Do you want to perform better and avoid injury? Better balance can help. Try our simple balance progression in tandem stance, which can help your performance and lessen chance of injury or falls.
Hi this is Dana Ranahan from Body Works Sports Physiotherapy in North Vancouver and today I wanted to show you a little progression on a balance exercise that we’ve done before. Ultimately better balance transfers to less risk of fall, less risk of injury with sport, and better performance because you’re able to transfer loads better.
Tandem Stance
- A tandem stance balance exercise is where we put one foot in front of the other and work to try to balance ourselves.
Close your eyes.
- If we close our eyes, suddenly we start to feel a little bit more wobbly.
- Maintaining balane now requires our inner ear, and all our joints and muscle receptors to react more, because we can’t rely on our vision.
Add an accessory!
- Grab a little ball and work on some movement. It could a smaller ball or soccer ball, anything.
- The more you’re moving around, the more your body has to react.
Combine the challenges
You could then do this with your eyes closed, working to maintain balance while moving the ball around.
Usually we do this for 30 seconds at a time, take a little break and go again.
After you practise balance it should get better, over time it should become easier. So practise your balance. See how you do, hopefully it improves your performance.
If you have more questions or need help, give us a call.