Balance Your Sport

The evolution of athlete conditioning established roots in individual sports where coaches turned to physical development to get the most out of each athlete's performance. Individual sports like track sprinting found they could benefit from enhanced leg strength and power. Head coaches were the first trainers of athletes, taking them into the weight room with an eye on improving performance.

The systems and strategies in sports such as football, cricket and tennis can best be described as organized chaos; during competition no one knows what will happen in the very next second. Multi-directional sports are a read-and-react game where success hinges on individual tactics – the toolbox of creative moves on offence and the mobility and reactivity on the defensive side.

Many other sports directly draw upon balance for skill execution. Snowboarders and skiers make endless adjustments relative to changing terrain, jumps and tricks, requiring a highly trained balance system to make their body more reactive to unpredictable events. The joy of the sport is exploring how to coordinate the body to become more competent at increasingly more difficult technical maneuvers.

The bottom line: fitness and strength are only useful if they are developed with an exercise style that actually improves the physical tools game action draws upon. Integrating strength, movement and balance helps athletes build muscle and strength levels in a manner that will better transfer on to the playing field.

The Twist Team!