Staying Balanced

Throughout my dancing, I've always struggled with balance. I struggled with finding my center, which has effected the quality of my movement. As the caliber of dancing has increased, so has the importance of staying balanced.

In Ballerina Body by Misty Copeland, Copeland talks about a section of dance where balance is most important. "'Adagio' refers to slow movement in the ballet technique" (Copeland 67). She mentions that "Adagio is about flexibility, strength, and fluidity in the movement" (Copeland 67). In order to bring these other elements into the adagio, you need the support of balance to bring a sense of gracefulness to the dancing.

Misty Copeland recommends an exercise to help develop balance. This exercise is done on the floor, which helps you find your center before standing. "On the floor you acquire a sense of balance and where your weight should be in order to leverage it to make your legs appear higher and more extended in opposition to your upper body" (Copeland 67).

This balancing exercise puts your body into a V-shape, which will give you a sense of where your weight should be. She gives these instructions:

- "Lift you legs into the air by bending you knees, holding the backs thighs with your hands with your legs still bent and parallel of each other" (Copeland 67).
- After straightening your back into a V-shape, try balancing in that position for around a minute. This exercise should be done slowly to improve balance (Copeland 67-68).

I have used this exercise in class to help me find where my weight should be. It has been very helpful. After doing this every other day for around two weeks, I have noticed improvement in a few different moves.

One common move that requires balance and focus is an arabesque. I have found this exercise to be helpful in holding this position, especially on pointe.

I hope you find this exercise helpful! How important is balance in your sport? Do you use any helpful exercises? Thanks for reading!

Conditioning for Soccer: Balance

Joey Macauley
Complete Conditioning for Soccer
By: Greg Gatz

An individual's balance is an imperative component for playing soccer. In chapter 4 of Complete Conditioning for Soccer, Greg Gatz elaborates on the importance and effect for having heightened awareness and ability to control your body in space. Unless you're a cat that will always land and their feet, it takes precise and disciplined training to purse enhancing the mechanical processes of your muscles. Therefore, similar to how flexibility exercises are divided between static and dynamic stretching, balance exercises are defined as either strengthening basic posture control or dynamic stability. Basic posture control focuses on increasing the vitality and balance of the core while dynamic stability results in more coordination to efficiently execute combinations of vigorous movements in motion, or in other words, optimizing neuromuscular control (Gatz 45). Furthermore, Gatz interprets balance as he goes more in depth asserting that, "helping you move and react without losing control is the job of the processing mechanisms in the brain that maintain a state of equilibrium. The body also calls on proprioceptors to respond to changes in body position, center of mass, and muscles length" (Gatz 45). At the end of the chapter, he provides drills and routines to progressively improve one's balance and specifically train the internal muscle mechanisms that are responsible for the component of balance that influence and individual's performance on the field. For example...

Lateral Bounding: "Explosive" takeoff to land and "hold" on opposite foot, keeping your body in the air for as long as possible (repetition and incorporate different patterns of movement with same technique)

Single-Leg Squats: With one leg and both arms reaching forward, I "try" to squat to the lowest position maintaining balance, pausing, and extending back to the starting position.

After the enlightenment of this information the idea and importance of my balance became more than just the ability to stay on my feet. I never considered how our muscles can be treated as processes of mechanisms that can be improved through repetition and certain exercises. Personally, I'd say have pretty good balance because of how I've had to handle and react to taller and stronger competition my whole life and be able to successfully shift my body in a variety of movements in motion. However, after reading the text I paraphrased I've been determined to apply basic but challenging exercises to my conditioning in order to continue heightening my balance proficiency. Additionally, it was very helpful learning about what balance really is in regard to your muscle structures and systems. Lastly, my directly quoted evidence that I provided, again, instituted a better understanding for the concept of balance and its influence/importance while performing on the field. Consequently, this allowed me to more fully grasp this component which then arranged better direction towards being able to improve my balance. 

How crucial is your balance during the activities you're involved in, and how have you or would you pursue improving upon your balance?

Work Cited: 

Gatz, Greg. Complete Conditioning for Soccer. Human Kinetics, 2009.

Soccer: Basic Freestyle Juggling

Soccer is a sport that involves many different skills and techniques. Each skill will help you improve different aspects of your game. In this case, juggling is a technique that not only challenges you ability to stay focus and concentrate on control, but it also helps you improve on your first touch.
Andrew Latham says that your first touch is critical in soccer. Juggling will help you learn how to control the ball and keep your balance, which can help you in tight spaces or tough situations (49). Your first touch can set you up for a pass, a shot, a dribble, and practically any other action of making contact with the ball.

When I was juggling, Latham's idea of juggling helping you balance and teaching you how to have control, helped me create a rhythm during my juggling. I had to make sure that I was on balance and stable with my plant foot, so then it would be easier for me to make contact with the ball and keep it up in the air. In the picture below you can see how my right foot is planted and balanced while my left foot is making contact with the ball and keep it in the air.

Not only was having a rhythm and being balanced help me do well in freestyle juggling, but having the right technique to make complete and good contact with the ball was probably the most helpful tip in my juggling process. "Most of the time, your toe will point up on contact to spin the ball back so you can keep it close and get lots of touches" (49). In the picture above and the video below, you are able to see how my toe is pointed up allowing the ball to have a backward spin, and bringing the ball right back down to my feet.

These tips and ideas that Latham provided really did help me improve my juggling ability and allowed me to get a new freestyle record of 407. I have also taken my juggling skills and build upon it doing tricks such as rainbows, foot holds, around the world, etc.

I would like to know your guys opinion and want to know if you think that back spin on the ball and short touches help you have more control on the ball? And i would also like to know what are some other tricks i could try in my juggling?

Latham, Andrew. Soccer Smarts for Kids: 60 Skills, Strategies & Secrets. Rockridge Press, 2016.