SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sports Coaching: Performance and Development
Biomechanical Analyses of the Handstand: A Systematic Review
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom
- 2Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
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Abstract Purpose: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the biomechanical analysis of the handstand. Methods: Databases SPORTDiscus, ScienceDirect and PubMed were searched up to August 2025. Within the search fields the terms used were "EMG or Electromyography and Handstand AND Gymnastics", "Kinetics AND Kinematics and Handstand AND Gymnastics", "Kinetics AND Handstand", "Kinematics AND Handstand". Originally 491 publications were identified, 21 studies were included in this systematic review which conducted a biomechanical analysis of the handstand. The data from articles were extracted for biomechanical considerations relating to handstand. Results: 31% of studies conducted an analysis of balance-control-strategies in the handstand, 57% conducted a kinetic and kinematic analysis of the handstand and 10% of publications compared muscle activity during the handstand. 42% analyzed centre of pressure, 36% analyzed joint angles, 21% reported on velocity, 21% reported on joint torque contributions, 15% reported on angular velocity, 10% analyzed ground reaction forces (GRF), 10% reported on electromyography (EMG) and 5% reported on vertical ground reaction forces (vGRF). Conclusion: Gymnasts minimized problems related to disturbed balance during the handstand using "wrist strategy" to secure a fixed body configuration. If "wrist strategy" failed among gymnasts then the wrist, shoulder, hips, and elbows are utilized which can be interpreted as a mixed control strategy. Visual conditions and head positions also affect handstand balance in which eyes closed decrease stability and neck flexion decreases performance during the handstand. Gymnasts with greater strength produced better balance control. Other factors that also influenced handstand performance were participation level and age of performers.
Keywords: Gymnastics, Kinetics, kinematics, EMG, centre of pressure, Base of support
Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 31 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 MacDonald, Baker, Gu and Ugbolue. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ukadike Chris Ugbolue, u.ugbolue@uws.ac.uk
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