation. |
| Arms | Bear all weight; fingertips and palm heels make the pitch corrections, differential hand pressure steers the rolling board. |
| Gaze | At the deck between the hands, head slightly lifted, spotting the board's drift. |