Proprioceptive Training

[The Student]

Scrap,

I noticed your wobble board is square, as opposed to most commercial wobble boards that come circular.

Is there an advantage of having it square or does it not matter?

I ask because I have a 24" piece of wood cut out as a circle already that I was going to use to make a speed bag platform. I can just attach a pvc endcap to the bottom of it and I should be good to go.

[Scrap]

Student it doesnt matter.

[The Student]

Thanks, I'll hopefully get the wobble board set up this weekend.

Now I just need to find a suitable object that'll work as a roller and I'm set.

[jameso'hara]

Anyone have experience of snowboarding and the like? There are several balance boards on the market which are marketed at those wishing to develop their balance skills. The Coolboard, for example, has clips on youtube.

[Scrap]

Student you can get a wooden one, go into a wood yard and ask. Get one about 2 foot, theres some great stretching routines you can do with it.

[The Student]

Student you can get a wooden one, go into a wood yard and ask. Get one about 2 foot, theres some great stretching routines you can do with it.

nice.. thanks, I got a wood yard not to far from me, I think I'll go check it out...

what would I actually call it? Wood Roller? Wood Cylinder?

or is there some sort of a proper term for it?

[Scrap]

I call them logs, find an even one then take the bark off. Then go and get a car innertube and cover the log with that. Its a great bit of kit for ironing the muscles out .

[The Student]

aha! I see.

I just figured that a log wouldn't be a perfect cylinder. But if its just a simple log without the bark, that should be straight forward enough

[The Student]

Scrap, I just went out and bought two 6 lb rubber medicine balls. The only problem is that they are very squishy, almost like a stress ball or something. So when I stand on it, its just caves in. It holds my weight fine, but definitely doesn't hold shape at all.

Whats ur suggestion? return and purchase a different pair of balls that'll actually somewhat hold form?

[Scrap]

Yes it is.

[The Student]

Yes it is.

hahah, DONE.. no more balancing on basket balls. I just went and got myself 2 nice medicine balls

[bchristian620]

do they sell these commercially? I would rather spend a little extra and just order one, since I'm all thumbs

Please provide a link if anyone has seen them. I tried a search... but I was looking for boxing specific. I guess a snowboarding/skateboarding one would work??

And how often do you do this? every session just like shadowboxing or the like?

[jameso'hara]

If someone can confirm, anyone heard of trying shadow boxing in a low squat position to aid balance skills and agility when upright? I'm sure I once read this online.

[Scrap]

Bchristian, I think I was the 1st to come up with the idea of the wobbly about 88. Reebook came up with one which to my mind is crap, perhaps they were thinking insurance at the time keeping the movement restricted. With a 2ft platform you need it to be 8* inch of the floor for it to work properly.

[WayneFlint]

Christian its almost impossible to find one with the right angles on it, i was looking for ages lol i ended up making mine i recon thats your best bet, if you can make most of it from wood itll help putting it together in the end, do you know a good joiner? get a wood log cut it down to right size and screw it to the bottom of a piece of kitchen worktop then work/shampfer the logs edges to round off the bottom for smoother movement in the full range of motion available on the board.

It may sound like a lot of messing around but trust me it doesnt have to be perfect to get very good results, mine is quite poorley built compared to scraps but its the same principles behind the board its just not quite as smooth/enjoyable to use.

If i had only 1 choice of equipment to train beginners with this is what i would choose for punch technique, its another auto pilot jobby, if your technique is crap you wont be able to shadow box on it so it can help if there isnt always a trainer available to watch over you when your just starting out, brilliant to learn novices basic technique while avoiding a hell of a lot of bad habits that are common and almost inevitable when starting out (like reaching), its like having a trainer there with you giving you feedback all the time, elastic bands would be my choice for teaching movement for the same reason, its somthing you can do by yourself without a trainer without having to worry about doing too much wrong/drilling bad habits too much.

Besides from this there are countless advantages to using the wobble board, you will learn to use feel to maintain balance feeling where adjustments need to be made through the muscles in your feet and legs and knees/coxys to maintain balance, itll train your body to be better/more efficient at learning the balancing act which is walking, either that or it seems like it does but just helps total concentration and maintenance of a state of mind that you definently want to be in while boxing. aswell as strength and stamina advantages it literally trains the bodys ability to adapt to new unpredictable surfaces where the information your eyes are recieving cant be used to help maintain balance or if not then it certainly feels like it does because ive stood on some pretty crazy things at scraps including a fitball after only a few minutes of trying and extreme concentration lol and i never was the most balanced/nimble of people.