Balance Training

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Balance Training Many athletes today are using balance training as an integral part of their overall training programmes both for injury prevention and performance enhancement. Balance is needed by runners when negotiating woodland, by tennis players when reaching for a drop shot and by footballers taking the ball on the volley from slightly behind themselves. Each of these situations requires the exercise of just the right amount of flexibility and agility at the right time and from the right areas of the body in order for us to execute the desired task, recover and then be able to repeat the same or similar tasks without injury. With balance training, as with most training, the idea is to recreate and manipulate in a controlled environment what we do in an event or game situation. Maintaining balance means having the centre of mass within your base of support, ie with your trunk aligned over your feet. In the past we have tended to believe that perfect balance was best illustrated by standing on one leg and staying as still as possible for as long as possible. However, if we were to take a time lapsed photograph of someone performing that activity over several minutes, even the most skilful mime artist would fail to reproduce it. That’s because, even when we are trying to remain completely still, our body is constantly oscillating, transferring energy, loading and unloading in a type of perfect chaos. The point is that the body’s systems are set up to respond to feedback, and if we were to remain completely still no feedback could be offered. As well as the centre of mass, we have to appreciate the importance of t... ... middle of paper ... ... leg forward. Rest for a moment and repeat. You can make the exercise more difficult over time by replacing the rocker board with a wobble board. Once you have completed the whole programme, you may start over, cycling back through the exercises and spending extra time on any which give you difficulty. It is best to start the overall programme toward the end of your 'off-season' or break period, just before your regular training season or year begins. However, if you have not carried out this kind of work before, it is OK to start the programme at any point in your training cycle. You will get positive results even if you are only able to complete the first few weeks of the scheme before your major competition occurs! The positives include better balance, greater strength - and an enhanced resistance to injury.

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