CircoplexTo press from crow to handstand, build the strength to press your whole bodyweight with your arms. Work through six drills in order: knee to elbow in a half press-up, rocking into crow, jumping into crow, skiing crow, pressing your knees off your elbows, and lowering from a tucked handstand into crow. Ten consistent reps of each is the target before you move on.
When to start
Once your handstand balance starts to become consistent, the next thing you can work on is your upper-body strength: your ability to press your bodyweight from the ground upwards. That opens up pressing from crow up into a handstand, or from a headstand up into a handstand. It also gives you far more control, for example lowering down from a handstand into a chaturanga, and it makes a whole new world of movement available to you.
Why press-ups aren't enough
Press-ups and chaturanga alone are not enough, because your arms only learn to press half your bodyweight while your feet support the rest. To press up from crow, your arms have to press all of it. The drills below step it up a notch and build your arm strength towards pressing your entire bodyweight.
Before you start
Warm up thoroughly, and pay particular attention to your wrists: circles, then stretches in every direction. If crow itself is new to you, learn it first by taking one foot off the ground at a time. It works like a seesaw: rather than jumping, lean forward until your bodyweight goes over your hands and your feet float. Once you get it, it actually feels quite easy.
Exercise 1: Knee to elbow
Begin in a plank. Dip forward so that your elbows bend down into a half press-up, or half chaturanga. Take one knee to the elbow on the same side, put the foot back, then take the other knee. Build up to 10 reps like that.
Exercise 2: Rocking into crow
Once you can do 10 reps of knee to elbow, practise rocking into crow. Start in a crouch with your knees touching your elbows or the backs of your arms. Rock forward until you balance in crow, then rock back again onto your feet. Get to the point where you can do that 10 times consistently.
Some people practise crow with their knees out to the side, hanging off the edge of their elbows. That is okay, there is nothing wrong with it. But once you feel comfortable, bring your elbows inwards so that your knees sit right on top of them. Your bodyweight is then stacked through your bones rather than hanging off to the side, and that makes everything easier in the long run.
Exercise 3: Jumping into crow
Next, practise jumping into crow. It doesn't have to be a big jump: even a centimetre or an inch is enough. The goal is to be able to jump and land in the crow balance.
Exercise 4: Skiing crow
Ben calls the next one skiing crow. In crow, take one knee off one elbow and bring it across so that it touches the other knee, then put it back and swap sides. It is tough, but drills like this build the strength to press your own bodyweight.
Exercise 5: Knees off the arms
Start in crow and press your knees off your arms, off your elbows. Even if it is just an inch, even if it is just a split second, even if you have to rock into it a little, your strength is going to build. Eventually you will be able to press your bodyweight.
Exercise 6: Negatives
For those of you with a confident handstand, jump up into a tucked handstand, then practise lowering down and finishing in crow. This is a natural progression. Negatives, where you start high and lower your bodyweight under control, help you get stronger, because your muscles are stronger when they are lengthening and letting the weight drop towards the ground. Practise this with a spotter or over a crash mat to begin with.
Extra shoulder work at the wall
The wall helps with this transition too. Go up into a straight handstand against the wall, press into your fingers and press your feet away from the wall, then let them come back. Or walk your feet up the wall and pulse your shoulders forward and back, leaning over your hands and then pushing all the way back. Start with small movements, and make them bigger as your shoulders get stronger.
Putting it together
If you do these drills consistently, you will get to the point where you can start in crow and press up into a handstand. Move on from each exercise when you can do it consistently, not before: the whole sequence builds on itself.
Patience
It is tough, and it takes a lot of shoulder and triceps strength. Rest when your shoulders are tired, because tired shoulders don't respond well to balance. But it will happen: if you do the exercises, you will get there.