Handstands VS Footstands

This video introduces major differences in structure and support for the shoulder joint compared to the hip joint.

Superficially, this comparison elicits more laughter than serious considerations.

Those of us who have tried, can readily say standing on our hands is more difficult than standing on our feet.
The experience of having spend many years already standing on our feet certainly plays a part in making the foot stand easier.
An other important detail is the size and depth of the hip socket or hip joint. It presents on the one hand a much greater range of support around the top end of the thigh bone, and on the other hand this joint is also firmly build into the pelvis, a major structure of support for the body.
The muscles around the hip joint are large and strong with many years of relative fine-0tuning and strengthening experience.

By contrast, the shoulder joint lacks much of the structural support. The socket is a mere dented small flat area, less than half the size of the end of the upper arm bone. This ‘socket’ provides no noteworthy depth to hold the arm bone in place.
the surrounding muscles might be trained and strong depending on your type of practice, still they are in size and overall strength no match to the muscles of the hip and gluteal region.

Further, the socket of the shoulder joint is part of the shoulder blade. The shoulder blade in turn has no real solid connection to the rest of the body.
This means any posture even remotely resembling a handstand can not rely on fixed structural internal support. All our weight and balance has to be supported by the multiple muscle layers of the shoulder region.
This reliance on muscles for support takes a lot more:
practice
strength
coordination

Finding strength and stability in handstands can be helped by learning about and understanding on a practical level the three levels of shoulder support, the actual movement directions of the shoulder blade and the activation sequences for the associated muscles.

The 'Shoulder Anatomy for Movement’ course has all the answers for you to build your handstand practice safely and steadily.