The importance and need for good balance and agility in every athlete
A lot of athletes and sports stars neglect the importance of training to improve their sense of balance. It may not seem like a big issue but balance is actually used in almost every aspect of every sport. A pivot in football
to turn direction quickly requires a great sense of balance in a person just as being able to hold onto the next crack in the rock face while rock climbing does. Balance training is also an essential part of rehabilitation training for athletes after a serious
injury and it is also a good way to prevent many injuries before they occur. This interesting aspect of sports training needs to be looked at in more depth because it can actually increase performance levels if it is improved.
Balance is defined as the ability of a person to maintain equilibrium when they are stationary or moving through the coordinated use of various organs in the body such as eyes, ears and the joints. Basically balance means
the ability not to fall over when standing still or moving. There are two different types of balance; one is called static balance which relates to the ability not to fall over when standing still, even if the body is stationed in different positions such
as standing on one leg. The other type is dynamic balance which allows people to not fall over while they are in motion; this includes running, jumping, landing and turning quickly.
If we think about it, the ability not to fall over is a very important element in sports. This is the same as being able to run in a straight line, jump without falling over and turning very quickly to catch a pass or kick
a ball. One of the most important things about it is that it is extremely important to have good balance to reduce injuries. Most ankle sprains are not caused by flexibility but by poor balance. The technical, medical terminology for this is ‘proprioception’
and this refers to a person’s sense of joint position. Training for the effective focusing of the body’s sense of joint position can seriously reduce ankle injuries.
The reason why balance is so important in sports is because of the body’s centre of gravity, and an athlete’s ability to change their centre of gravity in line with their movements helps them in performing at the highest
level in all sports. In tennis, the ability for a player to twist his or her body when reacting to a difficult return shot can mean the difference between getting the shot in and hitting it out of bounds. There are several ways in which an athlete’s body maintains
its centre of gravity but the most important one is known as kinaesthetic awareness or the ability to know where every part of the body is at every moment in a game or a match.
There are several training techniques that can be done for an athlete to increase their sense of balance along with their proprioception and their kinaesthetic awareness. One of them is one-leg punches, which means that a
person will stand on one leg and with weights in hand, punch the air above their head one arm after the other. Another exercise is jump steps, in which a person jumps from a standing position onto one foot and then repeats the exercise with the other foot.
These techniques and others can greatly help an athlete develop a stronger sense of balance.
Over time many physiotherapists have recognised the need for good balance in athletes and have started to use techniques to help them improve this important sense in them. It might also help if high school and university
level athletes were also given the same sort of training when they were starting out in sports in order to try and improve their skill level and increase the chances of them going pro in a few years’ time. This often neglected body function, that has a great
deal to do with the way an athlete performs, should really be given more importance in the world of sports.
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