The Importance of Balance

Balance is something that we take for granted because we use it every day. Unless you’ve had an inner ear infection or some kind of problem that affected your balance to where you couldn’t overcome it, you don’t realize how valuable it is.

We’ve worked with different athletes in different athletic venues, and were shocked to find out that almost all college football and basketball athletes have a balance regimen that they go through it at least three times a week. If you go to the Butch Harmon golf school, you’re going to be on balance pads for 20 minutes at a time two or three times a day while you’re there. Every professional athlete goes through balance training. You might want to look at it as a fad, but it is a reality. The better your balance is, the more centered you become, and the easier your body can react and do what you’re asking it to do. I’m not telling you that you all have to be on balance pads every day.

Based on what we’ve seen, balance pads will give you a better foundation. We have actually seen people who can’t hit longer targets, and then we put them on these balance pads for about three minutes and tell them to get off and go out and shoot the bird. You would be shocked at what happens to older shooters just from being on those balance pads for three minutes. You go and take them out there and tell them to shoot the same shot that they’re two out of five on, and they’re all of sudden five out of five.

You can’t tell that the balance pads got you three extra targets today, but it’s part of that positive visualization. It’s part of being physically fit, going to the gym, walking, eating well, and getting plenty of sleep. It’s all part of that total athlete, if you will – getting you to the point that you can compete well when you shoot.

So, the balance pads are a happening thing. You can buy them at just about any physical therapy shop. They just look like two, big, fat pancakes that are 14 inches wide with air in them; and you just stand on them. The first time I tried them, I couldn’t stand on them. But it didn’t take me long. You can do it front of the TV. You can do in your office on the telephone.

We have put out a lot of information on the Coaching Hour, and it’s all relevant. Each one of you is going to find certain things that trip your trigger that get you excited to do things and gets you motivated to go beyond just what you’re doing to perform better.

The balance pads are very important, especially as you age. So, stick with it. The last time I checked, there are more older shooters out there than there are younger shooters. You can have the moves and you can have the circuitry; but if you’re not in balance, you can’t perform what you’re capable of performing. That’s just all there is to it.

We’ve been very fortunate in my life to have real good balance, but I find myself on the balance pads in the morning more often than I do not. If you can’t maintain balance, you can’t do what you know you can do.

 

This is an excerpt from the February 2011 Coaching Hour podcast. You can listen to it and read a written transcript, along with more than 20 years of archived episodes with your Knowledge Vault membership.