The importance of movement training and overall athletic development is vital to developing football players and improving the performance of your entire team. One important element of athletic development that is often overlooked is balance training. Over the course of this upcoming pre-season with the help of this column I'll provide you drills that develop your team's balance and how to incorporate into practices.
To develop balance, you need to develop "muscle memory", an unconscious tensing and releasing of the right muscles in just the right increments that enables them to maintain their equilibrium in motion. It is through this process, for example, that people learn to ride a bike. When learning, the body sends signals to the brain to orient the body to where it should be positioned and maintained, allowing the body's muscle memory to eventually take over and become what seems to be second nature.
Balance is the most essential skill for an athlete to possess, and time needs to be spent on developing it. All sports rely heavily on balance. Think of a soccer player attempting to keep possession of a ball, a pitcher winding up and throwing to home plate, a basketball player taking a jump shot, a football lineman blocking a defender, or a tennis player playing serve and volley. In each case balance plays a key role in achieving the precise set of movements necessary for the skill to be performed correctly.
Without balance we would have no rhythm or fluidity to execute and coordinate the movement of body parts while maintaining a stable position required to perform the multiple tasks. Watch a highly skilled NBA player dribble, move, and glide through the air toward the basket, or an NHL player move up the ice with the puck and quickly transition into taking a shot, or a PGA player's golf swing-they all possess the same qualities. Four of the seven athletic components (agility, coordination, speed, and strength) rely on balance to perform these skills. For example, the coordination of an effective baseball, golf, or tennis swing would not be possible without proper balance.
A key element in athletics is the ability to maintain balance while in motion. Whether you are rapidly transferring body weight during a golf swing, swinging or hitting and getting out of the batter's box in baseball, snowboarding down a mountain, or maneuvering around an opponent in ice hockey, soccer, or lacrosse, balance plays a primary role in executing most athletic movements. Balance allows the body to transfer weight while performing. Athletes need to be able to continue to execute while transitioning from a variety of body positions and movements. They often find themselves off balance before or after executing a play. To be in a position to finish a play, or to prepare for the next play, they must be able to adjust quickly to regain proper balance.
Balance develops an overall sense of equilibrium, self-control, and total body awareness. We consider balance the foundation to athletic development. The more balance becomes the focus of a child's athletic development, the more adept he will become at performing more difficult and complicated tasks, such as throwing a football on a full run, changing body direction in midair to make a catch, making sideline catches, staying on their feet after a block or attempted tackle, and so on.
The following drill and competitions that develop a child's balance and help create a greater sense of how to control their bodies in many athletic situations. We include drills to develop balance from a static position, while in motion, and with or without a partner. We want to provide your athletes with the proper foundation to succeed in sports, as well as develop an essential health benefit for years to come. Balance training improves the core strength and stability of the body and is a prevention measure for future back and hip injuries that plague many of us in adulthood. Balance training should become a focus.
Balancing Drill
Purpose: To increase overall balance and aid in recovering from off-balanced positions
Benefits: Athletes develop equilibrium in motion through muscle memory. Balance is essential to all sports that require movement and is the foundation on which other athletic components are built.
Equipment: A wooden 2x4 about 8 to 10 feet long or half-foam rolls, two tennis balls, one 6-inch and one 12-inch high hurdle
Setup: Place the 2x4 flat on the ground. Athletes execute the drill by moving the full length and back each rotation.
Execution: There are seven progressions that help athletes develop a sense of equilibrium when in motion. The progressions slowly advance to include athletes performing multiple tasks and movement as they develop their equilibrium. For safety purposes we recommend a spotter to walk the length of the 2x4 as kids perform the tasks.
Progression 1
Athletes walk the length of the 2x4 beam or half foam roll, attempting not to lose balance and step off. Once they reach the other end, they immediately return to the starting point, this time walking backward. Allow athletes to look at their feet and look behind them for the first time through, but after that tell them to look up and straight ahead for the remainder of the routine.
Progression 2
Athletes repeat the forward and backward walk on the 2x4 or half foam roll but add a 180-degree rotation on one foot for a forward approach and a 360-degree rotation for a backward approach when they finish at each end of the beam. This can be accomplished by lifting up onto the balls of the feet and rotating with the hips, without lifting feet off the beam, and extending both arms out to the side. As kids become more comfortable they might find they no longer need to extend their arms to maintain balance. They continue to walk either backward or forward across the beam.
Progression 3
Athletes walk forward and backward across the beam as in progression 1, but now they try to catch tennis balls thrown to them from 10 feet away. They should try to reach and catch the ball while maintaining balance on the beam. Balls should be tossed from a variety of directions, both in front of the athletes and behind them and both low and high.
Competition
Athletes catch and return tennis balls by tossing as many balls as they can over 60 seconds back and forth to a partner. They must continue to move on the beam for each catch to count. Record the number of successful catches made without falling off the beam, awarding 1 point for each ball caught and another point for each ball accurately tossed to their partner. If athletes fall off the beam, the count starts over from zero.
Progression 4
Athletes walk across the wooden beam as in progression 1. This time they should toss two tennis balls up in the air and then catch them. The balls are tossed directly up in the air to the same hand simultaneously; there is no transfer of balls from hand to hand.
Progression 5
Athletes pick up the pace of the walk forward and backward on the beam without falling off.
Progression 6
Athletes walk laterally (sideways) by crossing one foot over the other, stepping to the side with the other foot, and then crossing the first foot behind the other foot. Athletes cross the beam and return to the other end facing the same direction. After perfecting this without stepping off the beam, they increase speed.
To further progress each stage of this drill, have athletes step over one 6-inch hurdle and one 12-inch hurdle placed on the ground over the 2x4 beam or half foam roll. As a safety precaution, have a spotter reverse hurdles in the correct direction each time athletes pass over a hurdle.
Competition
Record how long it takes athletes to execute six passes across the beam (a pass equals one time across the length of the beam); add three seconds for each fall off the beam.
Progression 7
This progression adds a partner to the drill. Place two 8- to 10-foot 2x4s or half foam rolls flat on the ground next to each other (touching) widthwise. Athletes start from opposite ends and walk toward each other and pass without touching or stopping. After they can do this, they perform the six previous progressions but this time with a partner. To increase difficulty, use one 2x4 or half-foam roll instead of two.