This is a handspring:
(https://www.superflyhoney.com/blogs/pole-tutorials/pole-trick-tutorial-handspring)
I think I can safely say that a handspring is every baby-poler’s dream move. I always envisioned it as this gravity-defying symbol of a poler’s strength and balance. Rightly so because you literally have to hold your body weight upside down while micro-adjusting the balance of the push and pull between your bottom and top hands as you point your toes and try not to fall sideways. You also have to jump or “fall” into it …both of which are terrifying and require a certain level of trust in your own strength and your ability to abort the move safely.
I have been pole-ing since 2020 and it took me two years to get my first Handspring. I laded it on May 28, 2022 (a memorable day!). I had been trying and trying without fully understanding what I was doing wrong. I was also scared of falling and did not trust my strength.
I think a big part of learning a new pole trick…especially ones that are slightly advanced…is the healthy combination of knowing how to exit and trusting that your body can make it. The ratio of “exit” to “make it” is highly skewed towards “exit” in the first few (or a hundred in case of a handspring lol) tries. When your body hits the first “made it”, the premature exist become fewer and farther. The problem is Handspring is the absurd position your body needs to jump or fall into and then hold itself there. This was certainly one of the hardest theory to practice transitions.
There are a few ways to get into a handspring. One of them is jumping into position. Another one is falling into it from the Butterfly move. I’ve heard many people refer to the transition from Butterfly into the Handspring as an Ayesha..I guess because you don’t “spring” into it? I don’t really know and Google AI overview was not very helpful either:
I am not the one to get into the pole move naming discourse and personally do not care what a move is called. However, it is important to distinguish how hard it is to get into the move from varying starting points. Apparently for many it is easier to fall into and Ayesha or Handspring from a Butterfly to an Inverted D. My first was jumping into position and a huge and unexpected help was a resistance band. A friend at the studio suggested I tie the band high on the pole and use it to support one of my legs so that my core isn’t having to do all the work while I was trying to figure out the balance. It worked! I tried the resistance band technique twice and almost immediately got my first Handspring! WHOA!
Here is what it looked like:
Since I got a handspring, I’ve been working on longer holds, but it has been a work in progress:
This is also a twisted grip Handspring where you need to start with your upper wrist at a strange twisty position. One can also use a regular grip which is called a True Grip. This has been harder for me and I’m only now starting to get into moves that transition from a Butterfly into an Ayesha via True Grip. Here is an example of an Apprentice to a Butterfly to a True Grip Ayesha:
There exists an entry form something called a Cup Grip. I cannot do it (yet) and I think its super hard for me right now because it makes me feel like I will fall the other way. When I get the Cup Grip entry, I shall update this post.
Through this journey, one thing that has been REALLY fun has been looping friends into a duo. Even when I wasn’t quite at a Handspring/Ayesha, my stronger friends were totally down for really pretty duos and trios with Handsprings as a component. It was very inspiring to continue my Handspring progress.
Eventually I got there and was able to not only hold my own handspring but also do it with others! (ie Alex).
I saw one of my pole inspos do a Handspring with her partner..with no pole! She used her partners arm and his ankle as an anchor for her Handspring and my mind was BLOWN. When I started getting comfortable with my pole Handsprings, I told Alex that I plan to to the Human Handspring with him and he was totally game (a very supportive fiance :D). We tried getting there on and off for like two years. We failed a lot!
Finally we got it this summer:
Then we got it again this winter with more ease! It was really fun to film at White Sands.
Its isn’t perfect and the hold can be longer but I sure am feeling quite pleased with my Handspring progress and all the friends I made on the way!
